Report on Poas (Costa Rica) — 14 June-20 June 2017
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 14 June-20 June 2017
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2017. Report on Poas (Costa Rica) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 14 June-20 June 2017. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Poas
Costa Rica
10.2°N, 84.233°W; summit elev. 2697 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
OVSICORI-UNA reported that during 13-15 June gas emissions from Poás rose no higher than 500 m above the crater rim and drifted N. During breaks in weather, observers near the crater on 16 June noted ash emissions rising less than 1 km above the crater rim and drifting N. Ash emissions from events at 1340 on 18 June, and 1100 and 1350 on 20 June, rose less than 1 km.
Geological Summary. The broad vegetated edifice of Poás, one of the most active volcanoes of Costa Rica, contains three craters along a N-S line. The frequently visited multi-hued summit crater lakes of the basaltic-to-dacitic volcano are easily accessible by vehicle from the nearby capital city of San José. A N-S-trending fissure cutting the complex stratovolcano extends to the lower N flank, where it has produced the Congo stratovolcano and several lake-filled maars. The southernmost of the two summit crater lakes, Botos, last erupted about 7,500 years ago. The more prominent geothermally heated northern lake, Laguna Caliente, is one of the world's most acidic natural lakes, with a pH of near zero. It has been the site of frequent phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions since an eruption was reported in 1828. Eruptions often include geyser-like ejections of crater-lake water.
Source: Observatorio Vulcanologico y Sismologico de Costa Rica-Universidad Nacional (OVSICORI-UNA)