Supplementary Files
Keywords
Volcanic debris flows
Speleogenesis
Nevado de Toluca
Pleistocene volcanism
Mexico
How to Cite
Citas en Dimensions Service
Abstract
Cacahuamilpa Cave, along with several adjacent inactive systems and two lower active river caves, originated in response to Pleistocene volcanic processes associated with Nevado de Toluca, located approximately 50 km to the north. A catastrophic sector collapse of the volcanic edifice generated a large debris avalanche that evolved into the Pilcaya debris flow, which was channeled southward along the paleovalleys of the Chontacoatlán and San Jerónimo rivers. Prior to this event, these rivers converged to form the ancestral Amacuzac river, which incised the Cacahuamilpa limestone range via the Michapa canyon, establishing the regional base level for karst development.
Subsequent remobilization of the volcanic deposits produced the Mogote debris flows, which overtopped the canyon and infilled the upper reaches of the Amacuzac valley, creating the Michapa plain and advancing approximately 20 km further downstream. The resultant depositional surface, convex in a direction transverse to the regional drainage, forced the two rivers to diverge toward the deposit’s periphery. The eastern drainage evolved into the San Jerónimo River, which continued to breach the limestone through the original canyon before skirting the western margin of the Mogote deposits across the Michapa plain. Conversely, the western drainage became the Chontacoatlán River, which carved a new course through the limestone massif via a preexisting low saddle.
The increased hydraulic gradient across the limestone range promoted significant river infiltration into the karst aquifer. The combination of substantial discharge and a dense fracture network within the limestone facilitated the formation of extensive vadose and water-table–controlled conduits. A later rejuvenation of the Amacuzac river’s gradient resulted in the abandonment of the upper-level caves and the development of younger, currently active river caves at lower elevations. Continued volcanic activity at Nevado de Toluca triggered additional laharic episodes, the deposits of which were emplaced within these younger caves, where they remain preserved as inset terrace remnants. Similar volcanic-derived sediments have also been documented within Cacahuamilpa Cave.
References
Alaniz-Álvarez, S. A., Nieto-Samaniego, A. F., & Morán-Zenteno, D. J. (2002). Rhyolitic volcanism in extension zones associated with strike-slip tectonics in the Taxco region, southern Mexico. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 118, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0377-0273(02)00247-0
Arce, J. L., Macías, J. L., & Vázquez-Selem, L. (2003). The 10.5 ka Plinian eruption of Nevado de Toluca volcano, Mexico: Stratigraphy and hazard implications. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 115(2), 230–248. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(2003)115%3C0230:TKPEON%3E2.0.CO;2
Arce, J. L., Cervantes, K. E., Macías, J. L., & Mora, J. C. (2005). The 12.1 ka Middle Toluca Pumice: A dacitic Plinian–subplinian eruption of Nevado de Toluca in Central Mexico. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 147, 125–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2005.03.010
Bárcena, M. (1874). Viaje a la caverna de Cacahuamilpa: Datos para la geología y la flora de los estados de Morelos y Guerrero. La Naturaleza (1ª serie), 3, 75–92. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Viaje_a_la_caverna_de_Cacahuamilpa_-_datos_para_la_geolog%C3%ADa_y_la_flora_de_los_estados_de_Morelos_y_Guerrero_%28IA_viajelacavernad00bayr%29.pdf
Bloomfield, K., & Valastro, S. Jr. (1974). Late Pleistocene eruptive history of Nevado de Toluca volcano, central Mexico. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 85, 901–906. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1974)85<901:LPEHON>2.0.CO;2
Bloomfield, K., & Valastro, S. Jr. (1977). Late Quaternary tephrochronology of Nevado de Toluca volcano, central Mexico (Overseas Geology and Mineral Resources No. 46). Institute of Geological Sciences. ISBN 978-0118807548
Bolívar Pieltain, C. (1940). Exploración de la caverna de Cacahuamilpa (Guerrero, México). Ciencia, 1(3), 125–126.
Bonet, F. (1971). Espeleología de la región de Cacahuamilpa, Gro. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Geología, Boletín No. 90. https://doi.org/10.22201/igl.01855530e.1971.90.116
Bretz, J. H. (1955). Cavern-making in a part of the Mexican Plateau. The Journal of Geology, 63(4), 364–375. https://doi.org/10.1086/626273
Cantagrel, J. M., Robin, C., & Vincent, P. (1981). Les grandes étapes d’évolution d’un volcan andésitique composite: Exemple du Nevado de Toluca (Mexique). Bulletin of Volcanology, 44(2), 177–188. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02597703
Capra, L., & Macías, J. L. (2000). Pleistocene cohesive debris flows at Nevado de Toluca Volcano, central Mexico. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 102, 149–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0377-0273(00)00186-4
Capra, L., Carreras, L. M., Arce, J. L., & Macías, J. L. (2006). The Lower Toluca Pumice: A ca. 21,700 yr B.P. Plinian eruption of Nevado de Toluca volcano, Mexico. In C. Siebe, J. L. Macías, & G. J. Aguirre-Díaz (Eds.), Neogene–Quaternary continental margin volcanism: A perspective from Mexico (pp. 155–173). Geological Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1130/2006.2402(07)
Capra, L., Norini, G., Groppelli, G., Macías, J. L., & Arce, J. L. (2008). Volcanic hazard zonation of the Nevado de Toluca volcano, Mexico. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 176, 469–484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2008.04.016
Coons, D. (1976). The river caves. The Canadian Caver, 8(1), 35–41.
