Description
The volcano has a 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) wide summit caldera which is open to the east. The highest summit, 4,680 metres (15,354 ft) Pico del Fraile (Friar's Peak), is on the southwest side of the crater and the second highest, 4,640 metres (15,223 ft) Pico del Aguila (Eagle's Peak), is on the northwest. There are two crater lakes on the floor of the basin at about 4,200 m (13,800 ft), the larger Lago del Sol (Sun Lake) and the smaller, but deeper, Lago de la Luna (Moon Lake). A road formerly ran into the caldera to the lakes, making this perhaps the most accessible major Mexican peak. The road is now gated 2 km before the lakes.
The last major eruption of Nevado de Toluca occurred in 10.5 ka BP, as the volcano erupted a total estimated volume of 14 km3 for a VEI strength of 6 (comparable to the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo). The eruption emplaced 1.5 m (5 ft) of pebble-sized pumice in the City of Toluca region and ~50 cm (2 ft) of medium to fine sand in the Mexico City region. Distal lahar deposits derived from the Upper Toluca Pumice event incorporated mammoth bones and other mammals in the basin of Mexico. A future event of this magnitude would disrupt the lives of 30 million people now living in these cities and their surroundings.
From the southeast, Nevado de Toluca looks flat-topped, like shoulders without a head. A Nahuatl legend (recounted as part of the legend of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl) provides a mythical explanation.
The volcano and the area around it is now a national park.
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