Nicaragua's "horror" volcano erupts with toxic gas cloud, is there imminent danger?

Nicaragua's Momotombo volcano is spewing a cloud of toxic gas and vapor, is this a danger warning?

An aerial view shows the Momotombo volcano in Nicaragua spewing clouds of toxic gas. (Source: NASA)

Momotombo is an active volcano located on the northern shore of Lake Managua in western Nicaragua.

According to information from the Earth Observatory of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), scientists surveying this area once called the Momotombo volcano "horror" in 1902. According to the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (USA), Momotombo is about 4,500 years old, its peak is 1,270m above sea level.

Over the past 500 years, the Momotombo volcano has had several major eruptions, including an eruption in 1610 that caused an earthquake that destroyed the nearby city of León. The residents were forced to relocate, then rebuilt as the new city of León, now Nicaragua's second-largest city. Meanwhile, the ruins of the ancient city are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This volcano had major eruptions in November 2015 and February 2016. According to the Global Volcanism Program, from 2021 until now, Momotombo has not had any major eruptions, however, it is still smoldering and emitting toxic gases, so scientists consider it to be in an active phase.

In the NASA image above, you can see the volcano erupting a cloud from its summit. This cloud contains a mixture of steam and poisonous gases like foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide, which has been staining the summit of the volcano yellow for thousands of years. Volcanoes often erupt these toxic clouds before and after eruptions.

According to NASA's Earth Observatory, the photo also clearly shows two dark lava fields at the foot of the mountain, traces of molten rock flowing down the volcano's slopes during previous eruptions.

Momotombo is part of the Central American Volcanic Arc, which stretches along the west coast of the continent from Mexico to Panama, and is surrounded by several other volcanoes, including the smaller one called Momotomboto, about 350m high, located in the middle of Lake Managua and formed at the same time as Momotombo.

The area around Momotombo is full of small openings, called fumaroles, where volcanic gases and steam rise to the Earth's surface. As a result, much of the surrounding area has been used to build a geothermal power plant since 1983. Electricity is generated from this underground heat.

A volcano is a fracture in the Earth's crust that allows lava, ash, and gas to escape. The Earth's crust is divided into seven major tectonic plates, which get hotter and softer as they go deeper. Volcanoes occur at the boundaries between tectonic plates.

Volcanoes are formed because the temperature below the Earth's surface is very hot, and the deeper you go towards the center of the Earth, the hotter it gets. At a depth of about 30km underground, the temperature here is hot enough to melt most types of rock.

As rocks melt, they expand and need more space. The molten rock (also called magma) is constantly pushed upward and as a result, mountains are constantly rising. When the pressure in the magma becomes higher than the pressure in the rock above, the magma erupts and forms a volcano.

During an eruption, hot gases and other solids are also thrown into the air. The materials ejected from the crater fall down the slopes and base of the mountain, forming a cone-shaped mountain.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nui-lua-noi-kinh-hoang-o-nicaragua-phun-ra-dam-may-khi-doc-sap-co-nguy-hiem-281564.html