Report on San Cristobal (Nicaragua) — April 1992
Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 17, no. 4 (April 1992)
Managing Editor: Lindsay McClelland.
San Cristobal (Nicaragua) Vigorous gas emission
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 1992. Report on San Cristobal (Nicaragua) (McClelland, L., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 17:4. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199204-344020
San Cristobal
Nicaragua
12.702°N, 87.004°W; summit elev. 1745 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
A moderately large steam plume, with the same general appearance as in 1982, was observed many days during 23-29 April fieldwork at nearby Cerro Negro. Geologists were unable to measure the SO2 flux, but the plume was estimated to represent several hundred t/d.
Geological Summary. The San Cristóbal volcanic complex, consisting of five principal volcanic edifices, forms the NW end of the Marrabios Range. The symmetrical 1745-m-high youngest cone, named San Cristóbal (also known as El Viejo), is Nicaragua's highest volcano and is capped by a 500 x 600 m wide crater. El Chonco, with several flank lava domes, is located 4 km W of San Cristóbal; it and the eroded Moyotepe volcano, 4 km NE of San Cristóbal, are of Pleistocene age. Volcán Casita, containing an elongated summit crater, lies immediately east of San Cristóbal and was the site of a catastrophic landslide and lahar in 1998. The Plio-Pleistocene La Pelona caldera is located at the eastern end of the complex. Historical eruptions from San Cristóbal, consisting of small-to-moderate explosive activity, have been reported since the 16th century. Some other 16th-century eruptions attributed to Casita volcano are uncertain and may have been from other Marrabios Range volcanoes.
Information Contacts: S.N. Williams, Arizona State Univ.
