Global Volcanism Program

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Ayarza.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Ayarza.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Ayarza.

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

342806

Pleistocene

1,409 m / 4,623 ft

14.42°N
90.12°W

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Caldera

Volcano Types
Caldera(s)

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Geological Summary

Ayarza is a double caldera that lies about 40 km NE of the active Guatemalan volcanic front. The 5 x 7 km wide figure-8-shaped caldera is filled by the scenic Laguna de Ayarza, which is about 4 km wide in the western caldera and 2 km wide in the eastern caldera. Both calderas, whose steep walls rise nearly 600 m above the lake surface, were formed within several thousand years of each other during major rhyolitic explosive eruptions in the late Pleistocene. The older eastern caldera was associated with eruption of the Mixta pumice fall and ashflow, which were radiocarbon dated at about 27,000 ± 1600 years before present (BP). The larger western caldera was formed during eruption of the Pinos Altos airfall pumice and Tapalapa ashflows radiocarbon dated at 23,100 ± 500 years BP. Formation of the double caldera appears to be the last volcanic activity at Ayarza; bathymetry of the lake floor does not show evidence for post-caldera eruptions.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

IAVCEI, 1973-80. Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome: Internatl Assoc Volc Chemistry Earth's Interior.

Kutterolf S, Freundt A, Perez W, 2008. Pacific offshore record of plinian arc volcanism in Central America: 2. Tephra volumes and eruptive masses. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 8: Q02S02. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GC001791

Peterson P S, Rose W I Jr, 1985. Explosive eruptions of the Ayarza calderas, southeastern Guatemala. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 25: 289-307.

Williams H, 1960. Volcanic history of the Guatemalan Highlands. Univ Calif Pub Geol Sci, 38: 1-86.

Eruptive History

The Global Volcanism Program is not aware of any Holocene eruptions from Ayarza. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 12,000 years ago, information might be found on the Ayarza page in the LaMEVE (Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions) database, a part of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

The Global Volcanism Program has no synonyms or subfeatures listed for Ayarza.

Photo Gallery

The figure-8-shaped Ayarza caldera appears elongated in this aerial oblique view from the SW. The double caldera was formed during two major rhyolitic eruptions about 27,000 and 23,100 years ago. These were among the youngest silicic eruptions in northern Central America. The larger western caldera (left) has a maximum depth of 240 m, and the eastern caldera is 140 m deep. Caldera walls rise an additional 300-600 m above the surface of Laguna de Ayarza.

Photo by Carlos Pullinger, 1996 (Servicio Nacional de Estudios Territoriales, El Salvador).

Ayarza, a scenic double caldera filled by Laguna de Ayarza, is seen here from the ESE. The peninsulas of Punta el Picacho (left) and Punta el Picachito (right) lie across an 800-m-wide channel separating the two halves of the 5 x 7 km wide, figure-8-shaped caldera. Both calderas, whose steep walls rise nearly 600 m above the lake surface, were formed within several thousand years of each other during major rhyolitic explosive eruptions in the late Pleistocene between about 27,000 and 23,100 years ago.

Photo by Bill Rose, 1980 (Michigan Technological University).

Scenic Laguna de Ayarza fills a double caldera formed during the late Pleistocene. The caldera lies about 40 km NE of the active volcanic front. The older eastern caldera (left) was associated with eruption of the Mixta pumice fall and ashflow about 27,000 years ago, and the larger western caldera was formed during eruption of the Pinos Altos airfall pumice and Tapalapa ashflows radiocarbon dated at about 23,100 years before present. Bathymetry of the lake floor shows no evidence for post-caldera eruptions.

Photo by Bill Rose, 1982 (Michigan Technological University).

One of the most prominent topographic features of SE Guatemala is the figure-8-shaped double caldera of Ayarza volcano. Both calderas were formed within several thousand years of each other during major rhyolitic explosive eruptions in the late Pleistocene, about 27,000 years ago (eastern caldera) and 23,000 years ago (the larger western caldera). Formation of the older caldera was accompanied by the eruption of the chemically mixed pumices of the "Mixta" unit. The city of San Rafael las Flores, 6 km to the NE, is at the upper left.

NASA Landsat image, 2000 (courtesy of Loren Siebert, University of Akron).

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Ayarza in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Ayarza. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Ayarza. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

Large Eruptions of Ayarza

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).