Cosigüina

---

title: "Cosigüina" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mountains-of-nicaragua", "stratovolcanoes-of-nicaragua", "stratovolcanoes-of-el-salvador", "calderas-of-central-america", "volcanic-crater-lakes", "vei-5-volcanoes", "19th-century-volcanic-events", "chinandega-department", "holocene-stratovolcanoes"] description: "Stratovolcano in Nicaragua" topic_path: "geography/china" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosigüina" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Stratovolcano in Nicaragua ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]

Field	Value
name	Cosigüina
photo	Nicaragua volcan Cosigüina 5.jpg
photo_caption	Cosigüina crater lake, 2009
elevation_m	872
elevation_ref
location	Chinandega Department, Nicaragua
map	Nicaragua
map_caption	Location in Nicaragua
map_size	240
label_position	right
coordinates
coordinates_ref
type	Stratovolcano
volcanic_arc	Central America Volcanic Arc
last_eruption	August 1859
::

| name = Cosigüina | photo =Nicaragua volcan Cosigüina 5.jpg | photo_caption = Cosigüina crater lake, 2009 | elevation_m = 872 | elevation_ref = | prominence_m = | prominence_ref= | location = Chinandega Department, Nicaragua | map = Nicaragua | range_coordinates = | map_caption = Location in Nicaragua | map_size = 240 | label_position = right | coordinates = | coordinates_ref = | topo = | type = Stratovolcano | age = | volcanic_arc = Central America Volcanic Arc | last_eruption = August 1859 | first_ascent = | easiest_route = Cosigüina (also spelt Cosegüina) is a stratovolcano located in the western part of Nicaragua. It forms a large peninsula extending into the Gulf of Fonseca. The summit is truncated by a large caldera, 2 x 2.4 km in diameter and 500 m deep, holding a substantial crater lake (Laguna Cosigüina). This cone has grown within an earlier caldera, forming a somma volcano. The earlier caldera rim is still exposed on the north side, but has been buried by the younger cone elsewhere.

Activity

The volcano last erupted in 1859, but its most famous activity occurred on January 20, 1835, during the presidency of José Núñez, when it produced the largest historical eruption in Nicaragua. Ash from the 1835 eruption has been found in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Jamaica. According to an analysis by Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature, the 1835 eruption caused a temporary decrease in the average land temperature of Earth of about 0.75 degrees C.

It has not erupted since 1859, only an instant in terms of geological time. An earthquake swarm was measured near Cosigüina in 2002, indicating that tectonic forces are still active in the region although the volcano is somewhat isolated from the line of more recently active Central American volcanoes to the northwest and southeast. The only indicators of hydrothermal activity at the volcano are intermittently observed gas bubbles in Laguna Cosigüina and a hot spring along the eastern flank of the volcano. The fairly uniform vegetation cover on the volcano's sides also attests to a general lack of gas emissions or “hot spots” on the 872-meter-high cone.

References

Notes

• Williams, Howel (1952) The great eruption of Coseguina, Nicaragua, 1835, with notes on the Nicaraguan volcanic chain (University of California Publications in geological sciences v. 29, no. 2) University of California Press, Berkeley,
• McBirney, Alexander R. and Williams, Howel (1965) Volcanic History of Nicaragua (University of California publications in geological sciences v. 55) University of California Press, Berkeley,
• Sanz, Dionisio Martínez (1963) Montañas que arden Editorial Hospicio, Managua, Nicaragua, , in Spanish

References

1. {{cite gvp
2. (2006). "Lonely Planet Nicaragua & El Salvador". Lonely Planet.
3. [http://berkeleyearth.org/pdf/berkeley-earth-press-release-july-29.pdf Berkeley Earth Releases New Analysis] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-10-21 , 29 July 2012)

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::