Riley Hofmann

Volcanoes
Professor Rocky
Turrialba

Turrialba has had an increase in volcanic activity in the past decade and is showing signs
of a possible eruption in the near future. Turrialba is one of the Costa Rican volcanoes alongside
the east coast. This volcano is a basaltic-andesitic and has shown signs of ash fall and
incandescent juvenile rocks thrown from its craters. Turrialba has quite a few seismology
instruments collecting data every day to better understand it. The pyroclastic flows this volcano
can produce are very deadly to the habitat and can further the destruction already caused by
humans. Turrialba has shown signs of possible new magma arising and potentially erupting. It
has transformed into a phreatomagmatic eruption style which can cause a deadly eruption.

1
 Turrialba is located right outside of San Jose, Costa Rica, closer to the eastern shore of

the country. Turrialba is a basaltic-andesitic stratovolcano that is the most south-eastern active

volcano of the Cordillera Volcanica Central(CVC). It is formed by the northeast subduction of

the Pacific tectonic plate under the Caribbean plate. The volume of this volcano is roughly

290km3, while the entire edifice has a radius of approximately 20 km. This extends from the

town of Turrialba to the Guapiles plain and from the basin of Rio Toro Amarillo to the area of

the Rio Reventazon basin. Turrialba shares its base with its twin volcano Irazu forming the

largest massif of Central America. Turrialba’s currently active edifice is distinguished by its

conical shape and elliptical summit (Volcano Discovery, background). Its summit holds at least

three craters named east, central, and west according to geographical positions. Turrialba also

has three exterior peaks, Cerro San Carlos to the north, Cerro San Enrique to the east, and

Cerro San Juan to the southwest. The morphology of the edifice is characterized by its

prominent northeast facing valley due to either a sector collapse or glacial erosion. Turrialba

also has a few faults cut through it which are normal and run for several kilometers, northeast

to southwest. Along these faults are two pyroclastic cones named Tiendilla and El Armado.

These cones can be active and have shown signs of emissions throughout its explosive history .

Turrialba also has a phreatomagmatic eruption style. The physical features of Turrialba help us

differentiate it from its twin Irazu, while also providing important information about its possible

explosive styles (The Eruptive History of Turrialba Volcano, Costa Rica, and Potential Hazards

2
from Future Eruptions). When looking at volcanoes it is important to know the local

environment to see how the volcano can impact society.

Turrialba has a diverse climate and ecosystem unique to only the few volcanoes in Costa

Rica. The climate in Costa Rica is tropical year round due to the fact that it is located around the

equator, although it can be different at Turrialba itself. Due to the drastic changes in elevation,

rainfall, topography, and the all-around geography Costa Rica has many microclimates. Costa

Rica has two seasons, the dry season and the rainy season defined by how much rainfall occurs.

The dry season or summer is from mid-November to April, while the rainy season is from May

to December. Turrialba happens to get some of the most rain in Costa Rica during the rainy

season, while also having higher temperatures and humidity due to its closeness to the

Caribbean (go visit Costa Rica). Turrialba also has a very diverse ecosystem surrounding it

including animals from big cats to monkeys to butterflies. Costa Rica has roughly 0.1% of the

worlds landmass but still contains 5% of the worlds biodiversity. Costa Rica has over 25% of its

land protected by national parks while also practically stopping deforestation by 2005 (go visit

Costa Rica). An eruption from Turrialba could potentially wipe out a vast majority of its

surroundings which could destroy the ecosystem there, which is why the end of deforestation

was important. Besides the basis of the volcano and its surroundings, there are many human

interactions and studies that should be looked at.

3
 Human exploration has provided us with many benefits including the study of volcanoes

and how we can relate to them. Turrialba is between a few towns and right outside the capital

of Costa Rica, San Jose. Within 5 kilometers of Turrialba there are around 1,891 people and

within 30 kilometers there are 672,428 people (Global Volcanism Program). This shows how

important it is to have readings on the volcanoes in case anything drastic or unexpected is to

happen. Turrialba could possibly have explosive eruptions that would endanger the people in

the immediate vicinity as well as the local wildlife. Having seismology stations benefits society

by giving an advanced notice to possible eruptions. These stations can read the harmonic

tremors caused by a volcano and can alert any other station or scientist immediately . They can

also record years of data and can show irregularities in the seismic activity. Seismometers can

sometimes detect distortions so having a few in the area can be helpful to avoid false readings.

