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Report on Turrialba (Costa Rica) — July 1981


Turrialba

Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, vol. 6, no. 7 (July 1981)
Managing Editor: Lindsay McClelland.

Turrialba (Costa Rica) Low-temperature gases collected

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1981. Report on Turrialba (Costa Rica) (McClelland, L., ed.). Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, 6:7. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.SEAN198107-345070



Turrialba

Costa Rica

10.025°N, 83.767°W; summit elev. 3340 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Between 14 June and 11 July, personnel from PIRPSEV, CNRS, and the volcano observation section of IPG sampled gases from five Central American volcanoes. Low-temperature gases were collected at Turrialba and Irazú.

Geological Summary. Turrialba, the easternmost of Costa Rica's Holocene volcanoes, is a large vegetated basaltic-to-dacitic stratovolcano located across a broad saddle NE of IrazĂș volcano overlooking the city of Cartago. The massive edifice covers an area of 500 km2. Three well-defined craters occur at the upper SW end of a broad 800 x 2200 m summit depression that is breached to the NE. Most activity originated from the summit vent complex, but two pyroclastic cones are located on the SW flank. Five major explosive eruptions have occurred during the past 3500 years. A series of explosive eruptions during the 19th century were sometimes accompanied by pyroclastic flows. Fumarolic activity continues at the central and SW summit craters.

Information Contacts: H. Delorme, Univ. de Paris; J.L. Cheminée, IPG, Paris.