Isla del Coco Volcano

Updated: May 30, 2024 12:40 GMT - refresh

Shield 575 m / 1886 ft
Costa Rica, 5.53°N / -87.08°W
Current status: (probably) extinct (0 out of 5)

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Typical eruption style: unspecified
Isla del Coco volcano eruptions: None during the past 10,000 years
Less than few million years ago (Pleistocene)

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Background

The 22 km2 rain-drenched Isla del Coco (Cocos Island) lies astride the central part of the aseismic Cocos Ridge about 650 km SW of the Costa Rican port of Puntarenas. It is the only subaerial portion of the Cocos Ridge, which extends from the Galápagos hot spot to the Mesoamerican trench. The island was discovered by the Spanish pilot Juan Cabeas in about 1526 and is renowned as the site of treasures buried by pirates and ship captains. The roughly rectangular 5 x 7 km island is surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs up to 200 m high. Construction of a Pliocene-Pleistocene shield volcano was followed by caldera formation and the emplacement of a trachytic lava dome. The latest eruptions produced lava flows that originated from NE-trending fissures most prominent on the SW part of the island.
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Source: Smithsonian / GVP volcano information