Volume 9 - 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.668266 This article is part of the Research TopicGeohazards and Risks in High Mountain RegionsView all 9 articles A singular precipitation event on the summit glacial slopes of Mexico’s highest volcanic peak Citlatépetl (also known as Pico de Orizaba) associated with the passage of Hurricane Ernesto across the southern Mexico mainland in August 2012 resulted in a debris flow at altitudes above 4,400 m asl culminating in a hyperconcentrated flow downstream that had major impacts to a river valley’s channel morphology as well as to communities along a 25 km runout The lahar originated at the terminal moraine and proglacial ramp of the Little Ice Age (LIA) extent of Citlaltépetl’s Jamapa glacier Precipitation amounts were estimated based on nearby CONAGUA stations but also on TRMM satellite images leading to an estimated 106 mm for a 3 day total with 85 mm (80% of the total) falling on August 9th The initial debris flow removed a minimum estimated 60,000 m3 of material from the proglacial ramp A possible causative scenario is that the precipitation event overpressured the groundwater hydrology of an already unstable glacial-melt-saturated moraine We demonstrate a methodology for the recreation of a pre-event landscape and the environmental conditions at the onset of the lahar in-situ geomorphological and geological evidence The Jamapa glacial valley and recent lava flow can be seen in the lower mid-section of the volcano Arrow shows lahar inception area in the uppermost Jamapa watershed at the east end of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (shaded area) which adding up to glacial meltwater provides ideal conditions for slope instability and mass movements in general The study area as referenced in this paper refers to the Jamapa glacial valley which extends from the current foot of the glacier to the terminal moraines and pro-glacial ramp left by the retreat of the Jamapa glacial tongue during the Little Ice Age (LIA) (A)–overview of the upper Jamapa watershed (DEM) and virtual “sample points” (1–9) of visual channel width changes (B)–location number 7 before (7a) and after (7b) the 2012 lahar event (C–I) Satellite image analysis before and after the 2012 lahar event [location numbers correspond to the ones in (A)] Measured before- and after widths are indicated The total valuation of the infrastructural damage to roads and homes and the money allocated for debris removal and construction of provisional thoroughfares in both municipalities was $145 000.00 (MP–Mexican Pesos) according to an official 2014 report from the National Center of prevention of Disasters (CENAPRED) and the Veracruz State Government 2012 report The impacts from the Ernesto event were not only reported downslope by printed newspapers but also at higher levels on the northern volcano flanks by local climbing/glacier guides who observed and documented impacting morphologic changes near the inception point (one of the routes to Pico`s summit) and where the Jamapa river crosses one of the two main road accesses to get to the alpine hut These in situ observations further confirm Ernesto as the triggering mechanism for the lahar and channel altering event showing the relevant geologic and periglacial features relevant to this study FIGURE 3. Ikonos satellite image (2003) of Citlaltépetl´s summit and north face with overlays of glacier extents since the 1950’s. Included are the mapped LIA terminal moraine ridges (white lines) as mapped by Palacios et al. (1999) Generalized illustration of glacial and periglacial features of the Jamapa glacial valley and former LIA glacial tongue from the current glacial foot to the LIA proglacial ramp in plan and profile views Two simplified transverse profiles A–A′ and B–B′ of the glacier tongue and terminal moraine are shown The avalanches reached distances to up to 70–100 km from the source toward the Gulf coast due to the great height difference between surrounding valleys and the summit The material mixed with rainwater had its origin in pyroclastic and epiclastic deposits on intermediate and upper volcano flanks These types of events (diluted lahars or hyperconcentrated flows and floods) have very short recurrence intervals because their origin is related to episodic rainfalls and/or surges in glacier meltwater in comparison to the previously mentioned big-volume avalanches and related cohesive debris flows due to flank collapses during Citlatépetl´s history For the following description of the hydrology and the geomorphology of the Jamapa glacial valley, the reader is referred to a generalized illustrative model of the valley in plan and profile views (Figure 4) Due to these levees and also to the slightly higher topography of the flow it appears only a small component of meltwater from the current glacier foot makes it onto the lava flow There could be both downward percolation of water through the lava flow but there could also be upwelling of waters from below the flow through those same fractures depending on hydraulic pressures and local hydraulic gradients The flow is flanked on both the east and west sides (outside the levee walls) by unconsolidated fines, gravels, and boulders that were in part the lateral moraines of the LIA glacial tongue as well as rock fall material eroded from the steep walls of the valley (refer to the plan view and transverse profiles of Figure 4) The hydrology of these flanks is strongly dominated by subsurface groundwater flow as the material is highly porous and permeable during the summer melt season the authors have observed a small surface stream developing on a daily basis on this west side of the valley The volume is much greater higher up the valley than lower suggesting much of the flow is infiltrating the sediments The stream begins to flow early afternoon and ceases mid-evening This behavior suggests that the groundwater potentiometric surface is essentially quite close to the surface throughout much of the valley (outside the flanks of the lava flow) This has important ramifications in regard to both the sensitivity of the hydrology to additional input such as from a rain or large snow event and to the stability of the unconsolidated materials due to excessive pore pressures we have annotated the surface channels and surface flow directions with the white arrows The two separate systems of surface drainage can be seen clearly in this image indicated by ellipse A is sourced by the glacial meltwater indicated by ellipse B is dominated by surface drainage of the lava flow almost entirely sourced by rain and snow melt with a small component of glacier meltwater Annotated scene of the LIA terminal zone of the glacier discriminating two distinct surface hydrology zones Ellipse (A) identifies a surface drainage system from the west side lateral moraine and erosional deposits Ellipse (B) identifies a surface drainage system from the lava flow There are two distinct hydrologic seasons for the region as well as for the study area; a dry season from November to April and a wet season from May to October. This seasonality is common to the tropics and is driven by fluctuation of the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) (Cavazos and Hastenrath, 1990) given that the study area is on the northern edge of the ITCZ the area is also influenced by North American frontal systems that occasionally