Rincón de la Vieja Volcano
Updated: May 12, 2024 13:19 GMT -
Complex volcano 1916 m (6,286 ft)
Costa Rica, 10.83°N / -85.32°W
Current status: minor activity or eruption warning (3 out of 5)
Costa Rica, 10.83°N / -85.32°W
Current status: minor activity or eruption warning (3 out of 5)
Last update: 1 May 2024 (Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report)
Rincón de la Vieja is the largest volcano in NW Costa Rica and one of its most active ones.
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Explosive.
Rincón de la Vieja volcano eruptions: 1529(?), 1765, 1844, 1849, 1851(?), 1853-54, 1860, 1861-63, 1902(?), 1912, 1917(?), 1922, 1966-67, 1969, 1969, 1970, 1983, 1984, 1985-86, 1987, 1991-92, 1995, 1998 (Feb.-Sep.), 2011-2012, 2014, 2015-ongoing
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Background
It is a remote volcanic complex in the Guanacaste Range, consisting of an elongated, arcuate NW-SE-trending ridge that was constructed within the 15-km-wide, about 9,000 years-old Guachipelín caldera, whose rim is exposed on the south side.Rincón de la Vieja, sometimes known as the "Colossus of Guanacaste," has an estimated volume of 130 cu km and contains at least 9 major eruptive centers.
Activity has migrated to the SE, where the youngest-looking craters are located. The twin cone of 1916-m-high Santa María volcano, the highest peak of the Rincón complex, is located at the eastern end of a smaller, 5-km-wide caldera and has a 500-m-wide crater.
A plinian eruption producing the 0.25 cu km Río Blanca tephra about 3500 years ago was the last major magmatic eruption from the volcano. All subsequent eruptions, including numerous historical eruptions possibly dating back to the 16th century, have been from the prominent crater containing a 500-m-wide acid lake (known as the Active Crater) located ENE of Von Seebach crater.
Source: GVP, Smithsonian Institution
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