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Report on Poas (Costa Rica) — 9 November-15 November 2011


Poas

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 9 November-15 November 2011
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2011. Report on Poas (Costa Rica) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 9 November-15 November 2011. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (9 November-15 November 2011)

Poas

Costa Rica

10.2°N, 84.233°W; summit elev. 2697 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


OVSICORI-UNA reported that during October fumarolic activity at Poás continued with bluish gas plumes rising from the lava dome; plumes rose more than 1 km and were reported by residents in Valle Central. Towards the end of the month, the fumarolic activity as well as incandescence from the lava dome decreased. The new craters at the N base of the dome united into a crater that was 25 m long and 7-10 m wide. Phreatic activity continued to occur from Laguna Caliente, the summit lake. The lake was 55 degrees Celsius, and the level had risen 22 cm between 14 September and 27 October.

Geological Summary. The broad vegetated edifice of Poás, one of the most active volcanoes of Costa Rica, contains three craters along a N-S line. The frequently visited multi-hued summit crater lakes of the basaltic-to-dacitic volcano are easily accessible by vehicle from the nearby capital city of San José. A N-S-trending fissure cutting the complex stratovolcano extends to the lower N flank, where it has produced the Congo stratovolcano and several lake-filled maars. The southernmost of the two summit crater lakes, Botos, last erupted about 7,500 years ago. The more prominent geothermally heated northern lake, Laguna Caliente, is one of the world's most acidic natural lakes, with a pH of near zero. It has been the site of frequent phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions since an eruption was reported in 1828. Eruptions often include geyser-like ejections of crater-lake water.

Source: Observatorio Vulcanologico y Sismologico de Costa Rica-Universidad Nacional (OVSICORI-UNA)