penetrate as far as southern Mexico during the winter months The type of precipitation in the region and study area varies seasonally Mist and fog-based precipitation occurs most frequently in the dry (winter) season but may also occur in the wet summer season Convective type rainfall occurs most frequently in the summer season as orographic-driven afternoon rainfall Intense rain events may also be associated with tropical lows and hurricane activity in the adjacent Gulf of Mexico snow events may occur anytime during the year but much less frequently during the drier winter than the summer This behavior is driven largely by the tropical and altitude climatology rather than the seasonal climatology A network of precipitation gauge stations operated by Mexico’s National Commission on Water (CONAGUA) exists in the region Sixty-one gauges are currently operational within a 75 km radius of the study area 51 of which were operational in August of 2012 No CONAGUA stations exist within the study area CONAGUA station 21073 (elev 3,080 m) is 12 km to the southwest 30486 (elev 2040 m) and 30072 (elev 1,350 m) are 14 km to the south and 29 km to the east None of these stations are considered appropriate for estimating precipitation precisely in the study area due to the considerable difference in elevation and to their geographic location–station 21073 For the purposes of estimating precipitation in the study area for the 2012 event we have resorted to satellite estimates as will be discussed in the methods section Recently installed (2018) meteorological stations (financed by projects mentioned in the acknowledgements; not being part of the CONAGUA network) at high altitudes give some idea on actual rainfall and show a yearly rainfall of 856 mm at 4,500 m asl (April 2018 to March 2019); further downslope at 3,500 m annual precipitation is almost twice as much (1,360 mm for the same time span) Maximum daily rainfall accumulates up to 55 mm at 4,500 mm altitude (September 2019) These data provide some context for evaluating the Ernesto precipitation event as a statistical outlier or not The shortest distance of the center of the storm with respect to the study area was 150 km (Huajuapan de León Between the 8th and 10th of August (to be called the precipitation event period) Ernesto produced heavy rainfall in the southern and central part of Veracruz state The storm center moved rapidly across the mainland no gauge measurements provided any estimate of Ernesto rainfall proximal to the study area in 2012 The nearest meteorological station to the study area is CONAGUA station 21073 located 10 km southwest of the Citlaltépetl summit at an elevation of 3,080 m This station recorded 2.6 mm on August 8th 500 m lower in elevation and 9 km further west These stations are on the west side of the north-south divide of the Sierra Madre and may not be very representative of the precipitation that fell within the upper Jamapa valley on the east side of the divide The closest east-side CONAGUA stations 21067 and 30072 28 km north-northeast and 30 km due east of Citlaltépetl’s summit These stations are at 2,346 and 1,350 m elevation Forty-six stations within 75 km of Citlaltépetl received a mean event rainfall of 128 mm (±79 mm SD) The event period means for the east and west sides of the divide were 84(54 mm SD) and 191 mm (66 mm SD) Approximately 80% of the event rainfall occurred on the 9th with the study area on the geographic divide between the east and west sides we arrived at an estimate of 137 mm for the study area based on a simple mean of the two closest stations A more robust approach was to estimate the value at the study site through a natural neighbor spatial interpolation accomplished in ArcMap. That result yielded an estimate of 114 mm for the 3 day event, with 90 mm occurring on the 9th, the day we suspect the lahar event began (Figure 6A) Ernesto’s track and spatial interpolation and estimation maps of cumulative precipitation in mm for the Ernesto event of August 8–10 based on CONAGUA gauge stations (black dots) in the (A) and NASA’s TMPA (TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis) in the (B) The map is based on a 25 km × 25 km cell size Also shown on this figure is the track of the storm on the 9th of August and none were deemed to be useful at their coarse resolutions There is no possible way to capture the details of a channel feature that averaged 7 m wide prior to the event with a 15 m DEM (the best resolution product available) it was realized that we could digitally reconstruct the pre-event landscape from post-event high resolution drone-based photogrammetry we flew multiple drone mapping missions starting in 2017 from the foot of the glacier through the proximal zone of the lahar runout Because of the unavailability of high-resolution DEMs needed to reconstruct the changes of the landscape These models were developed from high-resolution (3cm/px) images acquired with a DJI Mavic Pro and DJI Phantom quadcopter Flight paths were programmed using the Map Pilot mobile application and were set to a flight altitude of 100 m agl and a maximum flight speed of 7.7 m/s The flight altitude was kept constant at 100 m agl by using the Terrain Awareness feature of this mobile application which enabled the drone to adjust its elevation based on changes in topography to maintain the pre-selected altitude took 15 min and yielded 150 to 250 images with an 80% overlap between them and a 25% overlap between each mission The high-resolution drone images were imported into Drone Mapper photogrammetry software that uses a proprietary algorithm and image-matching techniques to generate elevation measurements and a digital point cloud from stereo pairs of digital images Although different photogrammetry software was used to produce the DEM and orthomosaic of the pro-glacial ramp the ease of use offered by Drone Mapper was found to be preferable and was therefore used for all subsequent DEM construction A working resolution for the drone DEMs was set to 10 cm/px to avoid variation in the finalized products while minimizing the processing time and ensuring the topographic detail was not lost While we could elaborate here on the method of reconstructing the pre-event topography of the lahar inception area that process is more usefully explained in the results section of this paper According to the TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (Figure 6B), the estimate of precipitation for the 3 day Ernesto event was 105.8 mm based on a mean of the two grid cells on either side of the study area location. This estimate is actually in quite good agreement with the interpolation (Figure 6A) based on the CONAGUA gauge stations alone For our subsequent analysis of the lahar event we will use a value of 106 mm for the 3 day total We estimate the uncertainty of the precipitation values derived here as ± 10% Both sets of before and after images show a remarkable change in the pro-glacial ramp area of the glacial valley A deeply incised channel has appeared where none existed before Ernesto The author’s own recollection of this channel before the event (from 2003 to 2010) was that it was at most 2–3 m in depth No significant streamflow had ever been observed in this channel Local farmers during the 1990’s had constructed two sets of aqueducts in an attempt to convey water away from the channel from pools that form in the summer