Sunday, March 29, 2009


Picture of Calbuco coverd with snow
This picture was taken by Hugo Moreno

Taken form a nearby town
Found on John Search

Type

Mt. Calbuco is a Composite, Stratovolcano and formed along the South American continental plate and the Nazca oceanic plate. the South American plate is subucting under the Nazca plate.

History

The most recent eruption of Mt. Calbuco occurred in 1972, and the most famous eruption occurred between 1893 and 1894. Since the first recorded eruption Calbuco has had 10 different explosions.

Shape

Mt. Calbuco stands 2003 meters tall and has a 400-500 meter wide summit crater. The shape of Calbuco is a truncated cone shape. Mt. Osorno neighbors Mt. Calbuco.

Eruption Style

Calbuco is a very explosive volcano because of its high viscosity lava. The main type of lava Calbuco releases is basaltic lava. Mt. Calbuco has been known to have had pyroclastic flows in the past. Also it is common to have Lahars (mud flows) and debris erupting out of Calbuco.

Enviromental Dangers/Benefits

Mt. Calbuco has had many eruptions in its history. Every time Calbuco erupts many harmful gasses are being released into our atmosphere. These gasses are then trapped and add to global warming dangers. In the 1893-1894 eruption many homes and buildings were damaged due to the debris and ash fall. Also many of the crops that were growing were destroyed from all of the ash fall.

Google Earth Image