Report on Poas (Costa Rica) — May 1982
Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, vol. 7, no. 5 (May 1982)
Managing Editor: Lindsay McClelland.
Poas (Costa Rica) Continued high temperatures and incandescence at the cone
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 1982. Report on Poas (Costa Rica) (McClelland, L., ed.). Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, 7:5. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.SEAN198205-345040
Poas
Costa Rica
10.2°N, 84.233°W; summit elev. 2697 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
High temperatures and incandescence continued to be observed through April at the eroded cone at the S end of the crater lake. Water temperatures in the crater lake remained relatively high (see table 3).
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.
Information Contacts: J. Barquero H., Univ. Nacional, Heredia.