De Cserna, Z., & Fries, C. Jr. (1981). Hoja Taxco 14Q-h(7) con resumen de la geología de la hoja Taxco, estados de Guerrero, México y Morelos (Carta Geológica de México Serie 1:100,000). Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. https://info.igme.es/carto/presentacion.asp?Id=27298
Eggins, S. M., Woodhead, J. D., Kinsley, L. P. J., Mortimer, G. E., Sylvester, P., McCulloch, M. T., Hergt, J. M., & Handler, M. R. (1997). A simple method for the precise determination of ≥40 trace elements in geological samples by ICPMS using enriched isotope internal standardization. Chemical Geology, 134(4), 311–326. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2541(96)00100-3
Enjalbert, H. (1964). Phénomènes karstiques au Mexique et au Guatemala. Bulletin de l’Association de Géographes Français, 324–325, 30–58. https://doi.org/10.3406/bagf.1964.5688
Ford, D., & Williams, P. (1989). Karst geomorphology and hydrology. Unwin Hyman Ltd. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/3090
Fries, C. (1960). Geología del estado de Morelos y de partes adyacentes de México y Guerrero, región central meridional de México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Geología, Boletín No. 60. http://xcaret.igeofcu.unam.mx/bolgeol60.html
García-Palomo, A., Macías, J. L., & Garduño, V. H. (2000). Miocene to recent structural evolution of the Nevado de Toluca volcano region, central Mexico. Tectonophysics, 318, 281–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-1951(99)00316-9
García-Palomo, A., Macías, J. L., Arce, J. L., Capra, L., Garduño, V. H., & Espíndola, J. M. (2002). Geology of Nevado de Toluca Volcano and surrounding areas, central Mexico (Map and Chart Series MCH089). Geological Society of America. https://www.geo.mtu.edu/EHaz/ConvergentPlatesClass/Nevado%20de%20Toluca/Garcia-Palomo-etal-2002.pdf
Garduño-Monroy, V. H., Pérez-López, R., Rodríguez-Pascua, M. A., García Mayordomo, J., Israde-Alcántara, I., & Bischoff, J. (2011). Could large palaeoearthquakes break giant stalactites in Cacahuamilpa Cave (Taxco, Central Mexico)? In 2nd INQUA–IGCP–567 Proceedings (Vol. 2, pp. 50–53). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256303908_Could_large_palaeoearthquakes_break_giant_stalactites_in_Cacahuamilpa_Cave_Taxco_Central_Mexico
Gómez-Aguado de Alba, G., & Palacio Prieto, J. L. (2016a). La Gruta de Cacahuamilpa: Un siglo de historia (1835–1936). Secuencia: Revista de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, 94, 110–147. https://doi.org/10.18234/secuencia.v0i94.1347
Gómez-Aguado de Alba, G., & Palacio Prieto, J. L. (2016b). La Gruta de Cacahuamilpa: Historia y geografía de un monumento natural extraordinario. Instituto de Geografía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. https://www.academia.edu/42872391/La_Gruta_de_Cacahuamilpa_Historia_y_geograf%C3%ADa_de_un_monumento_natural_extrordinario
Govindaraju, K. (1994). Compilation of working values and sample description for 383 standard reference materials. Geostandards Newsletter, 18(2), 331. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2494.1998.53202081.x-i1
Hill, C. A., & Forti, P. (1997). Cave Minerals of the World (2nd ed.). National Speleological Society, Huntsville, Alabama.
Lozano, R., & Bernal, J. P. (2005). Characterization of a new set of eight geochemical reference materials for XRF major and trace element analysis. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas, 22(3), 329–344. https://www.rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/841
Macías, J. L., García-Palomo, A., Arce, J. L., Siebe, C., Espíndola, J. M., Komorowski, J. C., & Scott, K. M. (1997). Late Pleistocene–Holocene cataclysmic eruptions at Nevado de Toluca and Jocotitlán volcanoes, central Mexico. In B. J. Kowallis (Ed.), Proterozoic to Recent Stratigraphy, Tectonics, and Volcanology, Utah, Nevada, Southern Idaho and Central Mexico (pp. 493–528). Brigham Young University Geology Studies.
Mejean, P., Garduño-Monroy, V. H., Pinti, D. L., Ghaleb, B., Bouvier, L., Gomez-Vasconcelos, M. G., & Tremblay, A. (2015). U–Th dating of broken speleothems from Cacahuamilpa Cave, Mexico: Are they recording past seismic events? Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 57, 23–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2014.11.002
Morán-Zenteno, D. J., Alba-Aldave, L. A., Martínez-Serrano, R. G., Reyes-Salas, M. A., Corona-Esquivel, R., & Ángeles-García, S. (1998). Stratigraphy, geochemistry and tectonic significance of the Tertiary volcanic sequences of the Taxco–Quetzalapa region, southern Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas, 15(2), 167–180. https://rmcg.geociencias.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/1100
Morán-Zenteno, D. J., Monter-Ramírez, A., Centeno-García, E., Alba-Aldave, L. A., & Solé, J. (2007). Stratigraphy of the Balsas Group in the Amacuzac area, southern Mexico: Relationship with Eocene volcanism and deformation of the Tilzapotla–Taxco sector. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas, 24(1), 68–80. https://rmcg.geociencias.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/759
Müllerried, F. K. G. (1944). Geología, estratigrafía y paleontología de la región de Cacahuamilpa. Anales de la Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, 3(3–4), 463–484. https://ahcm.cinvestav.mx/xmlui/handle/123456789/37526?show=full
Palmer, A. N. (2007). Cave geology. Cave Books. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/775
Waltham, T. (2006). Tiankengs of the world, outside China. Speleogenesis and Evolution of Karst Aquifers, 4(1), 1–12. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26448088_Tiankengs_of_the_world_outside_China
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 Ramón Espinasa-Pereña