Cerro Nicholson volcano is a small isolated andesitic scoria cone in Southern Peru. It is located on a plain WSW of Chachani volcano and WNW of El Misti volcano. The crater of the Cerro Nicholson cone has a youthful appearance and is full of fresh-looking volcanic bombs, suggesting a relatively young age. It is similar to the Andahua scoria cones farther to the north.

Cerro Nicholson overlies a thick layer of a 1.65-million-year-old ignimbrite deposit (the Arequipa Airport Ignimbrite), which was erupted from an ancient and buried vent beneath the Chachani volcano.