Cosigüina

Cosigüina
Cosigüina seen from space
Elevation	872 m (2,861 ft) [1]
Location
Cosigüina Chinandega Department,  Nicaragua
Coordinates	12°59′N 87°34′W / 12.98°N 87.57°W / 12.98; -87.57Coordinates: 12°59′N 87°34′W / 12.98°N 87.57°W / 12.98; -87.57[1]
Geology
Type	Stratovolcano
Last eruption	1859

Cosigüina (also spelt Cosegüina) is a stratovolcano located in the western part of Nicaragua. It forms a large peninsula extending into the Gulf of Fonseca. The summit is truncated by a large caldera, 2 x 2.4 km in diameter and 500 m deep, holding a substantial crater lake (Laguna Cosigüina). This cone has grown within an earlier caldera, forming a somma volcano. The earlier caldera rim is still exposed on the north side, but has been buried by the younger cone elsewhere.

Activity

The volcano last erupted in 1859, but its most famous activity occurred on 20 January 1835,^[2] when it produced the largest historical eruption in Nicaragua. Ash from the 1835 eruption has been found in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Jamaica.

The volcano has been quiet since 1859, only an instant in terms of geological time. An earthquake swarm was measured near Cosigüina in 2002, indicating that tectonic forces are still active in the region although the volcano is somewhat isolated from the line of more recently active Central American volcanoes to the northwest and southeast. The only indicators of hydrothermal activity at the volcano are intermittently observed gas bubbles in Laguna Cosigüina and a hot spring along the eastern flank of the volcano. The fairly uniform vegetation cover on the volcano’s sides also attests to a general lack of gas emissions or “hot spots” on the 872-meter-high cone.

See also

• List of volcanoes in Nicaragua

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Cosigüina". Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution. http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1404-01=. Retrieved 2008-09-07. 
2. ^ Penland, Paige R., Gary Chandler, Liza Prado (2006), Lonely Planet Nicaragua & El Salvador, Lonely Planet, Illustrated ed. p. 189, ISBN 1741047587

• Williams, Howel (1952) The great eruption of Coseguina, Nicaragua, 1835, with notes on the Nicaraguan volcanic chain (University of California Publications in geological sciences v. 29, no. 2) University of California Press, Berkeley, OCLC 248539314
• McBirney, Alexander R. and Williams, Howel (1965) Volcanic History of Nicaragua (University of California publications in geological sciences v. 55) University of California Press, Berkeley, OCLC 5506488
• Sanz, Dionisio Martínez (1963) Montañas que arden Editorial Hospicio, Managua, Nicaragua, OCLC 3306591, in Spanish

External links

Media related to Cosigüina at Wikimedia Commons