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Caichinque

Stratovolcano · Chile · 4458m

Caichinque volcano forms a topographic high dividing lakes of Salar Capur (left) from Salar Talar (right). More than a half dozen vents produced andesitic-to-dacitic lava flows, with young flows descending to the NE and SE from the 4450-m-high summit. One prominent flow traveled 6 km to the east, forming two lobes extending into the Salar Talar. Other youthful looking flows traveled to the west, forming lobes extending into Salar Capur, and SSW, dividing the two salars.
Caichinque volcano forms a topographic high dividing lakes of Salar Capur (left) from Salar Talar (right). More than a half dozen vents produced andesitic-to-dacitic lava flows, with young flows descending to the NE and SE from the 4450-m-high summit. One prominent flow traveled 6 km to the east, forming two lobes extending into the Salar Talar. Other youthful looking flows traveled to the west, forming lobes extending into Salar Capur, and SSW, dividing the two salars. · Photo: NASA Landsat image, 1999 (courtesy of Hawaii Synergy Project, Univ. of Hawaii Institute of Geophysics & Planetology). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Stratovolcano
Country
Chile
Region
South America Volcanic Regions / Central Andean Volcanic Arc
Elevation
4458m
Coordinates
-23.949, -67.740
Last eruption
Unknown
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Geological summary

Caichinque is a relatively small Pleistocene-Holocene volcanic complex that forms a topographic high dividing Salar Capur from Salar Talar. More than a half-dozen vents produced andesitic-to-dacitic lava flows, with young flows descending to the NE and SE from the summit. One prominent flow traveled 6 km to the E, forming two lobes extending into the Salar Talar. The youthful morphology of the flows suggested a prehistorical age (González-Ferrán, 1995), but de Silva (2007 pers. comm.) considered the volcanic complex to perhaps be as old as late Pleistocene.

From Wikipedia

Caichinque is a volcanic complex lying between Salar de Talar and Salar de Capur, in the high Andean plateau of the Antofagasta Region, in Chile. It is located southwest of the Salar de Atacama, directly S of Cerro Miñiques and SE of Cordón Puntas Negras forming part of the main branch of the Andean volcanic chain in this area. Route CH-23 is an approach road to the volcano area and could be impacted by eruptions.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Detailed timeline

No eruption records available.

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.