Platanar Volcano

Platanar Volcano
Highest point
Elevation2,183 metres (7,162 ft)
Coordinates10°18′00″N 84°21′58″W / 10.3000174°N 84.3660879°W / 10.3000174; -84.3660879[1]
Geography
Platanar Volcano is located in Costa Rica
Platanar Volcano
Platanar Volcano
Costa Rica
Geology
Rock ageHolocene
Mountain typeVolcano
Last eruptionUnknown

Platanar Volcano is located in the Cordillera Central mountain range. It is part of a complex that covers 900 square kilometres (220,000 acres) and is dominated by Porvenir Volcano at 2,267 m (7,438 ft). It is located within the Juan Castro Blanco National Park.

Physical aspects

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It has a destroyed crater to the northwest.[2] Prehistoric lava flows on its western flank;[1] one of them, the so-called Florida flow, was perhaps created by Platanar's most recent activity. Cerro Porvenir has a truncated caldera at the summit with a cone inside.[2] Both of these are part of a composed stratovolcano of Upper Pleistocene age that on Platanar's side overlies the remains of Palmera's collapsed caldera, of probable late Pleistocene age.[3] Platanar has erupted lavas ranging from basalts to andesites in composition.[2]

Social and economic activities

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The western flanks of both volcanoes are used for dairy farming.[4] In 1968 2,500 hectares (6,200 acres) on Cerro Platanar were converted into a National Forest.[5]

Recent activity

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On 30 March 1997 there were six earthquakes on the south flank, the strongest being of magnitude 2.7. A previous seismic swarm in April 1980 had lasted for 2–3 weeks.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Platanar". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Guillermo E. Alvarado Induni; Oscar Luis Chavarría-Aguilar, Guillermo E Alvarado Induni (2005). Costa Rica: Land of Volcanoes. EUNED. pp. 144–. ISBN 978-9968-31-366-7.
  3. ^ Jean Pierre Bergoeing (15 June 2015). Geomorphology of Central America: A Syngenetic Perspective. Elsevier Science. pp. 97–. ISBN 978-0-12-803185-8.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Platanar-Bulletin Report". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
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