Volcán Bárcena

Volcán Bárcena, formed by eruptions during 1952-53, is the most prominent feature of the 4.5-km-long Isla San Benedicto, the NE-most of the Revillagigedo Islands, 350 km S of the tip of Baja California. Pleistocene trachytic lava domes form the north end of the island, with Bárcena and Montículo Cinerítico at the southern end. Montículo Cinerítico is a smaller tephra cone that preceded and was largely overtopped by Bárcena, and may also have been constructed during the past few hundred years. Growth of the 300-m-high Bárcena tephra cone beginning in August 1952 was accompanied by strong explosive eruptions and pyroclastic flows. The eruption concluded the following year with the emplacement of two small lava domes in the crater and extrusion of a coastal lava delta at the SE base of the cone.