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Article

Hydrothermally Altered Rocks and Their Implications for Debris Flow Generation in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

by
Luis Ángel Jiménez López
1,
Juan Manuel Sánchez Núñez
1,*,
Antonio Pola
2,
José Cruz Escamilla Casas
3,
Hugo Iván Sereno
3,
Perla Rodríguez Contreras
4 and
María Elena Serrano Flores
1
1
Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México 07340, Mexico
2
Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores Morelia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Michoacán 58190, Mexico
3
Instituto de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Área Académica de Ciencias de la Tierra y Materiales, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Hidalgo 42039, Mexico
4
Departamento de Ingeniería Civil y Ambiental, Instituto de Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua 32320, Mexico
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
GeoHazards 2025, 6(4), 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/geohazards6040062
Submission received: 1 June 2025 / Revised: 12 September 2025 / Accepted: 23 September 2025 / Published: 2 October 2025
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Abstract

Landslides are common in mountainous regions and can significantly affect human life and infrastructure. The aim of this study is to analyze the role of hydrothermally altered rocks in generating ground instability and triggering debris flows in the Canoas microbasin, Sierra de Angangueo, within the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. We characterized the unaltered (andesite) and altered (andesitic breccia) rocks from the landslide scarp through fieldwork and laboratory analysis. The altered rock exhibited an extremely low simple compressive strength of 0.47 ± 0.05 MPa. In contrast, the unaltered rock exhibited a higher strength of 36.26 ± 18.62 MPa and lower porosity. Petrographic analysis revealed that the unaltered rock primarily consists of an andesitic groundmass with plagioclase and orthopyroxene phenocrysts partially altered to sericite and kaolin. In comparison, the altered rock contains a matrix rich in clay, iron oxides, and completely replaced phenocrysts. The andesitic breccia has a high proportion of clay and silt and displays soil-like mechanical properties, making it vulnerable to saturation collapse during heavy rainfall. This research offers valuable insights into geological risk management in mountainous volcanic regions. The findings demonstrate that the presence of hydrothermally altered andesitic breccia with weak geomechanical properties was the critical factor that triggered the Canoas debris flow, underscoring hydrothermal alteration as a key control of slope instability in volcanic settings.
Keywords: landslides; geomechanical properties; slope instability; Angangueo; altered andesite landslides; geomechanical properties; slope instability; Angangueo; altered andesite

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MDPI and ACS Style

Jiménez López, L.Á.; Sánchez Núñez, J.M.; Pola, A.; Escamilla Casas, J.C.; Sereno, H.I.; Rodríguez Contreras, P.; Serrano Flores, M.E. Hydrothermally Altered Rocks and Their Implications for Debris Flow Generation in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. GeoHazards 2025, 6, 62. https://doi.org/10.3390/geohazards6040062

AMA Style

Jiménez López LÁ, Sánchez Núñez JM, Pola A, Escamilla Casas JC, Sereno HI, Rodríguez Contreras P, Serrano Flores ME. Hydrothermally Altered Rocks and Their Implications for Debris Flow Generation in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. GeoHazards. 2025; 6(4):62. https://doi.org/10.3390/geohazards6040062

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jiménez López, Luis Ángel, Juan Manuel Sánchez Núñez, Antonio Pola, José Cruz Escamilla Casas, Hugo Iván Sereno, Perla Rodríguez Contreras, and María Elena Serrano Flores. 2025. "Hydrothermally Altered Rocks and Their Implications for Debris Flow Generation in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico" GeoHazards 6, no. 4: 62. https://doi.org/10.3390/geohazards6040062

APA Style

Jiménez López, L. Á., Sánchez Núñez, J. M., Pola, A., Escamilla Casas, J. C., Sereno, H. I., Rodríguez Contreras, P., & Serrano Flores, M. E. (2025). Hydrothermally Altered Rocks and Their Implications for Debris Flow Generation in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. GeoHazards, 6(4), 62. https://doi.org/10.3390/geohazards6040062

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