The west crater of Turrialba has a fixed multi gas detection station with data telemetry on the

outer southwest rim that captured a significant change in activity from degassing with very rare

isolated ash emissions in 2014 (The Eruptive History of Turrialba Volcano, Costa Rica, and

Potential Hazards from Future Eruptions). Turrialba also has UV spectrometer systems installed

roughly 2 kilometers from the summit that scan the sky continuously checking for changes in

UV light, showing the emissions rate of SO2 (The Eruptive History of Turrialba Volcano, Costa

Rica, and Potential Hazards from Future Eruptions). Scientists have provided multiple services

for this volcano and are prepared for anything to happen , the locals however are not as

prepared. It seems the locals in the area are not too worried about serious eruptions since they

4
live extremely close to the volcano. It also doesn’t look like much preparation has been taken in

the case of a serious eruption and travel ads even point out that Turrialba has been safe for

years! While it has had little explosive history in the recent years, the past few hundred years

disagree.

Turrialba is a relatively safe volcano to be around today, but its past shows different.

Turrialba has had five major explosions in the past few hundred years with a few having

pyroclastic flows, which destroys large amounts of vegetation alongside the volcano (Global

Volcanism Program). The Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program has recorded the

seismology of Turrialba and has confirmed a large amount of activity in the past decade . Since

2010 there has been eight confirmed and one unconfirmed observation of activity/ eruptions,

with the most recent being in February of 2016 and stopping December 2016, with a chance of

activity still possible today. These recent reports show all three craters were active between

2010 and 2014 with only a VEI of 2. The past major explosions have had VEI’s of 3-4 with the

most recent one in May of 1865. In December 2016 there was weak ash plumes which

escalated to ash chambers up to 300 meters and small explosions throwing incandescent rocks

out (Global Volcanism Program). This activity could have been a precursor to a large scale

explosion, but only time can tell when Turrialba will erupt again. Since then it has been fairly

quiet and still occasionally spits out ash. Besides knowing that Turrialba has volcanic activity we

need to know what kind of materials it is producing.

5
 Turrialba has been recorded shooting rocks out of the volcano while also having deadly

pyroclastic flows. The rocks seen from Turrialba are both old and juvenile rocks. The juvenile

rocks were up to one meter in diameter and could take minutes to cool down . The last major

eruptions in 1864-1866 produced magmatic clasts that were analyzed by electron microprobe

to compare their compositions to the fresh glassy clasts in recent eruptions. Looking at both

eruptions the compositions were almost identical and had a majority of 56-57% SiO2, 15-16%

Al2O3, 8-9% FeO, and 6-7% CaO. There are other elements and compounds in the compositions

but they only make up roughly 10% of the total mass (The Eruptive History of Turrialba Volcano,

Costa Rica, and Potential Hazards from Future Eruptions). Knowing the compositions allows us

to categorize these rocks and clasts as between basaltic-andesite and trachyandesite. In the

newer eruptions a larger amount of fluorine was noticed and considered anomalously high (The

Eruptive History of Turrialba Volcano, Costa Rica, and Potential Hazards from Future Eruptions).

This is believed to happen due to the altercation of the magmas melting and crystallization

process going too quick or too slow. This leads scientists to question whether or not these

recent eruptions contain true juvenile rocks or not. There is no right answer about these rocks

but since they are fresh-looking clasts they believe the magma is new and could have

reactivated old magma through volatiles and heat. Ash has also been present since 2010 giving

reason to believe a new magma body is rising in Turrialba. Since the ash has been noticed,

scientists have been recording the daily ash emissions as well as the magma that has erupted.

The volume of ash erupted has been too small to give an accurate guess as to when Turrialba

6
may erupt again, as well as the age of the magma. The fresh looking clasts and voluminous

degassing also lead to believe there is new magma but yet again the amount of gas emitted

gives no clear indication of the timing of gas separation from the magma. This means that there

is no answer to if these gases are new or have been building up for thousands of years during

slow magma crystallization (As Turrialba Volcano Erupts Again, Scientists Warn of Increased

Health Risks, Economic Damage). Turrialba is a mysterious volcano that has the power to erupt

at any moment and cause great havoc to Costa Rica.

