Report on Santa Maria (Guatemala) — 5 January-11 January 2011
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 5 January-11 January 2011
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2011. Report on Santa Maria (Guatemala) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 5 January-11 January 2011. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Santa Maria
Guatemala
14.757°N, 91.552°W; summit elev. 3745 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
INSIVUMEH reported that during 5-6 January explosions from Santa María's Santiaguito lava dome complex produced ash plumes that rose 400-500 m above Caliente dome and drifted SW. Based on analyses of satellite imagery, the Washington VAAC reported that on 8 January a gas plume possibly containing ash drifted less than 30 km SSW. During 10-11 January, INSIVUMEH reported that explosions produced ash plumes that rose as high as 600 m above the dome and drifted SW and W. Avalanches descended the S and E flanks.
Geological Summary. Symmetrical, forest-covered Santa María volcano is part of a chain of large stratovolcanoes that rise above the Pacific coastal plain of Guatemala. The sharp-topped, conical profile is cut on the SW flank by a 1.5-km-wide crater. The oval-shaped crater extends from just below the summit to the lower flank, and was formed during a catastrophic eruption in 1902. The renowned Plinian eruption of 1902 that devastated much of SW Guatemala followed a long repose period after construction of the large basaltic-andesite stratovolcano. The massive dacitic Santiaguito lava-dome complex has been growing at the base of the 1902 crater since 1922. Compound dome growth at Santiaguito has occurred episodically from four vents, with activity progressing E towards the most recent, Caliente. Dome growth has been accompanied by almost continuous minor explosions, with periodic lava extrusion, larger explosions, pyroclastic flows, and lahars.
Sources: Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)