Purico Volcano
Cile settentrionale, Bolivia e Argentina (Sud America), -23°S / -67.75°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
Purico volcano is a volcanic complex in northern Chile, 13 km south of the Bolivian border. The complex consists of 2 large 1.3 million years old ignimbrite sheets, several older stratovolcanoes and domes including Cerro Toco lava dome, and the younger, less than 10,000 years old lava domes Cerro Chascón de Purico and Cerro Aspero, and the dacitic Macon stratovolcano at the southern end.
A maar, Alitar maar, is located at the SE end and shows constant solfatara activity.
A sulfur mine on the SE flank of Cerro Toco was mined until the early 1990s.
The volcanic complex is the site of numerous astronomical instruments including the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, Atacama Pathfinder Experiment, Atacama Cosmology Telescope, Atacama Submillimeter Telescope, and NANTEN2 Observatory.
Eruzioni del vulcano Purico: None in recent times
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Background
The Purico volcanic of stratovolcanoes and lava domes define a postulated 10 x 20 km ring fracture (caldera).Both Cerro Chascón de Purico and Cerro Aspero lava domes differ from many other flat-topped silicic Andean volcanic domes because they have 300-400 m high conical profiles.
The Chascón de Purico dacitic dome rises 1200 m above the ignimbrite shield and has a well-preserved summit crater. Lava flows from it show no evidence of glacial modification.
Source: Smithsonian / GVP Purico complex volcano information
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