Platanar Volcano
Volcano Type: Stratovolcanoes
Volcano Status: Holocene
Last Known Eruption: Unknown
Summit Elevation: 2267 m 7,438 feet
Latitude: 10.30°N 10°18’0″N
Longitude: 84.366°W 84°21’57″W
The Platanar volcanic center is the NW-most volcano in the Cordillera Central of Costa Rica. The massive complex covers about 900 sq km and is dominated by two largely Pleistocene stratovolcanoes, Platanar and Porvenir. These volcanoes were constructed within the Pleistocene Chocosuela caldera, which may have formed during a major slope failure. The 2183-m-high Cerro Platanar volcano (known locally as Volcán Congo) on the north side of the complex has prehistorical lava flows on its western flanks and is the youngest volcanic center. The highest peak of the complex is 2267-m-high Porvenir volcano, whose summit crater lies 3 km south of Platanar. A thin layer of phreatic ash suggested that an eruption from Platanar occurred within the past few thousand years (Stine and Banks, 1991). The Aguas Zarcas group of nine basaltic cinder cones, located on the north flank of the Platanar-Porvenir complex to as low as 160 m altitude, is in part Holocene in age.
Sunset in Platanar Volcano
The Platanar volcanic complex on the horizon is the NW-most volcano in the Cordillera Central of Costa Rica. The massive complex consists of two largely Pleistocene stratovolcanoes, Platanar and Porvenir, which grew within the Chocosuela caldera. The highest peak of the complex is 2267-m-high Porvenir volcano, whose summit crater contains a small cone. This view is from the east with the Bosque Alegre (Laguna Hule) maar, located on the lower northern flank of Poás volcano, in the foreground.
Originally posted 2010-07-06 16:44:56.
