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El Chichón

Chichon, El

Lava dome · Mexico · 1150m

The new 1-km-wide El Chichón crater is seen here in January 1983, less than a year after the major explosive eruption . By this time it was partially filled by a hot, acidic lake. The isolated, low-profile, volcano is a small lava dome complex that was heavily vegetated prior to 1982. More than a half-dozen large explosive eruptions have occurred since the mid-Holocene.
The new 1-km-wide El Chichón crater is seen here in January 1983, less than a year after the major explosive eruption . By this time it was partially filled by a hot, acidic lake. The isolated, low-profile, volcano is a small lava dome complex that was heavily vegetated prior to 1982. More than a half-dozen large explosive eruptions have occurred since the mid-Holocene. · Photo: Photo by Bill Rose, 1983 (Michigan Technological University). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Lava dome
Country
Mexico
Region
Middle America-Caribbean Volcanic Regions / Chiapanecan Volcanic Arc
Elevation
1150m
Coordinates
17.360, -93.230
Last eruption
1982
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Trachyandesite / Basaltic Trachyandesite
Geological summary

El Chichón is a small trachyandesitic tuff cone and lava dome complex in an isolated part of the Chiapas region in SE México. Prior to 1982, this relatively unknown volcano was heavily forested and of no greater height than adjacent non-volcanic peaks. The largest dome, the former summit of the volcano, was constructed within a 1.6 x 2 km summit crater created about 220,000 years ago. Two other large craters are located on the SW and SE flanks; a lava dome fills the SW crater, and an older dome is located on the NW flank. More than ten large explosive eruptions have occurred since the mid-Holocene. The powerful 1982 explosive eruptions of high-sulfur, anhydrite-bearing magma destroyed the summit lava dome and were accompanied by pyroclastic flows and surges that devastated an area extending about 8 km around the volcano. The eruptions created a new 1-km-wide, 300-m-deep crater that now contains an acidic crater lake.

From Wikipedia

El Chichón, also known as Chichonal, is an active stratovolcano in Francisco León, north-western Chiapas, Mexico. El Chichón is part of a geologic zone known as the Chiapanecan Volcanic Arc. El Chichón's cone has a complex of domes with a tuff ring, made of ejected volcanic material, located between the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and the Central America Volcanic Arc. El Chichón erupted in 1982; prior to this, activity had not occurred since c.1360, with a possible eruption c.1850.

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Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
6510 BCE~6227 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?2264 BCE~1981 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 51415 BCE~1132 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?849 BCE~566 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?283 BCE~1 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1~284 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?284~567 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?567~850 · 2 eruptions · max VEI 51133~1416 · 2 eruptions · max VEI 51699~1982 · 2 eruptions · max VEI 56510 BCE4529 BCE2264 BCE283 BCE1699

Detailed timeline

  1. 1982VEI 5Observed
    1982-03-28 – 1982-09-11
  2. 1850VEI ?Geological estimate
    1850 – Ongoing
  3. 1360 (±100 yrs)VEI 5Geological estimate
    1360 – Ongoing
  4. 1190 (±150 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    1190 – Ongoing
  5. 780 (±100 yrs)VEI 5Geological estimate
    780 – Ongoing
  6. 590 (±100 yrs)VEI 3Geological estimate
    590 – Ongoing
  7. 480 (±200 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    480 – Ongoing
  8. 190 (±150 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    190 – Ongoing
  9. 20 BCE (±50 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 20 – Ongoing
  10. 700 BCE (±200 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 700 – Ongoing
  11. 1340 BCE (±150 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 1340 – Ongoing
  12. 2030 BCE (±100 yrs)VEI 5Geological estimate
    BCE 2030 – Ongoing
  13. 6510 BCE (±75 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 6510 – Ongoing

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.