Geomorphology and Volcanology of Costa Rica

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	GEOMORPHOLOGY AND VOLCANOLOGY OF COSTA RICA
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	Copyright
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	Biography of the Author
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	Introduction
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	1. Major Structural Units of Costa Rica
		1. Northern Plains Extension of the Nicaragua Graben
			1.1 Alluvial Fans, Middle to Upper Pleistocene
			1.2 Fluvial–Lacustrine Terraces
			1.3 Frío River Watershed
		2. Guanacaste and Central Quaternary Volcanic Ranges
			2.1 Guanacaste’s Volcano Range
				2.1.1 Orosí–Cacao Volcanic Complex
				2.1.2 Rincon de la Vieja Volcanic Complex
				2.1.3 Miravalles Volcanic Complex
				2.1.4 Tenorio–Montezuma Complex
			2.2 Arenal–Chato–Los Perdidos
				2.2.1 Modern Volcanic Complex
				2.2.2 San Lorenzo Collapsed Caldera
			2.3 Central Volcanic Mountain Range
				2.3.1 Platanar and Porvenir Volcanic Complex
				2.3.2 Poas Volcano
				2.3.3 Barva Volcano
				2.3.4 Zurquí Hills
				2.3.5 Irazu Volcano
				2.3.6 Turrialba Volcano
		3. Tempisque River Tectonic Depression
		4. Tilaran’s Tertiary Mountain Range
		5. Talamanca Mountain Range
		6. The Pacific Littoral
		7. The Caribbean Littoral
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	2. Natural Shape Types in Costa Rica
		1. Paleoglacier and Paleonival Forms
			1.1 Chirripó\'s Paleoglacier Shapes
			1.2 Cerro de la Muerte Paleonival Forms
		2. Multifaceted Shapes
			2.1 Forest Sector
			2.2 Solifluction Sector
		3. Multiconvex Modeling
		4. Piedmont Accumulation Shapes
			4.1 Alluvial Fans
			4.2 Accumulation of Glacis
			4.3 Fluvial Terraces
		5. Large Quaternary Volcano Shapes
			5.1 The Central Volcanic Range
				5.1.1 The Northern Slope
				5.1.2 The Southern Slope
			5.2 Guanacaste Volcanic Range
				5.2.1 The Northeast Watershed
				5.2.2 Southwest Watershed
		6. Floodplain Shapes
			6.1 The Great Northern Floodplain
			6.2 Paleolacustrine Geomorphology: Southern Sector of Lake Nicaragua
			6.3 Middle to Upper Pleistocene Alluvial Fans
			6.4 The Fluvial–Lacustrine Terraces
			6.5 The Fluvial–Lacustrine Terrace of the Frío River
			6.6 Frío River Basin
			6.7 Drilling of Deep Wells
			6.8 Lake Caño Negro
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	3. Regional Study of Large Morphological Units and the Coast
		1. Volcanic Morphology
			1.1 Talamanca Mountain Range
				1.1.1 Talamanca\'s Caribbean Watershed
					1.1.1.1 Telire River Basin
				1.1.2 Estrella Valley
				1.1.3 Atlantic Chirripó River Basin
			1.2 Talamanca Mountain Range Volcanic Calderas
		2. Barbilla Volcanic Sector
		3. Moravia del Chirripó Caldera
			3.1 The Pacific Watershed of Talamanca
			3.2 Neotectonics and Structural Geomorphology of the Coastal Mountain Range
			3.3 The General Syncline, Alluvial Fans
			3.4 The General River
			3.5 Coastal Mountain Range
		4. Ending Tertiary Volcanism
		5. Late Tertiary Volcanic Cone Evidence on Talamanca’s Southwest Slopes
			5.1 Geological and Geomorphological History
				5.1.1 Frantzius Volcano
				5.1.2 Irkibi Volcano
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	4. The Central Volcanic Mountain Range
		1. Platanar–Porvenir Volcanic Complex
			1.1 Porvenir Volcano Crater
			1.2 Pelon, Viejo, and Avion Craters
			1.3 Platanar Volcano Concentric Calderas
		2. Poas Volcanic Structure
		3. Congo Volcano
		4. Barva Volcano
		5. Molejon Collapsed Caldera
		6. Cacho Negro Volcano
		7. Santa Clara Caldera
		8. Irazu Volcano
		9. Las Nubes Volcano, Part of the Irazu Complex
		10. Flores Volcanic Complex
		11. Turrialba Volcano
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	5. Central Valley Geomorphology
		1. Eastern Central Valley
		2. Reventazon River
		3. Western Central Valley
			3.1 Northern Central Valley Watershed
			3.2 The Volcanic Plateau
			3.3 The Southern Contact
				3.3.1 La Carpintera–Escazu EasternSector
				3.3.2 Escazu–Santa Ana Sector
				3.3.3 Jaris River West Sector
			3.4 West Contact
