El Valle (volcano) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids El Valle |
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El Valle in 1998
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,185 m (3,888 ft) |
| Geography | |
 El Valle
Location in Panama
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| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Stratovolcano |
| Last eruption | Unknown |
El Valle is a type of volcano called a stratovolcano in central Panama. A stratovolcano is a tall, cone-shaped volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava and ash. El Valle is the easternmost volcano in the Central American Volcanic Arc. This arc is a chain of volcanoes formed because the Nazca Plate (a large piece of Earth's crust) is slowly sliding underneath Central America. This process is called subduction.
A very long time ago, more than 200,000 years ago, El Valle had a huge eruption. After this eruption, the top of the volcano collapsed. It fell into the empty space where the magma used to be, forming a large, bowl-shaped hollow called a caldera. Since then, several lava domes have grown inside this caldera. These domes are thick, sticky lava that piled up around the vents. They formed peaks like Cerro Pajita, Cerro Gaital, and Cerro Caracoral.
For a long time, people thought there were no active volcanoes in Panama. But in the early 1990s, scientists studied El Valle. They used a method called radioactive dating. This showed that El Valle last erupted about 200,000 years ago. This means it was active much more recently than thought!
See also
- List of volcanoes in Panama
- El Valle de Antón, a nearby town
- APROVACA
- In Spanish: Volcán El Valle para niños
