Platanar Volcano
| Platanar Volcano | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 2,183 metres (7,162 ft) |
| Coordinates | 10°18′00″N 84°21′58″W / 10.3000174°N 84.3660879°W[1] |
| Geography | |
  Platanar Volcano Location within Costa Rica | |
| Geology | |
| Rock age | Holocene |
| Volcano | |
| Volcanic arc | Central America Volcanic Arc |
| Last eruption | Unknown |
Platanar Volcano is a dormant stratovolcano located in the Cordillera Central mountain range. It is located within Juan Castro Blanco National Park.[1] In 1968, 2,500 hectares (6,200 acres) on Cerro Platanar were converted into a national forest.[2]
Geology
[edit]Platanar sits on the north side of a complex that covers 900 square kilometres (350 sq mi)[1] or approximately 386 square kilometres (149 sq mi),[3] which it shares with Porvenir Volcano, another stratovolcano which also dates back to the Pleistocene[1] or tentatively the Upper Pleistocene[3] period. Both of these are part of a composed stratovolcano of that era.[3] Platanar's summit rises to 7,162 feet (2,183 m), while Povenir's is a bit higher at 7,437 feet (2,267 m).[3]
There is a destroyed crater on the northwestern part of Platanar's upper region, which features on its northeastern side Palmera's collapsed caldera, probably from the Lower Pleistocene and filled mostly with lahars.[3]
Prehistoric lava flows adorn its western and northwestern flanks;[1] one of them, the so-called Florida flow, was perhaps created by Platanar's most recent activity.[4] Platanar's erupted lavas range from basalts to andesites in composition.[4] On its southwest flank, there are "pyroclasts, detritus and volcanic breccias, as well as mixed breccias and alluvial deposits."[4]
Stream-sediment samples taken in 1987 at the base of the northern flank of Platanar Volcano may indicate "epithermal gold deposits".[5]
Seismic activity
[edit]On 30 March 1997 there were six earthquakes, with an epicenter 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) southeast of the volcano, the strongest being of magnitude 2.7. A previous seismic swarm in April 1980 lasted for two to three weeks.[1]
Economic activities
[edit]The western flanks of both volcanoes are used for dairy farming.[6]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Platanar". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ↑ Centro Nacional de Acción Pastoral (Costa Rica) (1990). La Montaña sagrada: una lucha por la vida (in Spanish). Centro Nacional de Acción Pastoral. p. 17. ISBN 978-9977-78-009-2.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Jean Pierre Bergoeing (15 June 2015). Geomorphology of Central America: A Syngenetic Perspective. Elsevier Science. pp. 97–. ISBN 978-0-12-803185-8.
- 1 2 3 Guillermo E. Alvarado Induni; Oscar Luis Chavarría-Aguilar, Guillermo E Alvarado Induni (2005). Costa Rica: Land of Volcanoes. EUNED. pp. 144–144. ISBN 978-9968-31-366-7.
- ↑ Luddington, Steve; Bagley, William C. "United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey: Follow-up examination of field areas with gold potential in Costa Rica -analytical results" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
- ↑ Hans Otto Spielmann (1969). Viehwirtschaft in Costa Rica: Struktur, Entwicklund und Stellung der Rinderhaltung in einem tropischen Entiwicklungsland (in German). Ludke bei der Uni. p. 210.
Mountains of Costa Rica | ||
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| Guatemala |  | |
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| El Salvador | ||
| Nicaragua | ||
| Costa Rica | ||
| Panama | ||
Note: volcanoes are ordered from north-west to south-east. | ||
| Authority control databases: Geographic |
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