			3.5 Virilla and Tarcoles Rivers
		4. Central Valley Morphogenesis
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	6. Tilaran Mountain Range
		1. Northeast Watershed or San Carlos Slope
		2. Tilaran Southwest Watershed
			2.1 Northern Sector, Between the Cañas and Barranca Rivers
			2.2 Southern Sector, Between the Barranca and the Tarcoles Rivers
		3. Mount Turrubares Volcano Sector
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	7. Guanacaste Volcanic Mountain Range
		1. El Hacha Volcanic Ruins
		2. Orosí Volcano
		3. Cacao Volcano
		4. Rincon de la Vieja Volcano
		5. Miravalles Volcano and Guayabo Collapsed Caldera
		6. Guayabo Caldera
		7. Tenorio Volcano
		8. Lake Arenal Sector
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	8. Geomorphology of Guanacaste
		1. Nicoya Peninsula
			1.1 Nicoya Peninsula Southern Extreme
			1.2 Nicoya Peninsula Pacific Sector
			1.3 Nicoya Gulf East Coast
			1.4 Nicoya Peninsula Northern Contact
		2. Tempisque River Tectonic Depression
			2.1 Tempisque River Plain Eastern Contact
			2.2 Center and South of the Tempisque Plain
			2.3 Tempisque Plain’s Geomorphological Features
		3. The Ignimbrite Plateau
			3.1 Liberia Plateau
			3.2 Santa Rosa Plateau
			3.3 La Cruz Plateau
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	9. Coastal Geomorphology of Costa Rica
		1. The Pacific Coast
			1.1 The Role of Neotectonics
			1.2 Sectors of Flooded Morphology but Without Sea or River Terrace Levels
			1.3 Sectors With Large Amounts of Lower “Levels,” Witnesses to a Moderate Uplift
			1.4 Sectors With Large Numbers of Staggered “Levels” Present in an Important Coastal Mass, Witnesses to Fast Rising
			1.5 Sectors of Large Tectonic Coastal Cliffs
		2. Pacific Littoral Morphology
			2.1 Between the Nicaragua Border and the Santa Elena Peninsula
			2.2 Santa Elena Peninsula
			2.3 Naranjo Beach and Culebra Bay Sector
		3. Nicoya Peninsula Littoral
			3.1 Between Culebra Bay and Tamarindo Bay
			3.2 From Tamarindo Bay to Punta Guiones
			3.3 From Punta Guiones to Bejuco Beach
				3.3.1 Playa Bejuco Bay to Cabo Blanco Cape
				3.3.2 Between Cabo Blanco Cape and Ballena Bay
				3.3.3 Between Ballena Bay and San Lucas Island
		4. Nicoya Gulf Sector
		5. Puntarenas Sea Arrow
		6. The Central Pacific Littoral of Costa Rica
			6.1 Between the Barranca and the Tarcoles Rivers
			6.2 Parrita–Palmar Sector
				6.2.1 Parrita Northwest Sector
				6.2.2 Quepos–Dominical Southeast Sector
		7. Baru River–Coronado Elevated Coast Sector
		8. The Pacific Southeast Coast Sector of Costa Rica
			8.1 Coronado Sector and Diquís Plain
			8.2 Osa Peninsula
			8.3 Golfo Dulce Bay
			8.4 Burica Peninsula
		9. Basalt and Sandstone Littoral Platform Morphology
			9.1 Example of the Basaltic Littoral Platform of San Francisco Point
			9.2 Sandstone Sea Platforms
			9.3 Samara Sandy Beach Platform
		10. Cyclic Origin Levels
		11. The Caribbean Coast
			11.1 Northern Sector
			11.2 Southern Sector
				11.2.1 The Lower Pleistocene
				11.2.2 The Middle Pleistocene
				11.2.3 The Flandrian
				11.2.4 Current
				11.2.5 Littoral Evolution and Current Forms
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	10. Cocos Island Geomorphology
		1. An Eminently Volcanic Island
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	11. Costa Rica Quaternary Chronology Proposal
		1. Fluvial Levels
			1.1 Reventazon River
			1.2 The General River Depression
		2. Tilaran Pacific Watershed Alluvial Fans
		3. Caribbean Coast Paleocliffs
		4. The Lower Quaternary (2,000,000 to 300,000 Years BP)
		5. The Middle Quaternary
		6. The Upper Quaternary
			6.1 The Eemian Interglacial Period
			6.2 The Big Würm–Wisconsinian Sea Regression
			6.3 The Flandrian Transgression
			6.4 The Current Sea Level Since 6000 Years Ago
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	Conclusion
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	Glossary
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	Bibliography
		Consulted Maps
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	Index
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