Report on Masaya (Nicaragua) — 19 December-25 December 2007
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 19 December-25 December 2007
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2007. Report on Masaya (Nicaragua) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 19 December-25 December 2007. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Masaya
Nicaragua
11.9844°N, 86.1688°W; summit elev. 594 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
Based on observations of satellite imagery, the Washington VAAC reported that a small and diffuse plume from Masaya drifted SW on 24 December. Changes in seismic signals correlated with the emission. The plume possibly contained ash.
Geological Summary. Masaya volcano in Nicaragua has erupted frequently since the time of the Spanish Conquistadors, when an active lava lake prompted attempts to extract the volcano's molten "gold" until it was found to be basalt rock upon cooling. It lies within the massive Pleistocene Las Sierras caldera and is itself a broad, 6 x 11 km basaltic caldera with steep-sided walls up to 300 m high. The caldera is filled on its NW end by more than a dozen vents that erupted along a circular, 4-km-diameter fracture system. The NindirĂ and Masaya cones, the source of observed eruptions, were constructed at the southern end of the fracture system and contain multiple summit craters, including the currently active Santiago crater. A major basaltic Plinian tephra erupted from Masaya about 6,500 years ago. Recent lava flows cover much of the caldera floor and there is a lake at the far eastern end. A lava flow from the 1670 eruption overtopped the north caldera rim. Periods of long-term vigorous gas emission at roughly quarter-century intervals have caused health hazards and crop damage.