Transcript Fuego - Colby College

Kat Mackey and Meredith Keenan
Dept. of Geology, Colby College
Basic Information
• Stratovolcano
• Elevation of 12,346 ft. (3,763 m)
• Location: Guatemala
– Located in the mountain range Sierra Madre de
Chiapas
• 20 miles from Antigua
– Volcanic region: Mexico and Central America
– Lat/Long: 14.473° N/90.88° W
– Tectonic Setting: Subduction zone, Continental Crust
(>25 km)
• Subduction of the Cocos Plate beneath the Caribbean Plate
produces the Central American Arc
• Fuego is part of a five
vent complex
• Well-defined summit
crater
• Said to have an “open
vent”
• No lateral vents are
well defined
• No historical
record of lateral
vent activity
Eruptive History
• Collapse of the ancestral Meseta volcano
about 8,500 years ago
• Growth continued following southward
migration of volcanism from Acatenango
• One of the world’s most active volcanoes,
with over 60 eruptions in the past 500
years
– Most range from 1-3 VEI
– 7 recorded instances of VEI 4
• 1581, 1717, 1737, 1857, 1880, 1932, and 1974
1974 Eruption
• Most voluminous eruption since 1932
• Basaltic sub-Plinian event
• Began at 4:00 am on October 10
– Ended December 4
• 4 distinct episodes of basaltic air fall and ash flow
• Pyroclastic flows of 60 km/hr up to 10 km away
• Spread ash up to 8 inches deep more than 31
miles away
Common Eruptive Style
• Commonly plumes of fine ash up to 10 km
high
• Lava flows
• Hot pyroclastic flows
• Eruptions are typically short lived violent
vulcanian eruptions
• Occur in 20-50 year clusters
What can we expect?
• Pyroclastic flows could move up to 20 km from the
source
• Tephra falls which blow up to 100 km downwind
Rock Types
• Major:
– Basalt/Picro-Basalt
– Andesite/Basaltic Andesite
– An average of 51.1% silica content
• Minor:
– Trachyandesite/Basaltic Trachyandesite
Geologic Surveying
• Volcan de Fuego Web Cam
– Picture updated every minute
• Observatory 7 miles from Fuego peak
• Appears Michigan Tech is invested in this
volcano
Tourism
• La Reunion Resort, Sacatepequez ,
Guatemala
• Day and Night tours
• Near constant eruptions
excite tourists, but the
nature of these eruptions
limits the actual tourism
Works Cited
• Vallance J.W. S.P. Schilling, O. Matías, W.I. Rose, and M.M Howell,
2001: volcano Hazards at Fuego and Acatenango, Guatemala. U.S.
Geological Survey Open-File Report 01-431. 22 p.
• Rüdiger Escobar-Wolf, 2009 Fieldwork report: Physical volcanology
and hazards Volcán de Fuego, Guatemala.
•
Lyons J. J. , G. P. Waite, William I. Rose and G. Chigna, 2008:
Patterns in open vent, strombolian behavior at Fuego volcano,
Guatemala, 2005–2007. Bull Volcanol.
• http://www.geo.mtu.edu/volcanoes/fuego/eruption2.html
• NATIONAL -Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and
Hydrology, 2015: at http://www.insivumeh.gob.gt (accessed January
20th 2015)