Welcome to an amazing view:

This blog is a collection of research and information on Arenal Volcano and the surrounding area. It is also a personal account of my visit there in June of 2005.

I visited Arenal Volcano in 2005 during a Field Ecology course I took as part of my undergraduate studies at Miami University. I first saw Arenal late in the day. The sunset was casting gold lighting on the side of the volcano. The thin stream of smoke rising from the summit glowed red at the base.

Primary and secondary rainbows were visible in the clouds left of the peak. I couldn't, at the time, imagine a more breathtaking view.
I was pleasantly surprised when we returned to our spectator's perch later that night. The dark allowed the red glow in the smoke stream to show up more clearly. In addition, the volcano was spitting out red-hot boulders (bombs) that were rolling down the side of the mountain. They created red streaks in our time-laps photos.

To the left of the volcano the brilliant full moon was threatening to leave us with over-exposed pictures. If that wasn't enough to take your breath away, a tremendous lighting show was taking place in the distance to the right of Arenal. I was in awe.

Arenal's Vital Statistics:


Country: Costa Rica

Volcano Type: Stratovolcano

Volcano Status: Historical

Last Known Eruption: 2009 (continuing)

Summit Elevation: 1670 m (5,479 feet)

Sources:
Unknown, "Arenal." Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. 23 Mar 2009 > [TEXT]

Friday, March 27, 2009

Where in the World?

Arenal is situated in Northern Costa Rica above the subduction zone where the Cocos plate is sliding underneath the Caribbean plate. The subducting plate melts sending magma up through the Caribbean plate to erupt on the surface.

This areal image shows Arenal's conical shape and northwest flanks where no plant life exists because of continued eruptive material that rolls down this side.

Sources:

Unknown, "Arenal." Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. 23 Mar 2009 > [TEXT]

Google Earth (IMAGES)
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Erupting Since 1968:

Arenal is an andestic volcano capable of both major and minor eruptions. Arenal ended its 400 years of dormancy with an explosive eruption in 1968 killing 87 people, burrying the villages of Tabacón, Pueblo Nuevo and San Luís, and generating three new crators. The eruption has continued to this day with smoke, ash, falling red-hot rocks, and lava flows.

Today, residents live a safe distance from the volcano and Arenal has become one of Costa Rica's most popular and lucrative tourist attractions. One of the area's destroyed cities near Lake Arenal has become Costa Rica's largest hydroelectric plant.

Source:
Arenal Volcano 1968 Eruption." Arenal.net. 2006. 23 Mar 2009 .

Eruptions and Pyroclastic Flows:

Arenal is continually erupting and ejects a variety of materials including lava, blocks, bombs, and pyroclastic flows. Below is an image and diagram illustrating the pyroclastic eruption that occured in September of 2003.

Source: Arenal Volcano 1968 Eruption." Arenal.net. 2006. 23 Mar 2009