Irazú

Irazú
Irazú volcano with acid lake and Gunnera insignis at the crater rim
height	3432  m
location	Costa Rica
Coordinates	9 ° 58 '37 "  N , 83 ° 51' 15"  W Coordinates: 9 ° 58 '37 "  N , 83 ° 51' 15"  W.
Type	Stratovolcano
Last eruption	1994
Irazú volcano without acid lake in 2015

The Irazú , in the indigenous language Iaratzu ("rumbling mountain"), is the highest volcano in Costa Rica with 3432  m . The stratovolcano (stratovolcano) is one of the most dangerous and unpredictable volcanoes in the country.

It erupted for the last time in 1994 with a level 2 on the volcanic explosive index (VEI). There was an eruption of magnitude 3 in 1963. During this eruption phase, which lasted until 1965, steam clouds laden with lava dust and stones shot up to 500 meters high into the sky.

If there was another eruption, its ash clouds could reach the densely populated capital of this Central American country, San José .

The volcano is one of those that have a rain-fed acid lake in their crater lake . It is green in color. The dangers posed by this volcano primarily concern a landslide on the thin crater wall. Then several million tons of rock would slide off and the acid lake would flow out.

A special feature of this volcano is that on a clear day you can see two seas , the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean , from its top .

literature

Fiction

• Christoph Ransmayr : Pacífico, Atlántico. Costa Rica , in: Atlas of a Fearful Man . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2012, p. 294ff.

Web links

Commons : Irazú Volcano National Park  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Irazú in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)