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Report on Poas (Costa Rica) — 24 October-30 October 2012


Poas

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 24 October-30 October 2012
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2012. Report on Poas (Costa Rica) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 24 October-30 October 2012. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (24 October-30 October 2012)

Poas

Costa Rica

10.2°N, 84.233°W; summit elev. 2697 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


OVSICORI-UNA reported that a phreatic eruption at Poás was recorded at 1120 on 27 October. A phreatic eruption later that day (at 1757) ejected water, sulfur-rich sediments, and rock fragments out of the lake. The ejecta landed on the S and SW edges of the crater floor. According to a news article, local residents heard a loud rumble at about 0100 on 28 October; a phreatic eruption ejected sediment 500 m above the lake, and produced ashfall several hundreds of meters away.

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.

Sources: Tico Times, Observatorio Vulcanologico y Sismologico de Costa Rica-Universidad Nacional (OVSICORI-UNA)