It’s a new year alright, and what better way to start it than with a GeoPicture? This is the Xico volcanic crater in Mexico.

Image via Imgur.

Located in the southern parts of of Mexico City in the municipality of Xico within the Chichinautzin volcanic field. The Chichinautzin volcanic is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, relatively close to the area where the Cocos tectonic plate subducts beneath the North American Plate (about 350 km / 220 miles). The filed is formed mostly from small cinder cones and shield volcanoes.

As you can see here, the crater is slowly being engulfed by urban development as more and more houses are being built around it, even at the base of its slopes. Farmers have even climbed the top of the volcano and used the fertile soil to plow fields.

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