Malpaisillo

Photo of this volcano
Country Nicaragua
Volcanic Region Central America Volcanic Arc
Landform | Volc Type Unknown | Pyroclastic shield
Last Known Eruption Pleistocene
Coordinates 12.58°N, 86.6°W
Elevation 181 m (594 ft)
Volcano Number 344801
Google Earth icon Google Earth Placemark with Features
Citation icon Cite Volcano Profile

Latest Weekly Volcanic Activity Report

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Volcanic Activity Reports available for Malpaisillo.

Latest Bulletin Report

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

Weekly Volcanic Activity Reports

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

Bulletin Reports

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

General Information

Eruptive History

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

Synonyms and Subfeatures

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Photo Gallery

Thumbnail Photo (see caption)Las Pilas volcano is seen here in an aerial view from the south, with the dramatic El Hoyo pit crater below the summit at the left center. The arcuate ridge at the right beyond Las Pilas is the NE rim of a large crater cutting the older Cerro el Picacho volcano. The flat area in the background beyond Cerro el Picacho on the floor of the Nicaraguan depression is the Malpaisillo pyroclastic shield volcano.

Photo by Jaime Incer, 1981.
Thumbnail Photo (see caption)The flat light-colored area at the top of the photo beyond Las Pilas volcano in the foreground is the Malpaisillo caldera. This large but topographically indistinct pyroclastic shield volcano lies in the Nicaraguan depression NE of Las Pilas volcano and NNW of Momotombo volcano. Formation of the 10-km-wide Malpaisillo caldera produced extensively dissected dacitic airfall and ignimbrite deposits that extend across the graben east of the Marrabios Range and reach into Lake Managua to the SE.

Photo by Jaime Incer, 1995.
Thumbnail Photo (see caption)The flat-lying floor of the topographically indistinct 10-km-wide Malpaisillo pyroclastic shield volcano lies in the center of this radar image of the Nicaraguan depression. The Malpaisillo road crosses the image diagonally from the SW to the NE, and the town of Malpaisillo is outlined in black below the road at the left-center. Extensively dissected dacitic airfall and ignimbrite deposits are seen north of the 10-km-wide caldera, and lava flows from Las Pilas complex at the lower left lie SW of the caldera.

Radar image, 1971 (courtesy of Jaime Incer).

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

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

External Sites