melt season It is not coincidental that these springs are just below (in elevation) the lahar inception area at the downslope edge of the west-side flank of the terminal moraine Multi-date satellite images of the proglacial ramp and excised channel above Alpine Hut (visible at top of image frames at 4,250 m) Lower edge of image frames is at elevation 4,490 m Significant widening and deepening is observed after 2012 event (here 2011 and 2014 imagery) Lower photos (3/2012 and 8/2015) show clearly the before and after channel development One aspect to reconstructing the upper slope conditions that were responsible for the lahar event is that of determining the volume of material that was initially mobilized by the Ernesto precipitation high resolution topographic information would be necessary to calculate the change in the landscape from before to after specifically in the area of the terminal moraine and pro-glacial ramp the best available digital elevation models (DEMs) for the region are 15 m resolution and are thus too coarse to properly estimate the volume of removed material with an acceptable degree of accuracy Given the absence of any field-mapping on pre- or post-event geometry on the proglacial ramp channel, we first devised a simple half-cylinder cross-sectional model to calculate the volume of material removed in the erosion of the first linear kilometer of the channel (essentially the length of the ramp) (Figure 8) The model assumes a conservative doubling of channel width and a quadrupling of channel depth The model also assumes a 25° hillside slope perpendicular to the channel and no significant incision of the pre-event channel These two assumptions are consistent with landscape and channel characteristics as observed by the authors prior to the event Graphic depicting our geometric model for calculating material excised in the channel on the proglacial ramp The product of the cross-sectional area of the excised material (the half circle area less the triangular area depicted in the Figure 8) and the channel length gives the volume of material removed We used a conservative mean channel (post-event) width of 20 m and a channel length of 1,000 m This yielded an excised volume of 110,400 m3 While such a simple geometric model suffices for a rough estimate of excised volume we followed up on a more rigorous approach the author’s conducted the first of several drone mapping flights over the pro-glacial ramp with the objective of creating high resolution (10 cm/px) DEM of the post Ernesto channel shape and topography Given that no abnormal rain event had occurred in the study area between 2012 and 2017 we made the assumption that the channel had not undergone any significant volume changes since 2017 we have observed the channel to be widening from wall collapse but becoming less deep as the wall material has not been carried downstream in any significant way while the channel is slowly changing shape in cross-section the volume has not changed appreciably Illustrative example of contours overlaying DEMs to reflect pre-Ernesto channel topography (B) from post-Ernesto channel topography (A) illustrate how contours were edited to recreate the pre-Ernesto topography in the mid-section of the proglacial ramp FIGURE 10. Graphic showing the result of the pre- and post-Ernesto DEM substraction described in the text (see also Figure 9) The colors depict thicknesses of the excised channel material we determined the volume of material removed from the pro-glacial ramp during the Ernesto event to be 60,443 m3 We consider this number to be a conservative estimate of the volume removed With the prior calculation of 110,400 m3 based on the original geometric model being a liberal estimate we will consider a 95% probability that the volume of material removed by the Ernesto event was between 60,000 and 110,000 m3 the lahar formation coincides with the peak in rainfall; even though there was no meteorological station directly at the lahar formation site all stations at Pico de Orizaba lower flanks and the surroundings of the volcano show a precipitation peak the 9th of August coinciding with the lahar event Channel deepening and widening of several to tens of meters in the uppermost part of the Jamapa valley is difficult to explain with the 90–110 mm of rainfall estimated to have occurred during the storm event In order to remove these considerable amounts of material by surface flows achieved usually by the junction of several small superficial flows The aggregation of these surface flows increase downstream until sufficient volume is reached (and velocity) to start the erosional process this is not what we see in this particular event Erosion on a large scale started at the highest reaches of the watershed where the catchment area is quite small and no aggregation of stream flow could have occurred A close inspection and comparison of pre- and post-event imagery shows little if any evidence of tributary flow or formation above the point of inception of the lahar event assuming that none of the precipitation infiltrated–an assumption that has no basis whatsoever given the highly porous surface materials observed in the glacial valley we are confident that precipitation fell as snow or hail above 4,700 m leaving a much smaller catchment basin for actual rain The portion of the catchment below 4,700 m is 174,000 m2 generating approximately 17,400 m3 of rain given the 100 mm event as a uniform depth This would be enough water to form a debris flow with about 73% solids assuming it was 100% runoff–which is an impossible assumption Given that the reported date of the beginning of the flood was on the 9th we cannot envision any conventional mechanism to move that quantity of water (or even a fraction of it) into the drainage system either overland or as groundwater—the former because we see no visual evidence of runoff and gully formation above the moraine from the post-event imagery and the latter because the subsurface transport time for infiltrating rain would be much too long for a groundwater influx to arrive at the lahar inception point This leads to our hypothesis that glacial melt in the summer melt season has largely saturated the sediment column in the west side lateral moraine and what remains of the west flank of the terminal moraine Small height increases of this potentiometric surface driven by daily melt pulses from the glacier would explain the daily streamflow behavior in the channel below the moraine in the vicinity of where the aqueducts intersect the channel The rapid downward infiltration of rainwater from the Ernesto event in the porous west-side deposits would have immediately and substantially raised the potentiometric surface and thus pore water pressure Such an event has immediate consequences and is fundamentally both a hydrologic and soil mechanics problem The total vertical stress in a saturated column of granular material is equal to the sum of the vertical effective stress and the pore water pressure This is summarized by the following equation A liquefaction event at the downslope foot of the moraine deposit could have been triggered by the following mechanism could have risen (T2) above ground level (at least at the channel bottom) The effect of which would have reduced to near zero the effective stresses holding the matrix together and gravity dominates in the initiation of a debris flow depicting