Volcán Tajumulco is a large
stratovolcano in the department of
San Marcos
San Marcos is the Spanish name of Saint Mark. It may also refer to:
Towns and cities Argentina
* San Marcos, Salta
Colombia
* San Marcos, Antioquia
* San Marcos, Sucre
Costa Rica
* San Marcos, Costa Rica (aka San Marcos de Tarrazú)
...
in western
Guatemala. It is the highest mountain in
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
at . It is part of the mountain range of the
Sierra Madre de Chiapas, which begins in
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 ...
's southernmost state of
Chiapas.
[Tajumulco Volcano]
" Britannica Library, Encyclopædia Britannica, 27 February 2012. Accessed 22 April 2017
Description
Tajumulco is composed of
andesitic
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 predomin ...
-
dacitic
Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyol ...
lavas on the top of a large escarpment of uncertain origin. It has two summits, one of which has a crater wide. A lava flow from the north-western summit descends into a steep valley on the same side of the volcano.
The volcano's eruptive history is unclear and the date of its last eruption is unknown. Reports from the 18th and early 19th century claim to record eruptions but these are considered unlikely.
The region around Tajumulco is relatively sparsely populated.
The nearest town is
San Marcos
San Marcos is the Spanish name of Saint Mark. It may also refer to:
Towns and cities Argentina
* San Marcos, Salta
Colombia
* San Marcos, Antioquia
* San Marcos, Sucre
Costa Rica
* San Marcos, Costa Rica (aka San Marcos de Tarrazú)
...
, located to the south-east.
Although it is infrequently visited,
the volcano can be climbed in about five hours from the hamlet of Tuichán. Views are variable as the area is frequently covered in mist and cloud, with conditions at their least favorable between April and September.
See also
*
List of mountain peaks of North America
This article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaksThis article defines a significant summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominence, and a major summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominence. All ...
**
List of mountain peaks of Central America
Article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaksThis article defines a significant summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominence, and a major summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominence. All summit ...
***
List of volcanoes in Guatemala
This is a list of active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes in Guatemala.
Volcanoes
See also
* Central America Volcanic Arc
* List of volcanoes in El Salvador
* List of volcanoes in Honduras
* List of volcanoes in Mexico
Footnotes
...
*
List of elevation extremes by country
The following sortable table lists land surface elevation extremes by country or dependent territory.
Topographic elevation is the vertical distance above the reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gr ...
Notes
References
:*
:*
:*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tajamulco
Sierra Madre de Chiapas
San Marcos Department
Volcan Tajumulco
Volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Ear ...
Tajumulco
Tajumulco is a municipality in the San Marcos department of Guatemala.
History
Colonial era
In 1690, Tejutla had a large area and included the modern municipalities of Comitancillo, Ixchiguán, Concepción Tutuapa, Sipacapa, Sibinal, Taju ...
Volcan Tajumulco
Highest points of countries