Geomorphological evolution of a fluvial channel after primary lahar deposition: Huiloac Gorge, Popocatépetl volcano (Mexico)

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Popocatépetl volcano (19°02′ N, 98°62′ W, 5424 m) began its most recent period of volcanic activity in December 1994. The interaction of volcanic and glacier activity triggered the formation of lahars through the Huiloac Gorge, located on the northern flank of the volcano, causing significant morphological changes in the channel. The most powerful lahars occurred in April 1995, July 1997 and January 2001, and were followed by secondary lahars that formed during the post-eruptive period. This study interprets the geomorphological evolution of the Huiloac Gorge after the January 2001 lahar. Variations in channel morphology at a 520 m-long research site located mid-way down the gorge were recorded over a 4 year period from February 2002 to March 2005, and depicted in five geomorphological maps (scale 1:200) for 14 February and 15 October 2002, 27 September 2003, 9 February 2004, and 16 March 2006. A GIS was used to calculate the surface area for the landforms identified for each map and detected changes and erosion–deposition processes of the landforms using the overlay function for different dates. Findings reveal that secondary lahars and others types of flows, like sediment-laden or muddy streamflows caused by precipitation, rapidly modified the gorge channel following the January 2001 non-eruptive lahar, a period associated with volcanic inactivity and the disappearance of the glacier once located at the headwall of the gorge. Field observations also confirmed that secondary flows altered the dynamics and geomorphological development of the channel. These flows incised and destroyed the formations generated by the primary lahars (1997 and 2001), causing a widening of the channel that continues today. After February 2004, a rain-triggered lahar and other flows infilled the channel with materials transported by these flows. The deposits on the lateral edges of the channel form terraces. A recent lull in lahar activity contrasts with the increasing instability of the edges of the channel and the continuous edification and destruction of recent lahar terraces.