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Volcán Masaya

Masaya

Caldera · Nicaragua · 594m

Masaya is one of Nicaragua's most unusual and most active volcanoes. It is a broad, 6 x 11 km basaltic caldera with steep-sided walls up to 300-m high. The caldera is filled on its NW end by more than a dozen vents erupted along a circular, 4-km-diameter fracture system. The twin volcanoes of Nindirí and Masaya are seen here from the east caldera rim above Lake Masaya. Masaya has been frequently active since the time of the Spanish Conquistadors, when an active lava lake prompted several attempts to extract the volcano's molten "gold."
Masaya is one of Nicaragua's most unusual and most active volcanoes. It is a broad, 6 x 11 km basaltic caldera with steep-sided walls up to 300-m high. The caldera is filled on its NW end by more than a dozen vents erupted along a circular, 4-km-diameter fracture system. The twin volcanoes of Nindirí and Masaya are seen here from the east caldera rim above Lake Masaya. Masaya has been frequently active since the time of the Spanish Conquistadors, when an active lava lake prompted several attempts to extract the volcano's molten "gold." · Photo: Photo by Jaime Incer. · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Caldera
Country
Nicaragua
Region
Middle America-Caribbean Volcanic Regions / Central America Volcanic Arc
Elevation
594m
Coordinates
11.984, -86.169
Last eruption
2026
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Caldera
Major rock type
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Geological summary

Masaya volcano in Nicaragua has erupted frequently since the time of the Spanish Conquistadors, when an active lava lake prompted attempts to extract the volcano's molten "gold" until it was found to be basalt rock upon cooling. It lies within the massive Pleistocene Las Sierras caldera and is itself a broad, 6 x 11 km basaltic caldera with steep-sided walls up to 300 m high. The caldera is filled on its NW end by more than a dozen vents that erupted along a circular, 4-km-diameter fracture system. The Nindirí and Masaya cones, the source of observed eruptions, were constructed at the southern end of the fracture system and contain multiple summit craters, including the currently active Santiago crater. A major basaltic Plinian tephra erupted from Masaya about 6,500 years ago. Recent lava flows cover much of the caldera floor and there is a lake at the far eastern end. A lava flow from the 1670 eruption overtopped the north caldera rim. Periods of long-term vigorous gas emission at roughly quarter-century intervals have caused health hazards and crop damage.

From Wikipedia

Masaya, also known historically by its aboriginal name Popogatepe in Nawat, is a caldera located in Masaya, Nicaragua, 20 km (12 mi) south of the capital Managua. It is Nicaragua's first and largest national park, and one of 78 protected areas of Nicaragua. The complex volcano is composed of a nested set of calderas and craters, the largest of which is Las Sierras shield volcano and caldera. Within this caldera lies a sub-vent, which is Masaya Volcano sensu stricto. The vent is a shield type composed of basaltic lavas and tephras and includes a summit crater. This hosts Masaya caldera, formed 2,500 years ago by an 8 km3 (1.9 cu mi) basaltic ignimbrite eruption. Inside this caldera a new basaltic complex has grown from eruptions mainly on a semi-circular set of vents that include the Masaya and Nindiri cones. The latter host the pit craters of Masaya, Santiago, Nindiri and San Pedro. Observations in the walls of the pit craters indicate that there have been several episodes of cone and pit crater formation.

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Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
4050 BCE~3848 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 6209 BCE~7 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 57 BCE~196 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 51409~1611 · 3 eruptions · max VEI 01611~1813 · 3 eruptions · max VEI 31813~2015 · 31 eruptions · max VEI 24050 BCE2635 BCE1017 BCE3981813

Detailed timeline

  1. 2015VEI 1Observed
    2015-10-03 – 2026-03-31
    Santiago crater
  2. 2013VEI 0Observed
    2013-04-11 – 2013-04-26
  3. 2012VEI 1Observed
    2012-04-30 – 2012-06-08
    Santiago Crater
  4. 2008VEI 1Observed
    2008-04-29 – 2008-12-17
    Santiago
  5. 2006VEI 1Observed
    2006-08-04 – 2006-10-25
    Santiago
  6. 2005VEI 1Observed
    2005-03-04 – 2005-03-30
    Santiago
  7. 2004VEI 1Geological estimate
    2004-07-04 – 2004-07-04
    Santiago
  8. 2003VEI 1Observed
    2003-09-22 – 2003-12-12
    Santiago
  9. 2001VEI 1Observed
    2001-04-23 – 2001-04-25
    Santiago
  10. 1999VEI 1Observed
    1999-11-22 – 2000-03-02
    Santiago
  11. 1998VEI 1Observed
    1998-09-14 – 1998-09-14
    Santiago
  12. 1997VEI 1Observed
    1997-06-03 – 1997-11-17
    Santiago
  13. 1996VEI 1Observed
    1996-12-05 – 1996-12-05
    Santiago
  14. 1993VEI 1Observed
    1993-06-16 – 1994-11-16
    Santiago
  15. 1989VEI 1Observed
    1989-02-20 – 1989-11-16
    Santiago
  16. 1987VEI 1Observed
    1987-02-15 – 1987-02-22
    Santiago
  17. 1965VEI 1Observed
    1965-10-10 – 1985-04-16
    Santiago
  18. 1948VEI 1Observed
    1948-09 – 1948-09
    Santiago
  19. 1946VEI 1Observed
    1946-06 – 1947-12
    Santiago
  20. 1925VEI 2Observed
    1925-04 – Ongoing
    Santiago
  21. 1919VEI 2Observed
    1919 – 1924
    Santiago
  22. 1918VEI 1Observed
    1918-01 – Ongoing
    Santiago
  23. 1913VEI 1Observed
    1913-07-12 – Ongoing
    Santiago
  24. 1906VEI 2Observed
    1906-01-02 – 1906-01-09
    Santiago and upper NE flank near El Pelón
  25. 1904VEI 2Observed
    1904-05 – 1904-06
    Santiago
  26. 1902VEI 2Observed
    1902-07-15 – 1903-11
    Santiago
  27. 1858VEI ?Geological estimate
    1858-04 – Ongoing
  28. 1858VEI 2Observed
    1858-11-10 – 1859-03-27
    Santiago, San Pedro
  29. 1856VEI 2Observed
    1856-12 – 1857-01
    Santiago or San Pedro
  30. 1853VEI 1Observed
    1853-04-09 – 1853-09-15
    Santiago
  31. 1852VEI 2Observed
    1852-06 – 1852-07
    Between Masaya and Nindirí Craters
  32. 1772VEI 2Observed
    1772-03-16 – 1772-03-25
    North side of Old Masaya Crater
  33. 1670VEI 3Observed
    1670 – Ongoing
    Nindirí
  34. 1613VEI 0Geological estimate
    1613 – Ongoing
    Nindirí
  35. 1570VEI 0Observed
    1570 – 1586
    Nindirí
  36. 1551VEI 0Observed
    1551 – Ongoing
    Nindirí
  37. 1524VEI 0Observed
    1524 – 1544
    Nindirí
  38. 150VEI 5Geological estimate
    150 – Ongoing
  39. 170 BCE (±100 yrs)VEI 5Geological estimate
    BCE 170 – Ongoing
  40. 4050 BCEVEI 6Geological estimate
    BCE 4050 – Ongoing
    NW of caldera

External links

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