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Report on Fuego (Guatemala) — 30 November-6 December 2011


Fuego

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 30 November-6 December 2011
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2011. Report on Fuego (Guatemala) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 30 November-6 December 2011. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (30 November-6 December 2011)

Fuego

Guatemala

14.473°N, 90.88°W; summit elev. 3763 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


INSIVUMEH reported that on 1 December explosions from Fuego produced ash plumes that rose 800 m above the crater and drifted to the S. Avalanches descended toward Ash Creek. During 5-6 December ash plumes rose to an altitudes of 400-500 m above the crater and drifted to the W. A 150-m-long lava flow descended toward Ash Creek and avalanches reached vegetated areas.

Based on information from INSIVUMEH, the Washington VAAC reported gas and ash emissions on 2 December and a possible ash plume rose to an altitude of km (10,000 ft) a.s.l. on 6 December.

Geological Summary. Volcán Fuego, one of Central America's most active volcanoes, is also one of three large stratovolcanoes overlooking Guatemala's former capital, Antigua. The scarp of an older edifice, Meseta, lies between Fuego and Acatenango to the north. Construction of Meseta dates back to about 230,000 years and continued until the late Pleistocene or early Holocene. Collapse of Meseta may have produced the massive Escuintla debris-avalanche deposit, which extends about 50 km onto the Pacific coastal plain. Growth of the modern Fuego volcano followed, continuing the southward migration of volcanism that began at the mostly andesitic Acatenango. Eruptions at Fuego have become more mafic with time, and most historical activity has produced basaltic rocks. Frequent vigorous historical eruptions have been recorded since the onset of the Spanish era in 1524, and have produced major ashfalls, along with occasional pyroclastic flows and lava flows.

Sources: Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)