About Popocatépetl Volcano:
- Popocatépetl means "Smoking Mountain” in the Aztec Nahuatl language.
- Location: It is located in central Mexico.
- It is on the border of the states of México and Puebla.
- The volcano lies on the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, which is the result of the small Cocos Plate subducting beneath the North American Plate.
- It is one of the Mexico's most active volcanoes.
- Elevation: It is a steep-sided stratovolcano.
- It is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire.
What is Stratovolcano?
- It is a tall, steep, and cone-shaped type of volcano.
- They are typically found above subduction zones, and they are often part of large volcanically active regions, such as the Ring of Fire that frames much of the Pacific Ocean.
- They comprise the largest percentage (~60%) of the Earth’s individual volcanoes, and most are characterized by eruptions of andesite and dacite, lavas that are cooler and more viscous than basalt.
- These more viscous lavas allow gas pressures to build up to high levels. Therefore, these volcanoes often suffer explosive eruptions.
- They are usually about half-half lava and pyroclastic material, and the layering of these products gives them their other common name of composite volcanoes.
- At the peak, stratovolcanoes usually have a small crater.
