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LATE FORMATIVE FLOODING OF IZAPA AFTER AN ERUPTION OF TACANÁ VOLCANO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2019

José Luis Macías ,
José Luis Arce ,
Lucia Capra ,
Ricardo Saucedo  and
Juan Manuel Sánchez-Núñez
José Luis Macías*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geofísica, Unidad Michoacán, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus-Morelia, Morelia, 58090, Michoacán, Mexico
José Luis Arce
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Coyoacán 04510, Mexico
Lucia Capra
Affiliation:
Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Blvd. Juriquilla No. 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro 76230, Mexico
Ricardo Saucedo
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Dr. M. Nava no 5, Zona Universitaria, San Luis Potosí 78240, Mexico
Juan Manuel Sánchez-Núñez
Affiliation:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Miguel Othón de Mendizabal s/n. Col. La Escalera., 16 Del. Gustavo A. Madero, Mexico City 07320, Mexico
*
E-mail correspondence to: jlmacias@igeofisica.unam.mx
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Abstract

Between the years of 30 b.c. to a.d. 80, during the Late Formative period, the site of Izapa was flooded by lahars associated with an explosive eruption of the San Antonio volcano (part of the Tacaná Volcanic Complex). Computer simulations suggest that hot pyroclastic flows did not impact Izapa directly, but did impact the region considerably, filling and clogging the Cahuacan and Mixcun rivers with hot debris. The material was quickly saturated by heavy rains and, as the water from the rivers overtopped the obstruction, remobilized in the form of a hot mixture of mud and water known as a lahar (or flood of volcanic origin), which flowed down through the piedmont zone along the Cahuacan, Mixcun-Suchiate, and Izapa rivers. At Izapa, the flood took the form of a 6-m catastrophic wave of mud and water that likely destroyed crops and caused many causalities, surrounding the architectural mounds at Izapa with a muddy landscape. The floods also dramatically affected the rivers downstream, undoubtedly wreaking serious damage to the transport and trade of goods along the coast.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 29 , Special Issue 2: Recent Research on Izapa Archaeology and Iconography , Fall 2018 , pp. 361 - 371
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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References

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