The Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia in Guatemala has reported a series of small eruptions on Mount Fuego a stratovolcano (cone shaped volcano made up of layers of ash and lava) in the Western Highlands of Quetzaltenango Department, Guatemala, over the last few days. The largest of these, on Sunday 14 August 2016, produced an ash column about 6000 m high that drifted north into Chiapas State, Mexico, while an eruption on Tuesday 16 August produced a 3000 m high ash column.
Eruption on Mount Santiaguito, Guatemala, on Tuesday 16 August 2016. Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia.
The volcanoes of Guatemala, and Central America in general, are fed by the subduction of the Cocos Plate beneath the Caribbean Plate along the Middle American Trench, which runs roughly parallel to the southwest coast of the isthmus. As the Cocos Plate sinks into the Earth, it passes under Central America, which lies on the western margin of the Caribbean Plate. As this happens it is heated by the friction and the heat of the planet's interior, causing the sinking plate to partially melt. Some of the melted material then rises through the overlying Caribbean Plate as magma, fueling the volcanoes of Central America.
See also...
Eruptions on Mount Fuego, Guatemala. The Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia in Guatemala has reported a series of small eruptions on Mount Fuego a stratovolcano (cone shaped volcano made up of layers of ash and lava) that forms part of La...
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