Coseguina, Nicaragua
Location: 12.59N, 87.34W
Elevation: 2,777 ft. (847 m)
Coseguina is located in the northwest corner of Nicaragua. It is
a basaltic shield volcano with a large central collapse crater that
contains a lake. This crater is about 1.24 by 1.55 miles (2 by
2.5 km) in diameter and 1,640 ft (500 m) deep. It was formed during a huge
eruption on January 22, 1835 that covered a large area of Central America
and Mexico with ash and pumice .This mighty eruption
deposited ash as far as Mexico City, some 1400 km to the north and
Jamaica, which is 800 miles (1300 km) to the east. This eruption cloud
blocked out the sun in a 93 mile (150 km) radius.
Coseguina erupted explosively again in 1852 producing lava flows.
Its last eruption was in 1859. A lake began to form in the crater in
1938. The volcano hasn't been active since, only small emissions from
fumaroles.
This 150 kilometer stretch of the Pacific coastal plain of Nicaragua
extends from the Gulf of Fonseca to Lake Managua. The large crater on the
peninsula on the left side of the above photo is Coseguina. A plume of
steam can also be seen venting from the volcano San Cristobal located in the
Marabios Range, the highest group mountains in Nicaragua.
Sources
Mooser, F., et al, "Catalogue of the Active Volcanoes of the World
Including Solfatara Fields: Part 6 -- Central America," International
Volcanology Association, pp. 109-111, 1958.
Simkin, Tom and Siebert, Lee, "Volcanoes of the World," Geoscience Press,
Tuscon, AZ, 349 pp., 1994.
Weyl, Richard, "Geology of Central America," p. 212, 1980.
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