Abstract
The Holocene volcanic activity which built up the present terminal cones of Pico de Orizaba and Popocatepetl in eastern Mexico, was characterized by repeated pyroclastic Saint-Vincent type eruptions. Radiocarbon data show that these paroxysmal events occurred at more or less regular intervals, and were followed by moderate activity producing ash and pumice falls and andesitic lava flows from the summit craters.
Typical ash and scoria pyroclastic flows exhibit a heterogeneous composition given by the interaction of a dacitic component with a more basic andesitic one. Scoria bombs are characterized by banded to emulsified textures, mineralogical desequilibrium assemblages and linear chemical variations on element-element plots as exemplified by the Loma Grande flow at Pico.
Periodic replenishments of the magmatic reservoir could be the major phenomenon that started mixing and consequently triggered the pyroclastic eruptions.
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Cantagrel, J.M., Gourgaud, A. & Robin, C. Repetitive mixing events and holocene pyroclastic activity at Pico de Orizaba and Popocatepetl (Mexico). Bull Volcanol 47, 735–748 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01952341
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01952341