The Santa Ana Volcano or Ilamatepec ( es, volcán de Santa Ana) is a large

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

located in the

Santa Ana department Santa Ana () is a department of El Salvador in the northwest of the country. The capital is Santa Ana, one of the largest cities in El Salvador. It has 2,023 km² and a population of over 613,000. The Santa Ana Volcano The Santa Ana Volc ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

. At above sea level, it is the highest volcano in the country. It is located immediately west of

Coatepeque Caldera Caldera De Coatepeque (Nahuatl ''cōātepēc'', "at the snake hill") is a volcanic caldera in El Salvador in Central America. The caldera was formed during a series of rhyolitic explosive eruptions between about 72,000 and 57,000 years ago. ...

. The volcano was the inspiration for one of the active volcanoes in

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry, simply known as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ; 29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of s ...

's famous French novella (

The Little Prince ''The Little Prince'' (french: Le Petit Prince, ) is a novella by French aristocrat, writer, and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 an ...

), based on his life with his Salvadoran wife Consuelo de Saint Exupéry, who was The Rose in the story.

Geography

The summit of Santa Ana features four nested

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

s and

volcanic crater A volcanic crater is an approximately circular depression in the ground caused by Volcano, volcanic activity. It is typically a bowl-shaped feature containing one or more vents. During Types of volcanic eruptions, volcanic eruptions, molten magm ...

s, with the innermost containing a small

crater lake Crater Lake (Klamath language, Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The ...

. Collapse of the summit during the late

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

(inferring from underlying soil samples, the upper age limit is no more than 57,000 years ago) produced a massive

debris avalanche Debris flows are geological phenomena in which water-laden masses of soil and fragmented rock rush down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form thick, muddy deposits on valley floors. They generally ...

that reached the Pacific Ocean, forming the Acajutla Peninsula. Subsequent eruptions have largely rebuilt the edifice. There have been numerous historical eruptions since the 16th century, both at the summit and from

cinder cones A cinder cone (or scoria cone) is a steep conical hill of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic clinkers, volcanic ash, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions or ...

on the lower flanks, and also the flank vents of San Marcelino located east of Santa Ana. The San Marcelino vents erupted in 1722 and flowed eastwards for 11 km, destroying the village of San Juan Tecpan. In October, 2005, the volcano erupted, killing at least two people, injuring seven people, forcing many people to flee their villages. The volcano spat rocks for over with rocks the size of cars. The eruption contributed to the damage from

Hurricane Stan Hurricane Stan was a relatively weak but deadly tropical cyclone that affected areas of Central America and Mexico in early October 2005. The eighteenth named storm and eleventh hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, Stan formed from ...

. The most recent previous eruption had been in 1904.

Climate

The climate on the northeast facing slope of the volcano sees substantial rainfall in the summer months. Located at 13.9 N, 89.6 W, altitude : 1770 m, the climate is classified as a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Cwb'').

References

;Notes ;Sources * Sheets P D, 2004. Apocalypse then: social science approaches to volcanism, people, and cultures in the Zapotitan Valley, El Salvador. Rose W. I., Bommer J. J., Lopez D. L., Carr M. J., Major J. J. (eds), Natural Hazards in El Salvador. Bolder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Special Paper 375, pp 109–120. * Siebert, L. Kimberly, P., and Pullinger, C.R, 2004, The voluminous Acajulta debris avalanche from Santa Ana Volcano, western El Salvador, and comparison with other Central American edifice-failure evens, in Rose, W.I. et al., Natural Hazards in El Salvador. Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Special Paper 375, pp 5–23.

External links

Nasa Earth Observatory article and image
{{Central American volcanoes Stratovolcanoes of El Salvador Subduction volcanoes Active volcanoes Mountains of El Salvador Calderas of Central America Volcanic crater lakes Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Holocene stratovolcanoes

Geography

Climate

See also

References

External links