Rockslide processes on the north slope of popocatepetl Volcano, Mexico

Abstract

AbstractThis paper analyses the geomorphology of the north face of Popocatepetl Volcano (5450 m). The surface of the slope was covered earlier by the northern Popocatepetl Glacier and gradually exposed during the current century. The glacier formed at the time of the last great eruption of Popocatepetl in the seventeenth century, and reached its maximum extension at the end of the nineteenth century, at the peak of the Little Ice Age. A ramp formed at the snout of the glacier, composed primarily of ash dating from the last eruption. The material was mixed with large boulders that have been bulldozed into place by the glacier snout. As the glacier retreated, deep gorges formed on the ramp and glacial hollows appeared at the base of the steep sides of the volanic cone. Today, large‐scale rockslide processes occur on the north face. Layers of snow form a lubricating layer. The ash slides easily over the snow, covering it and later preventing it from melting and sublimation. Blocks fall from the present‐day glacial snout and pile up on the snow. Later, they slide over the snow and infill the hollows and gorges.