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Comparative petrological study of Pico de Orizaba and Nevado de Toluca stratovolcanoes, Mexico

Clothilde Jost1,  Jose Luis  Arce2, Gregor Weber3, 4 , Martín Miranda-Muruzábal1, Delphine Sourisseau 2, Luca Caricchi1

  • Affiliations:  1Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Genève, Switzerland; 2 Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México; 3 School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK; 4School of Earth Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK 

  • Presentation type: Poster

  • Presentation time: Tuesday 16:30 - 18:30, Room Poster Hall

  • Poster Board Number: 215

  • Programme No: 3.2.38

  • Theme 3 > Session 2

Abstract

Stratovolcanoes show a wide range of eruptive rates and behaviours, potentially reflecting differences in magmatic systems architecture and history, moderated by tectonic factors. However, on a case-by-case basis, the influence of such parameters remains poorly understood. To address this challenge, we conduct a comparative petrological study of two stratovolcanoes showing different eruptive rates and chemistry of erupted products: Pico de Orizaba and Nevado de Toluca, located in the subduction-related Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB). Pico de Orizaba stratovolcano, situated at the eastern margin of the TMVB at a trench-normal distance of about 390 km, has been active since the Pleistocene (650 Ka) and likely last erupted in the 16th century. Over its four main volcanic stages (Torrecillas, Espolón de Oro, so-called Outer Domes and Citlaltépetl), it has erupted a range of basaltic andesite to rhyolite compositions, alternating over time between higher and lower silica content lava. In contrast, Nevado de Toluca, located in the central part of the TMVB at a trench-normal distance of about 300 km, is a long-lived compositionally monotonous stratovolcano, that has predominantly produced dacites and minor andesites since 1.5 Ma, with its last eruption dated at around 3 Ka. We used optical microscopy, Electron Probe Microanalyzer, X-ray Fluorescence and machine learning based thermobarometry and chemometry on newly acquired samples from these two contrasting volcanoes, to trace the parameters influencing their magma generation and the temporal evolution of their volcanic plumbing system architectures.