Las Derrumbadas, Twin dome volcano in Puebla, Mexico
Las Derrumbadas is a pair of rhyolitic lava domes in the Llanos de San Juan, eastern Puebla, split between Guadalupe Victoria and San Nicolás Buenos Aires. The southeastern cone, Derrumbada Roja or de Fuego, rises to 3,480 m; the northwestern one, Derrumbada Azul or de Agua, to 3,420 m. A few kilometres north, Cerro Pinto, or Derrumbada Blanca, at 3,000 m, is often counted with them.
Las Derrumbadas is a pair of rhyolitic lava domes, not a stratovolcano: the southern Derrumbada Roja (3,480 m) and the northern Derrumbada Azul (3,420 m) rose as viscous rhyolite was extruded in the endorheic Llanos de San Juan basin of the eastern Eje Neovolcánico. Cerro Pinto, or Derrumbada Blanca (3,000 m), a few kilometres north, is often counted with them. Fumarolic activity, strongest on the Roja, has led to studies of the domes as a geothermal energy source.
The name Las Derrumbadas means "the collapsed ones" or "the ones that suffered a stonefall" in Spanish. Locals distinguish the cones by colour and element: the southeastern summit is Derrumbada Roja or de Fuego (Red or Fire), the northwestern one Derrumbada Azul or de Agua (Blue or Water), and nearby Cerro Pinto is often counted as Derrumbada Blanca (White).
The federal highway 140 (Tepeaca–Veracruz) skirts the northwestern Derrumbada Azul, giving road access to the slopes. Hiking groups such as CEMAC make periodic ascents, but the ground is poorly consolidated and prone to rockfalls, so the climbs are demanding. The summits are little visited compared with the nearby Cofre de Perote, Sierra Negra and Pico de Orizaba.
The name Las Derrumbadas means "the collapsed ones" in Spanish, a reference to the stonefalls that give the domes their shape. Cerro Pinto, a third summit at 3,000 m a few kilometres north, is often counted as part of the complex under the name Derrumbada Blanca.
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