The effects of Turrialba having a serious eruption are pretty detrimental to the local

communities. Costa Ricans already have to deal with large amounts of deforestation, hunters,

poachers, trappers, and diseases and a serious eruption will only set them back even more.

Costa Rica is full of endangered species that could never make a comeback if Turrialba was to

have a large scale eruption. Birds like the resplendent quetzal and scarlet macaw are already

endangered in Central America due to deforestation and an eruption from Turrialba would only

help push these birds to extinction (go visit Costa Rica). When Turrialba erupts it tends to have

pyroclastic flows that destroy a large amount of tropical forest and replace it with hardened

magma. The more pyroclastic flows and the deadlier the flows gives a greater chance of seeing

animals’ habitats infringed on by mother nature and not just us humans. Besides birds some

mammals and big cats already have dwindling populations in Costa Rica. The baird’s tapir and

jaguar are both facing near extinction in Costa Rica. The Tapir has been hunted to near

extinction for its sought out sources of protein and its vulnerability. They are now pushed back

7
to national parks and the least remote wilderness areas, which are within range of Turrialba.

The Jaguar is already facing the harsh reality of deforestation. Jaguars need a large territory to

live in and an exceptional amount of food. Due to human effects both its habitat and prey have

been reduced and have sent the species in a downward spiral. If Turrialba erupts it could

possibly be the end of the Jaguar in Costa Rica (go visit Costa Rica). While seeing how Turrialba

could wipe out a few species, it would also drastically change the ecosystem and food chain

potentially causing great problems for the wildlife and natives of the country. Turrialba not only

effects the wildlife and locals through volcanic eruptions but through other natural causes set

off by the volcano.

Turrialba has shown what it can do volcanic wise but it also has other hidden powers .

Earthquakes are quite common and expected from volcanoes of this scale. While Turrialba can

cause daily earthquakes or tremors, they show no real danger to the local populations. Volcanic

earthquakes and tremors are usually of the lower magnitude, but high magnitude earthquakes

can cause volcanoes to erupt or react spontaneously. Volcanic earthquakes are enough to make

you feel it a little but not cause any harm. These earthquakes and tremors are precursors to

what may come from the volcano itself and can help speed up the eruption process in some

cases. Turrialba can affect the environment in multiple ways and has shown what it will leave in

its aftermath. In the future although we don’t know what is going to happen . As of now

Turrialba’s recent activity has been effecting the people and environment of Costa Rica by

spewing ash and lava. Scientists don’t know what the future will hold but fear a prolonged time
8
span of activity can cause multiple negative effects. Prolonged activity from Turrialba can put

human health in jeopardy while drastically effecting the environment and causing serious

damage to the local economy (As Turrialba Volcano Erupts Again, Scientists Warn of Increased

Health Risks, Economic Damage).

Turrialba represents a significant and growing threat to the society and economy of

Costa Rica. It has shown more and more activity in the past decade and is bringing up the

debate whether it will erupt soon or not. Turrialba has a phreatomagmatic eruption style which

is more violent and prolonged but comes with a slower progression. This slow progression has

given scientists great opportunities to study the volcano and learn from it to help better

understand these volcanoes. The magmatic degassing also shows the readiness of this volcano

to erupt. All in all, Turrialba is a volcano with great power ready to erupt in the near future.

9
10
 Fendt, Lindsay. "As Turrialba Volcano Erupts Again, Scientists Warn of

Increased Health Risks, Economic Damage -." The Tico Times | Costa Rica News |

Travel | Real Estate. N.p., 14 Oct. 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

Turrialba." Global Volcanism Program | Turrialba. Smithsonian, n.d. Web. 20

Apr. 2017.

"Turrialba." VolcanoDiscovery: Volcanoes Worldwide - News, Info, Photos,

and Tours to Volcanoes and Volcanic Areas, Earthquake Information.

VolcanoDiscovery, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

"Turrialba Volcano National Park, Costa Rica - City Guide." Go Visit Costa

Rica. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Reagan, Mark, Eliecer Duarte, Gerardo J. Soto, and Erick Fernández. "The

Eruptive History of Turrialba Volcano, Costa Rica, and Potential Hazards from

11
Future Eruptions." Special Paper 412: Volcanic Hazards in Central America (2006):

235-57. Web.

12