Report on Pacaya (Guatemala) — 28 January-3 February 2015
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 28 January-3 February 2015
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2015. Report on Pacaya (Guatemala) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 28 January-3 February 2015. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Pacaya
Guatemala
14.382°N, 90.601°W; summit elev. 2569 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
In a special notice INSIVUMEH reported that on 28 January ash emissions originating from Pacaya's Mackenney Crater drifted 4 km S and SW. During field observations, scientists saw a defined central crater, 40-50 m in diameter, and ash emissions. Gas plumes rose from an area on the S flank. Seismic data was characterized by tremor and low-frequency events. In a report from 1 February, INSIVUMEH stated that low-altitude water vapor plumes with minor amounts of ash drifted W and SW. During 1-2 February fumarolic plumes rose 50 m and drifted 600 m S.
Geological Summary. Eruptions from Pacaya are frequently visible from Guatemala City, the nation's capital. This complex basaltic volcano was constructed just outside the southern topographic rim of the 14 x 16 km Pleistocene Amatitlán caldera. A cluster of dacitic lava domes occupies the southern caldera floor. The post-caldera Pacaya massif includes the older Pacaya Viejo and Cerro Grande stratovolcanoes and the currently active Mackenney stratovolcano. Collapse of Pacaya Viejo between 600 and 1,500 years ago produced a debris-avalanche deposit that extends 25 km onto the Pacific coastal plain and left an arcuate scarp inside which the modern Pacaya volcano (Mackenney cone) grew. The NW-flank Cerro Chino crater was last active in the 19th century. During the past several decades, activity has consisted of frequent Strombolian eruptions with intermittent lava flow extrusion that has partially filled in the caldera moat and covered the flanks of Mackenney cone, punctuated by occasional larger explosive eruptions that partially destroy the summit.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH)