The Volcán de Colima, , also known as Volcán de Fuego, is part of the Colima Volcanic Complex (CVC) consisting of Volcán de Colima, Nevado de Colima () and the eroded El Cántaro (listed as extinct). It is the youngest of the three and as of 2015 is one of the most

active volcano An active volcano is a volcano that is currently erupting, or has the potential to erupt in the future. Conventionally it is applied to any that have erupted during the Holocene (the current geologic epoch that began approximately 11,700 years ...

es in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Having been active for nearly 5 million years, and with frequent eruptions, the Volcán de Colima is considered a

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

. "Volcán de Fuego is an active stratovolcano, the most explosive and dangerous of all of Mexico"
Colima
. It has erupted more than 40 times since 1576. One of the largest eruptions was on January 20–24, 1913. Nevado de Colima, also known as Tzapotépetl, lies north of its more active neighbor and is the taller of the two at . It is the 26th-most prominent peak in North America. Despite its name, only a fraction of the volcano's surface area is in the state of Colima; the majority of its surface area lies over the border in the neighboring state of

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

, toward the western end of the

Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (), 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 have snow all year long, and dur ...

. It is about west of

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

and south of

Guadalajara, Jalisco Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

. Since 1869–1878, a parasitic set of domes, collectively known as ''El Volcancito'', has formed on the northeast flank of the main cone of the volcano.

Geological history

In the late

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

era, a huge

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

occurred at the mountain, with approximately of debris traveling some 120 km, reaching the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. An area of some 2,200 km² was covered in landslide deposits. The currently active cone is within a large

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

that was probably formed by a combination of landslides and large eruptions. The lava is

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

containing 56-61% SiO₂. About 300,000 people live within of the volcano, which makes it the most dangerous volcano in Mexico. In light of its history of large eruptions and situation in a densely populated area, it was designated a Decade Volcano, singling it out for study.

Current activity

In recent years, there have been frequent temporary evacuations of nearby villagers due to threatening volcanic activity. Eruptions have occurred in 1991, 1998–1999 and from 2001 to the present day, with activity being characterized by extrusion of viscous

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

forming a

lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular, mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions ...

, and occasional larger explosions, forming

pyroclastic flow A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...

s and dusting the areas surrounding the volcano with ash and

tephra Tephra is fragmental material produced by a Volcano, volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism. Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, ...

. The largest eruption for several years occurred on May 24, 2005. An ash cloud rose to more than 3 km over the volcano and satellite monitoring indicated that the cloud spread over an area extending west of the volcano in the hours after the eruption. Pyroclastic flows travelled 4–5 km from the vent, and lava bombs landed 3–4 km away. Authorities set up an

exclusion zone An exclusion zone is a geographic area in which specific activities are prohibited by an authority. The United States Department of Defense defines an exclusion zone is a territory where an authority prohibits specific activities in a specific g ...

within 6.5 km of the summit. On November 21, 2014, the volcano erupted again. An ash column was sent 5 km into the air, covering towns as far as 25 km away in ash. No fatalities were reported, and no evacuations took place. There were eruptions on January 10, 21 and 25, with the ash from the January 21 eruption falling in towns more than away. Volcan_de_Colima_2016-12-17

On 10 July 2015, there was another eruption. Another eruption occurred on September 25, 2016, sending a plume of ash and smoke into the sky. During December 2016, ash plumes occurred once or twice a day. On December 18, 2016, there were three eruptions. The biggest columns of ash reached 2 kilometers in height. Colima volcano experienced another strong explosion at 06:27 UTC (00:27 CST) on January 18, 2017. The eruption spewed volcanic ash up to 4 km (13,123 feet) above the crater.

Volcanological center

The volcano is monitored by the

Colima Volcano Observatory Colima, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima, is among the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima. Colima is a small state of western Mexico on the cent ...

at the University of Colima, Mexico. A team analyzes, interprets and communicates every event that occurs at this volcano. In 2018, a webcam was installed close to the volcano, and volcanic activity can be seen in real-time.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Domínguez T., Ramírez J.J., Breton M. (2003), ''Present Stage Of Activity At Colima Volcano, Mexico'',

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

, Fall Meeting 2003, abstract #V42B-0350

External links

Universidad de Colima, Observatorio Vulcanológico
(in Spanish)
Universidad de Colima, Centro de Intercambio e Investigación en Vulcanología
(in English and Spanish)
Experiments at Colima by the Alaska Volcano Observatory
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Volcan De Colima

Colima Colima, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima, is among the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima. Colima is a small state of western Mexico on the cen ...

Landforms of Jalisco

Mountains of Mexico North American 4000 m summits Holocene stratovolcanoes