Poás Volcano
The Poás Volcano, (Spanish: Volcán Poás), is an active 2,708-metre (8,885 ft) stratovolcano in central Costa Rica. It has erupted 39 times since 1828.
Crater lakes
There are two crater lakes near the summit. The northern lake is known as the Laguna Caliente ("hot lagoon") and is located at a height of 2,300 m in a crater approximately 1.7 km wide and 290–300 m deep. It is one of the world's most acidic lakes. The acidity varies after rain and changes in volcanic activity, sometimes reaching a pH of almost 0; consequently, it supports little or no aquatic life. The bottom of this lake is covered with a layer of liquid sulphur.[1] Acid gases create acid rain and acid fog, causing damage to surrounding ecosystems and often irritation of eyes and lungs.
Lake Botos, the southern lake, fills an inactive crater, which last erupted in 7500 BC. It is cold and clear, and is surrounded by a cloud forest located within the Poás Volcano National Park.
Eruptive history
Column of smoke rising from the main crater
Poás was near the epicenter of a 6.1-magnitude earthquake in January 2009 that killed at least forty people and affected Fraijanes, Vara Blanca, Cinchona (the most affected area), the capital San José, and the Central Valley region of Costa Rica.
There was also eruptive activity in 2009 involving minor phreatic eruptions and landslides within the northern active crater. Poás eruptions often include geyser-like ejections of crater-lake water.
On February 25, 2014, a webcam from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) captured the moment a dark cloud exploded about 1,000 feet in the air from a massive crater of the Poás Volcano. This volcano remains active today.
Pictures
See also
References
External links
Mountains of Costa Rica |
---|
|
- Agua Gata
- Anunciación
- Arenal
- Azufrado
- Barva
- Cerro Barrera
- Bijagua
- Cerro Bola
- Braum
- Cerro Cacao
- Cacho Negro
- Caldera de Miravalles
- Cañas Dulces
- Cerro Cedral
- Cerro Buenos Aires
- Cerro de la Muerte
- Cerro de Las Vueltas
- Cerros de Escazú
- Chachaguita
- Chato
- Chirripó
- Chompipe
- Coco Mountain
- Cocorí Mountain
- Concepción Mountain
- Congo Mountain
- Coronel Mountain
- Coto Pelón
- Cotón
- Crestones (Costa Rica)
- Dikar
- Doussaints
- Duan Mountains
- Durika
- Echandi
- El Hacha
- El Jaboncillo
- Espiritu Santo Mountain
- Fortuna Mountain
- Gorgona Mountain
- Iglesias
- Irazú
- Juan Murillo Mountain
- Kámuk
- Laguna Bosque Alegre
- Laguna Poco Sol
- Laguna Rio IV
- Loma Barrantes
- Loma Morera
- Lomas
- Los Chiles
- Mano de Tigre
- Miravalles
- Monte de la Cruz
- Montezuma Mountain
- Morazán Mountain
- Negro
- Olla de Carne
- Orosi
- Palmira Mountain
- Pasquí
- Pata de Gallo
- Pelado y Delicias
- Pelón
- Perdidos
- Pico Alto (Costa Rica)
- Pico Blanco
- Piedra de Fuego
- Platanar
- Poás
- Porvenir Mountain
- Quemados
- Quezada Mountain
- Rabo de Mico
- Rincón (Costa Rica)
- Rincón de la Vieja
- San Miguel Mountain
- San Roque Mountain
- San Vicente Mountain
- Santa Maria Mountain
- Siete
- Sinsal
- Tenorio
- Tilarán
- Tortuguero Mountain
- Truncado
- Turrialba
- Urán
- Valle Hermoso Mountain
- Ventisqueros
- Viejo
- Von Francius
- Von Seebach
- Vuelta Kopper
- Weyl Mountain
| | |
|