Popocatapetl Volcano, Mexico

The snow-capped peak of Mexico's Popocatepetl stratovolcano rises above Tlamacas to its north.

Faint steam ascends from a deep elliptical summit crater, whose NE rim is 170 m below the summit.

The sharp peak below the horizon at the right is Ventorrillo, the summit of the eroded Nexpayantla volcano, a predecessor to Popocatepetl.

Its steep cliffs expose the stratified, layered interior of a stratovolcano.

PHOTO SOURCE: William Melson 1968, courtesy of the Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, used with permission.

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