The Sierra del Ajusco-Chichinauhtzin, (Ajusco-Chichinautzin Mountain Range) also known as ''Serranía del Ajusco'' or ''Sierra de Chichinauhtzin'', is a Mexican

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

located between

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

and the states of

Morelos Morelos (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cuer ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It makes up the southern part of the mountain necklace that surrounds Mexico City. It is made up of more than one hundred volcanic cones, among which are: Tláloc ( MAMSL), Chichinauhtzin (,

Xitle Xitle ( Nahuatl, "navel") is a monogenetic volcano in the Ajusco range in Cumbres del Ajusco National Park. It is located in the Tlalpan borough in the southwestern part of Mexico City. It is an ash cone volcano with a conical form, round base, a ...

(, Cerro Pelado ( and Cuauhtzin (. Its maximum height is at the Cruz del Marqués peak on the

Ajusco Ajusco is a lava dome volcano located just south of Mexico City, Mexico, in the Tlalpan borough of the city. It is the highest point in the city. Etymology Ajusco is a Náhuatl word variously translated as "source of waters" or "watered grove", ...

volcano ().

Background

The range includes parts of the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Tlalpan Tlalpan ( nci, Tlālpan, , place on the earth, ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. It is the largest borough, with over eighty percent under conservation as forest and other ecologically sensitive area. The rest, almost ...

Xochimilco Xochimilco (; nci, Xōchimīlco, ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') of Mexico City. The borough is centered on the formerly independent city of Xochimilco, which was established on what was the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco in the ...

Tláhuac Tláhuac is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in the Mexico City, located in the southeastern edge of the entity. Though Tláhuac still contains rural communities within its borders, mostly in the southern and eastern portions, the boroug ...

Milpa Alta Milpa Alta is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. It lies in the southeast corner of the nation's capital, bordering the State of Mexico and Morelos. It is the least populated, second largest and most rural of all the boroughs ...

and

Magdalena Contreras La Magdalena Contreras () is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in the Mexico City. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 239,086 inhabitants and is the third-least populous of Mexico City's boroughs. It lies at an elevation of abov ...

on the south of Mexico City; the municipalities of

Huitzilac Huitzilac is a city in the Mexican state of Morelos. It stands at and at an altitude of 2,561 m (8,402 ft) above sea level. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. With a 2010 census pop ...

Tepoztlán Tepoztlán () is a town in the central Mexican state of Morelos. It is located at in the heart of the Tepoztlán Valley. The town serves as the seat of government for the municipality of the same name. The town had a population of 14,130 inhabit ...

and

Tlalnepantla Tlalnepantla de Baz is one of 125 municipalities of the state of Mexico, north of Mexico City. The municipal seat and largest city in the municipality is the city of Tlalnepantla. ''Tlalnepantla'' comes from the Náhuatl words ''tlalli'' (land) ...

in Morelos; and the municipalities of Juchitepec and

Tepetlixpa Tepetlixpa is a municipality in Mexico State in Mexico. The municipality covers an area of . As of 2000, the municipality had a total population of 16,871. Nepantla de Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz The municipality is home to Nepantla de Sor Juan ...

, in the State of Mexico. These mountains form the highest point as well as the southern limit of Mexico City, separating the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico wa ...

from the

Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D. The na ...

Valley and the

Tepozteco El Tepozteco is an archaeological site in the Mexican state of Morelos. It consists of a small temple to Tepoztēcatl, the Aztec god of the alcoholic beverage ''pulque''.Canto Aguilar 1998 In the middle Postclassic Period, various terraces and a ...

mountain range. The range emerged during the

Quaternary period The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three period (geology), periods of the Cenozoic era (geology), Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spa ...

, with intense volcanic activity that closed the lacustrine basin of

, depriving it of its only natural drainage towards the Balsas river basin.

is part of the geological subprovince of the lakes and volcanoes of the Anahuac, located within the

Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ( es, Eje Volcánico Transversal), also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the (''Snowy Mountain Range''), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico. Several of its highest peaks h ...

Environment

The range is home to the

Cumbres del Ajusco National Park Cumbres del Ajusco National Park is one of many national parks near Mexico City, DF. The Ajusco is known for its high elevations reaching 3,900 meters (12,795 ft) above sea level and is visible from any part of Mexico city. The park is char ...

, and the area is part of the Ajusco Chichinautzin Biological Corridor. The area has diverse habitats and species due to its unique geographic and climatic conditions. There are 315 species of fungi, 10 species of amphibians, 43 species of reptiles, 1,348 species of insects and spiders, 237 of birds (36 exclusive to this region), 5 species of fish, 785 of plants, and 7 types of vegetation in addition to forests of pine, oyamel and oak.

References

External links

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Background

Environment

See also

References

External links

Further reading