a likely triggering scenario for the observed excision of the sediments in the proglacial ramp channel The pre- and post- potentiometric surfaces (dashed lines) are shown as T1 and T2 in the longitudinal and transverse cross sections The insets illustrate the opposing effective stress and pore water stress at grain scale the channel deposits liquefied and began moving at once This would explain the morphology of the west side post-event channel where excision only occurred in the channel could have been formed with more conventional overland flow erosion This destabilization of moraine deposits phenomenon should come as no surprise to Alpine glaciologists who for years have documented similar moraine outbursts and debris flow events in the Alps (Chiarle et al., 2007), events often triggered by short intense rainfall events overpressuring saturated morainal sediments. Chiarle (2000) study documented 9 debris flows triggered by rainfall and saturation conditions The most severe of those events had a flow runout of just about 5 km compared to our 25 km which is explained by the large addition of precipitation and surface water as the material flowed downslope this way the lahar became hyperconcentrated quickly as preserved channel deposits show in the proximal area Incipient stratification and some sorting can be observed along the first 5 km already Some of the alpine events had total volumes approaching 800,000 m3 Minor debris flows continued to occur since then (Palacios and Vazquez Selem, 1996; Palacios, 1999) The Ernesto precipitation event provided sufficient water to remove the lowermost portion of the former incipient water drainage channel (bottom of the valley formed along the proglacial ramp) in the form of liquefaction and a debris flow Substantial water input (larger watershed area) when moving downslope led to dilution of the initial debris flow into a hyperconcetrated flow which eroded and deposited along a 25 km long transect along the Jamapa channel and our analysis show reasonably clear evidence that this flow event started as a moraine/ramp outburst (or better liquefaction from a rising water table) event forming a debris flow quickly transforming into hyperconcentrated flow downslope Due to the channel excavation which occurred during the 2012 event is has been observed that the channel flow is more frequent and more continuous corresponding to the higher water table relative to the channel bottom as all the overlying loose material was removed The remaining ice cap on Citlaltépetl continues to melt That water continues to move downslope primarily as groundwater and most likely will maintain high saturation levels within the glacial and volcanoclastic sediments at the LIA terminal and lateral moraines and proglacial ramp But before Citlaltépetl’s ice is gone the approximately one million people that live under its shadow must be ever so aware of the hazard related to lahar events not to mention the loss of a dependable water supply That tropical storm activity in the southern Gulf will most likely intensify in coming years in the context of a warming ocean and atmosphere is a reminder and a warning that glacial-mountain environments unstable moraines and high altitude rain events are a dangerous mix The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors KS and BW had the original idea of the manuscript but all authors contributed to the manuscript Funding was provided partly by GeoscientistsWithoutBorders® (GWB) Program of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) through the project “Hydrometeorologic and geologic hazards at Pico de Orizaba volcano Mexico” and also by the French and Mexican Government (ECOPICS project The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Threats to Water Supply in the Tropical Andes CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Brown, D. P. (2013). Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Ernesto (AL052012). Retrieved from http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL052012_ Ernesto.pdf September 2 Google Scholar Brown, S., Weissling, B., and Lewis, M. J. (2005). An Ice Thickness Study Utilizing Ground Penetrating Radar on the Lower Jamapa Glacier of Citlaltepetl (El Pico de Orizaba), Mexico. Workshop on Radar Investigations of Planetary and Terrestrial Environments, Houston, Texas. Available at: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/2005016197 Google Scholar Debris Avalanche and Debris Flow Transformed from Collapse in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Hydrological Control of Large hurricane-induced Lahars: Evidence from Rainfall-Runoff Modeling CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Carrasco-Núñez “Volcanogenic sedimentation around Citlaltépetl volcano (Pico de Orizaba) and surroundings Mexico,” in Magmatism and Tectonics in the Central and Northwestern Mexico – A Selection of the 1997 IAVCEI General Assembly Excursions Google Scholar Carrasco-Núñez Structure and proximal stratigraphy of Citlaltépetl volcano (Pico de Orizaba) Carrasco-Núñez Multiple Edifice-Collapse Events in the Eastern Mexican Volcanic Belt: The Role of Sloping Substrate and Implications for hazard Assessment CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Carrasco-Núñez A Voluminous Avalanche-Induced Lahar from Citlaltépetl Volcano Mexico: Implications for hazard Assessment CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Convection and Rainfall over Mexico and Their Modulation by the Southern Oscillation CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Analisi dei Pericolinaturali in ambiente glaciale Italy: Unpublished PhD thesisPolitecnico di Torino Recent Debris Flow Occurrences Associated with Glaciers in the Alps CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CONAGUA (2012). Reseña del huracán “Ernesto” del Océano Atlántico. SEMARNAT. 11. Available at: http://smn.cna.gob.mx/ciclones/tempo2012/atlantico/Ernesto-a2012.pdf Google Scholar Cortés-Ramos Evolution of the Largest Glacier in Mexico (Glaciar Norte) since the 50s: Factors Driving Glacier Retreat CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar DOF (Diario Oficial de la Federación, México (2015). ACUERDO por el que se da a conocer el Resumen del Programa de Manejo del Parque Nacional Pico de Orizaba. Available at: http://dof.gob.mx/nota_to_doc.php?codnota=5399982 Google Scholar DOF (Diario Oficial de la Federación, México) (2012). Declaratoria de Emergencia por la presencia de la tormenta tropical Ernesto (lluvia severa) el 9 de agosto de 2012, en 40 municipios del Estado de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave. Available at: http://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5265156&fecha=23/08/2012 Google Scholar Response of Global Tropical Cyclone Activity to Increasing CO2: Results from Downscaling CMIP6 Models CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Modelling the 2012 Lahar in a Sector of Jamapa Gorge (Pico de Orizaba Volcano Mexico) Using RAMMS and Tree-Ring Evidence CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Permafrost in Steep Bedrock Slopes and its Temperature-Related Destabilization Following Climate Change CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Late Quaternary Glacial Chronology of the Mexican Volcanoes Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Present and Past Geocryogenic Processes in Mexico CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Late Pleistocene to Holocene eruptive activity of Pico de Orizaba CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Is Climate Change Responsible for Changing Landslide Activity in High Mountains CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar INEGI - Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (2001). Principales resultados del Censo de Población y Vivienda 2010, México. Available at: http://www.inegi.gob.mx Google Scholar Kääb “Glacier and Permafrost Hazards in High Mountains,” in Global Change and Mountain Regions: An Overview of Current Knowledge Reasoner (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers) CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Last Glacial Maximum Equilibrium Line Altitudes in the Circum-Caribbean (Mexico CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Geoecological Investigations on the Timberline of Pico de Orizaba CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Potential for a Hazardous Geospheric Response to Projected Future Climate Changes PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Morales Martínez (2016).Afectaciones por posible asociación de eventos hidrometeorológicos y geológicos en los municipios de Calcahualco y Coscomatepec México: Universidad de Quintana Roo Cozumel CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Ontiveros-González Surface Energy Balance Model for High-Altitude Glacial System at 19 °N on Glaciar Norte Google Scholar Paraglacial and postglacial debris flows on a Little Ice Age terminal moraine: Jamapa Glacier CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Geomorphic Effects of the Retreat of Jamapa Glacier CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Area Changes of Glaciers on Active Volcanoes in Latin America between 1986 and 2015 Observed from Multi-Temporal Satellite Imagery CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar An Overview of Glacial Hazards in the Himalayas CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Rodríguez Flujos de baja concentración asociados con lluvias de intensidad extraordinaria en el flanco sur del volcán Pico de Orizaba (Citlaltépetl) CrossRef Full Text Geochemical and isotopic profile of Pico de Orizaba (Citlaltépetl) volcano Mexico: Insights for magma generation processes CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Mapa de Peligros del Volcán Citlaltépetl (Pico de Orizaba) Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Volcanoes of the World: A Regional Directory and Chronology of Volcanism during the Last 10,000 Years Distribution and current status of permafrost in the highest volcano in North America: Citlaltepetl (Pico de Orizaba) doi:10.22201/igeof.00167169p.2020.59.1.2079 CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Equilibrium Line Altitudes of Late Pleistocene and Recent Glaciers in Central Mexico CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Stratovolcano Stability Assessment Methods and Results from Citlaltépetl CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Climatic Change and Debris Flow Activity in High-Mountain Areas Greenhouse-Impact on Cold-Climate Ecosystems and Landscapes Google Scholar Keywords: Citlaltépetl (Pico de Orizaba) Morales-Martínez MA and Teran S (2021) Reconstruction of the Upper Slope Conditions of an Extraordinary Hydro-Meteorological Event Along the Jamapa Glacier Drainage System Citlaltépetl (Pico de Orizaba) Volcano Received: 15 February 2021; Accepted: 12 July 2021;Published: 23 July 2021 Copyright © 2021 Sieron, Weissling, Morales-Martínez and Teran. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Katrin Sieron, a3NpZXJvbkB1di5teA== Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission Food Research InternationalCitation Excerpt :Similar to other biological activities the antioxidant properties of peptides are related to their composition Lys and Cys was reported to be an important factor in the antioxidant activities of the peptides especially due to their ability to reduce Fe3 + to Fe2 + and to chelate Fe2 + and Cu2 + ions (Carrasco-Castilla et al. which can act as proton donors to electron deficient radicals and efficiently scavenge them (Duan et al. All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V., its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply. communities that depend on mountain springs scramble to find solutionsToday there’s only one glacier left on Mexico’s tallest mountain And scientists say that as much as 60% of it has melted experts estimated that it had maybe just 40 years left they say it will disappear within the decade Sparse trees seen near Orizaba peak in Mexico Just a few decades ago, as many as 14 different glaciers covered the top of Mexico’s tallest mountain — Citlaltépetl or Orizaba peak — in a permanent white shield The areas where the glaciers used to reach down are still visible There’s a clear delineation on the mountainside where the shrub tundra vegetation gives way to a landscape of gray rocks that once laid beneath packs of snow and ice symbolic mark of the march of time and climate change Rivers and streams there are fed by glacial runoff “The possible disappearance in the next 10-15 years puts the population that depends on this water in serious danger,” said Carlos Welsh the coordinator of the Center of Earth Sciences at the University of Veracruz “Not just because of the loss of the glacial runoff but for the rising temperature and the decrease in precipitation that’s happening in the region.” Related: Indigenous communities score victories against two mining projects in Mexico Ricardo Rodríguez Demeneghi a local guide and former mountaineer at Orizaba said he’s summited the mountain some 300 times He’s been on training exercises as director of the Red Cross’ Mexican alpine school and while preparing for trips to the Himalayas and up Argentina’s Aconcagua — the tallest peak in the Americas Up the side of the mountain — just down from the Orizaba Peak National Park — Demeneghi pulled over on the side of the road at the edge of an old aqueduct that used to carry water down to the populations living below although it decreased [at] certain times of the year It only has water during the rainy season.” although it decreased [at] certain times of the year,” he said That’s a problem for the villages and towns on the southern side of the volcano that get much of their water from springs up the mountain they’re only allotted around 60-70 gallons of water every eight days I’m concerned about what may happen over time,” he said “But we’re doing our best to conserve the little water we have.”  the name means “the place of the little rivers.” But that’s not the case anymore residents only have water once or twice a week for a couple of hours at a time they purchase water trucked in from a nearby town — something they will likely have to rely more on in the future Related: Desalination brings fresh water — and concern — to an Indigenous village in northern Mexico But that’s not the only factor pushing Orizaba’s glacier toward extinction. The volcano, once covered in pine forests, is pockmarked by fields where crops are grown and sheep graze. A 2014 report states that in a 25-year period Demeneghi said that authorities turn a blind eye to this deforestation even though it’s illegal That’s because the forests help keep the mountainside cool; trees help condense and capture