Suchitan

About Suchitan

The summit of the andesitic-to-basaltic Volcán Suchitán stratovolcano, NE of the city of Jutiapa, is elongated N-S. Several large canyons cut the slopes of the dominantly andesitic edifice. A large cone, Cerro Mataltepe, is located on the upper N flank; two smaller cones are located on the lower N flank. Two Holocene basaltic lava flows are also present on the N and NW flanks (Williams et al., 1964), and many flank vents are basaltic. The volcano was constructed immediately E of the 5-km-wide basaltic-to-dacitic Retana caldera, formed in part in association with the eruption of a dacitic pumice deposit. Steep walls 60-250 m high rise above the flat caldera floor. One of the latest basaltic lava flows went through a low notch in the eastern caldera rim. Several lava cones and a maar are located along a N-S line N of Retana caldera. A reported eruption in 1469 CE is considered to have actually been from Atitlán volcano in the Guatemalan highlands.