The Arenal Volcano, one of Costa Rica's top tourist attractions, continued spewing incandescent materials last week.
Days before it had sent ashes flying several kilometers around the La Fortuna area in northwestern Costa Rica.
According to the Eliecer Duarte, of the National Vulcanology and Seismology Observatory (OVSICORI) at the Universidad Nacional (UNA), the reason for the recent activity is simple: Arenal is having a growth spurt.
Even though it doesn't look it, Arenal is only 40 years old and it has just begun growing. Duarte said the volcano is in the stage of making for room for itself, growing vertically and also laterally, though the crater remains the same size.
Arenal is not having an eruption right now. There's no lava flowing, but stone avalanches coming down the sides. It's not necessary to issue an emergency at this point. The volcano is growing, and this activity is happening on its northeast side, away from the tourists,” Duarte explained.
The recent glowing molten material that came out of the north end of the Arenal volcano, in the northern part of the country, has only one possible explanation: the volcano is still growing and will continue doing so, periodically, in the years to come.
Because Arenal is a young volcano, it is going through a stage of "making room" for itself, meaning, it is growing vertically and outward. The crater is not growing, however.
This is being done by means of elongating volcanic rocks, that is, by a type of rock tentacles that, when cooled, become part of the structure or body of the volcano.
To understand this growth, you must think of Arenal like a tube of toothpaste which is squeezed until a little bit of toothpaste comes out and spills over,” he explained.
Obviously in this case, what shifts within the Arenal volcano is a very thick grey mass, made up of volcanic rock, the majority of which is composed of iron, magnesium, and silicon.
Just to be clear, Arenal is not erupting. There is no flowing lava, but rather an avalanche of rocks that spills over the side. We want to reiterate that there is no need to release a warning regarding the situation right now. The volcano is growing and the activity is in the northwest, far from the tourists,” said Duarte.
