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The 'Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt' ''(Eje Volcánico Transversal)'' is a volcanic belt that extends 900 km from west to east across central-southern Mexico. It is also locally known as 'Sierra Nevada' ('Snowy Range') since several of its highest peaks have snow all year long. During clear weather, they are visible to a large proportions of those who live in Mexico
on the many high plateaus that these volcanoes rise from.
From the west, it runs from Jalisco east through northern Michoacán, southern Guanajuato, southern Querétaro, México State, southern Hidalgo, the Distrito Federal, northern Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala, to central Veracruz. The Mexican Plateau lies to the north, bounded by the Sierra Madre Occidental to the west and Sierra Madre Oriental to the east. Cofre de Perote volcano, in Veracruz, is where the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt meets the Sierra Madre Oriental. To the south, the basin of the Balsas River lies between the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and the Sierra Madre del Sur.
The highest point, also the highest point in Mexico, is Pico de Orizaba (5636 m) also known as Citlaltépetl, located at . This, and several of the other higher peaks, are active or dormant volcanoes; other notable volcanoes in the range include (from west to east) Nevado de Colima (4339 m), Parícutin (2774 m), Nevado de Toluca (4577 m), Popocatépetl (5452 m), Iztaccíhuatl (5286 m), Matlalcueitl (4461 m) Cofre de Perote (4282 m) and Sierra Negra, a companion of the Pico de Orizaba (4580 m).
The mountains are home to the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests, one of the Mesoamerican pine-oak forests ecoregions.

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External links

External links

★ Mexico Volcanoes and Volcanics USGS

★ Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests (World Wildlife Fund)