Q COSTA RICA – After several overflights and field analysis, the Red Sismológica Nacional (RSN) – National Seismological Network – confirmed the existence of a lava lake in the Turrialba Volcano.
The RSN report says there is an opening with an axis greater than 50 meters from which incandescent material can be seen.
The report explained, from “the lava lake passive emanations of ash occur or sometimes small eruptions a little more explosive that throw ballistic elements of magmatic origin to the surroundings of the active crater.”
At night, a strong reddish glow is visible from the crater.
“There are other volcanos in the world that have lava lakes that have persisted for years, including Erta Ale (Ethiopia), Mount Erebus (Antarctica), Kilauea (Hawaiin Islands), Mount Nyiragongo (Democratic Republic of Congo), and Ambrym (Vanuatu)”, said the RSN.
Smaller in dimensions and not in shorter duration, the Telica (Nicaragua) and Pacaya (Guatemala) volcanos have also at some point presented this type of volcanic structure, the report said.
Among other changes reported in the volcano, whose activity has increased in recent months, is the growth in the size of the active crater. Confirmed last month (June), “the active crater is deeper and wider, ellupitcally shaped, with its longest axis in the soutwest=northeast direction, which coincides with the preferntial direction of explosive eruptions,” said the RSN report.
The report was prepared by RSN geologists Paulo Ruiz Cubillo, Paul Vega and Mauricio Mora.