moisture from wet clouds traveling from the Caribbean coast Decades ago, Demeneghi founded the organization Save Orizaba Peak which helped to reforest an area on the volcano The temperature is remarkably cooler than the surrounding land Save Orizaba Peak planted 5 million trees and built hundreds of miles of fire lines to help control potential wildfires It was a big success — an example of how local communities can adapt to a changing climate governments changed and the COVID-19 pandemic hit Related: Russians and Ukrainians attempt to flee to the US through Mexico the decreasing rain and the melting of the glacier there is also having a tremendous impact far away The Jamapa river begins as runoff from the Jamapa glacier and runs 174 miles downstream until it pours into the Gulf of Mexico The river is essential for roughly 1.5 million people who use it for drinking water But according to Carlos Welsh from the University of Veracruz melt-off from the Jamapa glacier is already 30% lower than just a decade ago “This river has decreased 60% over the last 15 years,” small farmer and water activist Enedino González said in late March speaking from the edge of the Atoyac River “It’s putting at risk people’s lives and our ability to irrigate crops and access drinking water.” Down where the Jamapa river empties into the ocean fishermen are having a harder time finding fish Saltwater from the Caribbean has been detected 5 miles upstream threatening coastal communities and their ability to use the Jamapa for drinking water or irrigation “We have to put respect for nature at the center of our lives.” “We have to take action,” said Emilio Zilli Debernardi a former assistant director of Veracruz University who started the organization Volcano to the Ocean to bring residents together from across the 28 municipalities in the Jamapa River basin “We have to fill the Jamapa river basin with trees We have to put respect for nature at the center of our lives,” he said Zilli takes groups of students and adults out several times a week to visit the Jamapa river and its tributaries up — to witness and to discuss how to respond to it in their own communities Related: A group of Haitian migrants says they were abused at the US-Mexico border. They’re suing the US govt. As Mexico’s last glaciers continue to melt But local environmentalists like Gonzalez and Demeneghi said that they hope that they can help to mitigate the damages and soften the inevitable blow “It seems like we are in a clear process of extinguishing our species,”  Zilli said But what we really need to do is take actions to confront global warming our states — and strengthen public policies.” delivered to your inbox every weekday morning Thanks to our sponsor PRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402 Authorities on Wednesday found the body of Jamapa who was shot and killed execution-style and her body left in an empty lot in the municipality of Medellín de Bravo It is the latest incident in a series that raises more questions than answers about criminality and corruption in this coastal community that is part of the city of Veracruz metropolitan area The newspaper Reforma reported that it had a recording of Ríos claiming that she knew her life was in danger and that her requests for help were ignored by Government Secretary Eric Cisneros who she also claimed had recently disarmed her police force She also said that Jamapa was the target of “harassment” by state authorities and claimed that she had done everything she could to comply with their demands following the arrests of city officials on corruption charges last week She also claimed that Cisneros had told her that until her husband turned himself in to state authorities Jamapa’s police force would remain disarmed “If your husband doesn’t surrender himself I’m not going to give back your police force’s weapons,” Ríos claims Cisneros told her “If you don’t know how your police force is I have no budget to pay anyone to protect me.” Jamapa Police Chief Miguel de Jesús Castillo Hernández was killed in July a video surfaced in which he accused the mayor and her husband of ordering kidnappings and murders in complicity with the police was one of the targets of the anti-corruption sweep in which state authorities arrested the city’s former treasurer and former director of public works but were unable to apprehend Hernández who is ex-director of the city’s DIF family services agency Hernández himself was targeted for attack in March when the Jamapa municipal council told the state Attorney General’s Office that at least eight armed men had appeared in city offices on March 5 demanding Hernández turn himself over and taking city employees hostage for about 10 minutes threatening them if Hernández did not appear they eventually left after taking the hostages’ cell phones Hernández proclaimed his innocence on Facebook Wednesday saying that he was sure Ríos’s killers were now “coming for me.” And it’s all the fault of organized crime,” he said “They have taken away a great woman and exemplary matriarch.” ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC The objective of the Global Program on Sustainability (GPS) Technical Assistance Grant for the Mexico Connecting Watershed Health with Sustainable Livestock and Agroforestry Production Project (CONECTA financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is to strengthen integrated landscape management (ILM) in priority watersheds in Mexico with biophysical evaluation and economic valuation of ecosystem services to boost sustainable inclusive rural livelihoods and promote climate-smart productive practices The Grant is expected to provide analytical underpinnings for land use planning under Component 1 and subprojects focused on conservation and restoration under Component 3 of CONECTA one of the CONECTA targets is to restore 10,500 hectares of degraded land across the 15 targeted watersheds The GPS study focused on three carefully selected CONECTA watersheds across different ecoregions in the states of Chihuahua The deforestation percentage in each watershed is similar but the land size and amount of existing natural vegetation the team was able to refine datasets to significantly improve the baseline delineation allowing a more accurate evaluation of benefits for the proposed CONECTA actions for vegetation recovery such as the creation of biological corridors it was important to determine the natural vegetation at a smaller scale as a baseline reference for targeted actions like live fences In the case of two of the three watersheds (Ameca and Jamapa) priority areas for the project actions focus on the primary productive sector previously determined by the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) with layers available at the national scale But the scale did not allow identification of the remaining vegetation in highly fragmented landscapes the team could focus on smaller areas needing restoration after determining that almost 20% of the priority area of Ameca and more than 40% of the priority area of Jamapa were already forested and were excluded from further analysis the team identified priority restoration areas The next step was to develop a scenario exploring plausible future benefits of proposed climate-smart actions in favor of landscape connectivity The benefits of restoration actions could be evaluated under two perspectives (see Figure 