-Published: Tuesday, December 10, 2019-
A thermal camera shows Irazú Volcano secrets
By A.M. Costa Rica staff and wire services
In what could be a great sigh of relief for many, U.S. expert researcher Ian Godfrey, in his second exploratory ascent to Volcano Irazú located in Cartago, this year, confirmed using a thermal camera that, indeed, Costa Rica's most famous active volcano despite all the speculation amidst the ever-changing colors of its lake crater Diego de la Haya poses no real present imminent danger to its people and to the thousands of visitors from all over the world who are drawn to it yearly.
According to the researcher, for centuries, Irazú, a stratovolcano which at 11,260 feet (3,432 meters) stands as the tallest of the six active ones in the country, has claimed multiple lives on separate occasions, truly horrific incidents that's further exacerbated in the minds of many watching the mysterious changes in color of the volcano's crater lake over the years.
Fortunately, the thermograms taken from key points of the volcano's multiple craters showed no untoward alarming thermal anomaly whatsoever - giving Godfrey and his team of experts assurances of a safe journey ahead and tons of information that's valuable material for his soon-to-be-published book entitled "Investigating the Volcanoes of Costa Rica".
Without a doubt, Irazú is truly breathtaking - definitely, the King of the Hill with its unrivaled beauty eclipsing the rest. However, to say this active volcano evokes fear is a gross understatement. Irazú has also earned the moniker "El Coloso" (The Colossus), in reference to the host of catastrophes that it has provoked in the past, said the researchers in its statement.
The good news is this time around, Godfrey came prepared. In this exploratory trip in the heat of the summer of 2019, the young U.S. citizen from Florida who first visited Costa Rica as a student-scholar in 2014 was using a thermal camera.
Godfrey proclaimed, "I really want to check thermal anomalies. So it is interesting to go up a volcano with this equipment, with a thermal camera. I can just pull it out and validate for myself."
Right from the get-go, Costa Rica mesmerized Godfrey. The heavily-rainforest country which has one of the world's most diverse ecosystems has caught his attention so much he's writing not just one but three books about it.
When asked about the changing colors of Diego de la Haya crater lake, Godfrey said "With our thermal camera, we found out that everything matches. Everything is very safe. So in a sense, it made us all relaxed. And the best part is we don't have to go too near. It's pretty interesting to have that material."
Further, he said, "also, when people ask me 'is that water down there hot?' or 'is it cold?' when referring to the lake. All I have to do is pull out my thermal camera, and I can give them a definitive answer. Best of all, I can show the camera image to them."
According to the researchers, Costa Rica is the most visited nation in Central America, attracting 2.9 million foreign visitors in 2016 alone (up by 10% from the year before), and raking in up to $3.4 billion in 2015 or 5.8% of its total GDP.
According to National Parks System, known as SINAC, Irazú Volcano National Park, located in the Central Volcanic Conservation Area of Costa Rica, which includes the Prusia Forest Reserve, is still active although the last major eruptions were between 1963 and 1965, with occasional minor eruptions and some small lava flows since that time.
The Crater Principal lake has an unusual greenish yellow coloring caused by rainfall dissolving the minerals along the craters walls. It has also been known to change color to rust-red depending on the minerals present. The inactive, dry Diego de la Haya crater sits just up to the right of the Crater Principal and is filled with volcanic ash.
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