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Ayarza

Photo of this volcano
  • Country
  • Primary Volcano Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  •  
  • 14.42°N
  • 90.12°W

  • 1409 m
    4623 ft

  • 342806
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports for Ayarza.

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

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

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

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 10,000 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).

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Ayarza.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available 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).
GVP Map Holdings

The maps shown below have been scanned from the GVP map archives and include the volcano on this page. Clicking on the small images will load the full 300 dpi map. Very small-scale maps (such as world maps) are not included. The maps database originated over 30 years ago, but was only recently updated and connected to our main database. We welcome users to tell us if they see incorrect information or other problems with the maps; please use the Contact GVP link at the bottom of the page to send us email.

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