2): it is easier to reach the target of the intervened surface there is a lower percentage of direct intervention in terms of landscape connectivity and recovery of ecosystem services a high participation rate by landowners is necessary to reach the target surface a higher proportion of the watershed gets directly intervened when considering the two perspectives in the climate-smart scenario compared with the BAU scenario over time the connectivity trends are higher under perspective 2 connectivity across the landscape increases carbon sequestration decreases even in the most promising perspective (Figure 3) such as using native species with high carbon sequestration potential Thank you for choosing to be part of the Data Blog community The latest blog posts and blog-related announcements will be delivered directly to your email inbox Be one of the first to try our new activity feed The wind was driving hard across the glacier whipping spindrift into my eyes in staccato bursts high on the summit cone of Pico de Orizaba (18,491 feet) We had been slogging through over a foot of snow since just above 15,000 feet where climbers enter a perplexing jumble of boulders and cliff bands known as the Labyrinth The snow thinned out higher up on the summit cone and shrouds of fog blanketing the mountain I talked with the sole other climber sleeping at the refuge and we agreed it’d be best to stick near each other on our ascent “So much for climate change,” I muttered moronically leaning hard on my axe and pausing to suck in air my exhaustion compelling me to momentarily join the company of imbeciles worldwide who use any instances of cold weather as inerrant proof of the “climate change hoax.”  We were climbing in the rainy season and it was a hell of a day to summit but of course the occasional snowstorm hitting a mountain has nothing to do with the rapid recession of its permanent ice masses Orizaba’s glaciers have shrunk as much as 95 percent in the last century with many no longer existing in any form whatsoever We aren’t talking about a remaining lifespan of decades though will likely be completely gone in a handful of years to climb Orizaba before the mountain is irrevocably changed Mexico historically harbored three glaciated peaks within its borders: Iztaccíhuatl (17,160 feet) Popocatépetl (17,802 feet) and Pico de Orizaba (18,491 feet) the latter also referred to as Citlaltépetl (“Star Mountain,” in the native Náhuatl) the trio of volcanoes held a little over two dozen glaciers between them The glaciers on Popocatépetl (colloquially known as “Popo”) were declared extinct in the early 2000s (a glacier is generally referred to as “extinct” when the ice no longer has enough mass to move under its own weight) Iztaccíhuatl (Izta) only has one official glacier remaining with an expected lifespan of a year or two Within a year Pico de Orizaba may be the last glaciated summit in Mexico The day before my ascent, I spoke with Dr. Gerardo Reyes of Servimont the premier guiding company running trips up Orizaba His family-run outfit is based in Tlachichuca a small town of 7,000 nestled just to the west of the mountain Servimont is the oldest existing mountaineering service in Mexico and Reyes and his family have been guiding on Orizaba and the other Mexican volcanoes for four generations His grandfather began leading trips up the mountain in 1932 Reyes and his three sons now continue the tradition with Servimont operating out of a colonial compound that also houses an extensive mountaineering museum containing a host of 19th-century memorabilia the first official climbing register for the mountain who first climbed Orizaba when he was 15 years old has summited more than 30 times for rescues alone He’s lost count of the times he has stood atop the peak but estimates the number at easily more than 100 Orizaba is both the tallest volcano and third tallest mountain in North America Both Popo and Izta are among the highest mountains on the continent With the shorter duo of peaks only an hour by car outside of Mexico City and Orizaba not much further (200 km as the crow flies) all three mountains are extremely accessible for international climbers Despite their elevation, none of the three mountains require anything more than crampons and a piolet for their standard routes. Though they have minimal crevasse and avalanche danger, rescues and deaths occur every year. Of particular note, a slab avalanche in 1993 killed four climbers embassy staffer was killed on the mountain in 2018 Reyes noted that the majority of accidents are a result of sheer inexperience The mountain attracts many novice climbers and often individuals with no climbing experience whatsoever “People come here thinking it is a hike and try to go without a guide,” he said there has been concern online about crevasses opening on the mountain due to the melting glacier But from talking with Reyes and based on my own experience it seems these concerns are overblown assuming one stays on route and climbs from the north so always use caution if attempting a summit alone.) but the trek itself can easily be done in six to 10 hours from the hut at Piedra Grande (13,900 feet) While it’s true that Orizaba sees scores of climbers during the traditional trekking season (November to March) and the off-season offers a decidedly different experience Given that all three mountains are several thousand feet higher than anything in the contiguous United States they offer a unique opportunity for aspiring North American mountaineers to trek at high altitude on snow and ice without having to deal with any technical pitches of ice or rock and without having to shell out thousands on an international expedition accessible high-altitude mountains in the world It also offers a relatively safe opportunity to climb a glaciated peak at significant elevation alone with mellow route-finding and minimal crevasse danger Orizaba won’t be Orizaba as we know it much longer According to a National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) study published in 2015 Orizaba’s glaciers shrunk 90 percent from 1958 to 2001 alone Of the original nine glaciers on the mountain for which the standard route on Orizaba was named University of Zurich glaciologist Christian Huggel told Reuters in 2007 that Izta’s glaciers have shrunk 70 percent since 1960 and that decline has only continued in the 14 years since with upwards of 50 percent loss of glacial area between 2003 and 2019 according to an AAR study (see below) Though the standard glacier route is a mere trek the mountain used to hold a handful of more technical sections including a 10-pitch WI3 The Serpent’s Head None of these routes have formed in recent years “Orizaba will be a rock climb.” By his estimate the remaining two glaciers on the peak won’t just be technically “extinct,” but completely gone from the peak in 10 years There are no measures ecologically that can reverse it fast enough The surrounding forests are burned each year there are a lot of cattle and sheep around the mountain There are no programs to extend the forest to lower levels to help attract or keep humidity and cool temperatures [on the mountain].” “When I began climbing Orizaba as a teenager,” he said “from the base camp (13,900 feet) we would reach the edge of the glacier in an hour Then you put your crampons on and go to the summit it takes four to five hours to reach the edge of the glacier.” The depth of the glacier has shrunk to a quarter of what it once was—it is now only 10 feet deep in many spots “The glacier has left the moraine in very bad condition,” he added exposing treacherous fields of scree and talus “It’s impressive how fast we are losing it.” While the number of American climbers has remained steady of late Reyes noted that the number of European climbers attempting Orizaba has dropped dramatically in recent years (pre-COVID) but surmised it could be because the worth of an Orizaba summit may have changed in the eyes of some There are a number of theories as to the glacier’s shrinkage, most obviously the overall warming of Earth’s atmosphere, which is hitting equatorial regions harder and faster. An extensive 2019 study published in the journal Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research noted summit temperatures on both Izta and Orizaba are now at or above melting points regularly throughout the year “the atmospheric transport of air pollutants from the Mexico City basin is correlated with the retreat of the glacier and it is possible that pollution plays some role in glacier loss,” the study noted the peak’s Occidental and Suroccidental glaciers which once extended down to an altitude of 4,930 m (16,175 feet) had receded up to 5,310 m (17,421 feet) in 2019 The researchers also found that the Glacier Oriental lost over 50% of its mass between 2003 and 2018 Not only are Orizaba and Izta’s glaciers the only ones remaining in Mexico, the AAR reported that they’re also “the only permanent ice masses at this latitude (20 degrees N)” anywhere in the world. What’s happening in Mexico is not unique: Glaciers are disappearing worldwide, especially fast on equatorial peaks like Orizaba. The consequences reach far beyond climbing, though.  The loss of Orizaba’s glaciers is a tragedy for everyman mountaineers worldwide. Most peaks at this elevation are incredibly costly and inaccessible for the average individual. Either they’re deep in the backcountry, dangerous, require a wealth of technical knowledge and equipment, have costly permits and guiding requirements, or all of the above.  Picking my way up the glacier to stand on the rim of Orizaba’s caldera, a quilt of clouds strewn out below, blanketing the horizon on all sides, the entire summit covered in snow and ice glistening under the dawning sun… It was an incredible moment.  The next generation of climbers, unfortunately, will have a very different experience on Mexico’s tallest mountain. Home a fall killed four people climbing Citlatepetl Orizaba (5,636m) The climbers were roped together above 5,000m on the volcano’s south side when one of them fell and dragged the other three from the mountain Puebla’s regional government confirmed that all four climbers were Mexicans and belonged to the same group Orizaba is an active volcano located in the eastern Sierra Madre range, between the Veracruz and Puebla regions. It is the third-highest peak in North America after Denali and Mount Logan, and is the seventh most prominent peak on Earth, according to Wikipedia Orizaba’s original Nahuatl (an indigenous language) name is Citlatepetl which can be roughly translated as “peak of the star” You can see Venus above the summit in autumn and winter from the village of Coscomatepec Orizaba is a pretty straightforward ascent, usually done in two days, but it does come with some risks. Snow covers the summit area all year and, while not technically difficult, Orizaba requires caution, especially above 5,000m on glacial terrain up to 35º, according to Summit Post Orizaba’s high season is typically during the dry season between November and March The normal route on Orizaba goes up the north side of the mountain Jamapa is the last remaining glacier on the peak Angela Benavides graduated university in journalism and specializes in high-altitude mountaineering and expedition news She has been writing about climbing and mountaineering adventure and outdoor sports for 20+ years Angela Benavides spent time at/worked at a number of local and international media She is also experienced in outdoor-sport consultancy for sponsoring corporations Sign up to receive ExplorersWeb content direct to your inbox once a week Plastic pollution is a significant problem in Veracruz: a study by Greenpeace México and the Technological Institute of Veracruz counted over 4,000 pieces of plastic litter in a relatively small area of the Gulf coast state The environmental organization and the higher education institute presented on Wednesday a report entitled Amenaza plástica: un problema en las costas veracruzanas (Plastic Threat: a Problem on the Veracruz coast) It’s based on a plastic litter census carried out on 11 beaches in the Boca del Río-Alvarado urban area on islands and in lagoons of the Veracruz Reef System National Park and in the lower parts of the Jamapa and Cotaxtla rivers Researchers counted a total of 4,344 pieces of plastic litter in the area studied most of which were fragments of unidentifiable plastic and polystyrene PET bottles and their lids were the second most commonly found plastic items while plastic bags and plastic packaging were among the other items of litter located Only 25% of the pieces of litter collected were identifiable in terms of the company that made them Of 1,104 items whose manufacturer was established a figure much higher than that of any other company Researchers found 87 PepsiCo plastic items making that company the second biggest indirect litterer said that minute pieces of plastic – “microplastics and even nanoplastics” – that have broken off larger items are the most dangerous to humans and animals “These small fragments are the least visible and those that cause more damage to biodiversity and human beings,” he said “There is scientific evidence that micro and nano plastics are increasingly being incorporated into the tissues and organs of living organisms and they’re also present in the water and air While more studies about the effects of plastic on human health and biodiversity must be done the potential impacts are present and that’s why taking urgent measures to stop this problem is necessary.” a Greenpeace campaigner and one the study’s coordinators said that plastic pollution isn’t just a problem of inadequate waste management but also one of production and mass consumption of disposable plastics companies must leave behind single-use plastics and move toward … distribution of products [whose packaging] is reusable,” she said but Greenpeace said it is indicative of a problem across Mexico The organization called on federal lawmakers to “substantially modify” the General Law for the Prevention and Comprehensive Management of Waste in order to “achieve real changes to protect our catchment areas Greenpeace said that companies need to be more responsible for the plastic products and packaging they make and asserted that the definition of single-use plastics must be changed among other measures aimed at reducing plastic pollution “Regulating correctly is the first step to changing corporate responsibility and creating more rigid obligations and sanctions to transforming the culture of consumption … and improving the waste management systems in the country’s cities,” it said “The throwaway culture must be left behind – our planet needs systematic changes and … moving toward reuse and refill is essential.”