Citlaltépetl

Citlaltépetl ; Pico de Orizaba
height	5636 m
location	Border states Puebla / Veracruz , Mexico
Dominance	2,690.14 km → Mount Logan
Notch height	4922 m
Coordinates	19 ° 1 ′ 49 ″ N , 97 ° 16 ′ 11 ″ W Coordinates: 19 ° 1 ′ 49 ″ N , 97 ° 16 ′ 11 ″ W
Type	Stratovolcano
rock	Andesite , dacite
Age of the rock	Middle Pleistocene to Holocene
Last eruption	1846
First ascent	May 10, 1848 by F. Maynard and G. Reynolds
Normal way	Alpine tour, glaciated
particularities	Highest volcano in North America and highest mountain in Mexico

The Citlaltépetl (also called Pico de Orizaba ) is the highest volcano in North America and the highest mountain in Mexico with a height of 5636 m . Its summit, which is snow-covered into the summer, is visible to ships in the Gulf of Mexico from a distance of 110 km on - rare - clear days .

Toponyms

The name Citlaltépetl means something like 'mountain of the star' and is a combination of the Nahuatl words citlalli ('star') and tepetl ('mountain'). Another local name is Iztactépetl , which means 'White Mountain'. However, this is also a synonym for the Iztaccíhuatl .

location

The mountain lies on the border between the Mexican states of Veracruz and Puebla, north of the city of Orizaba, which has around 120,000 inhabitants . The Río Jamapa rises in its eastern foothills .

Volcanic activity

A severe eruption occurred in 1566. Further eruptions occurred in 1537, 1569, 1613 and 1630. The most recent known eruption dates from 1846. After centuries of silence, fumaroles were last seen again in 2010 at Citlaltépetl , which were the first signs for a new phase of activity.

history

The first ascent took place in 1848 by F. Maynard and G. Reynolds. The mountain has been a national park since 1937. In 1959 three climbers disappeared. In 2015, two mummified climbers were found who have yet to be identified.

The Large Millimeter Telescope was built in 2007 on the neighboring Sierra Negra summit .

In the vicinity of the mountain is also the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC), a research facility for the detection of cosmic rays and extraterrestrial gamma rays with the help of the Cherenkov radiation effect .