Apoyeque volcano forms the broad Chiltepe Peninsula in western Nicaragua and extends into south central Lake Managua
The Apoyeque volcano is part of a larger volcanic complex and consists of a low 500 m high shield cut by a 2.8 km wide and 400 deep lake-filled caldera and a 2.5 x 3 km wide explosion crater, the lake-filled Xiloá (Jiloá) maar, immediately SE of Apoyeque.
Present activity consists of active fumaroles in Laguna Xiloá and at the northern caldera rim.
50 BC ± 100 (Chiltepe Tephra, Apoyeque), 1050 BC ± 100 (Los Cedros Tephra), 2550 BC ± 1000 (Mateare Tephra, West Chiltepe Peninsula), 4160 BC ± 30 (Laguna Xiloá)
Typical eruption style
explosive
Apoyeque is part of the Chiltepe pyroclastic shield volcano, one of 3 large ignimbrite shields on the Nicaraguan volcanic front. The caldera formed after a VEI 6 plinian eruption which left a thick mantle of dacitic pumice that blankets the surrounding area (Chiltepe Tephra).
Other features of the volcano include:
The Talpetatl lava dome was constructed between Laguna Xiloá and Lake Managua.
Pumiceous pyroclastic flows from Laguna Xiloá were erupted about 6100 years ago and overlie deposits of comparable age from the Masaya plinian eruption.
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Source: Smithsonian / GVP Apoyeque volcano information
