Chachimbiro (Ecuador)

Status Normal Eruption -3740 4106m
Stratovolcano (Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km))

The Chachimbiro volcanic complex lies about 25 km NW of the city of Ibarra. Late Pleistocene collapse of the andesitic Huanguillaro stratovolcano produced a 6.8 km3 debris-avalanche deposit and a 4-km-wide avalanche caldera open to the east that has largely been filled by lava domes, including the rhyodacitic Hugá lava dome. The avalanche deposit is overlain by three large ignimbrites and pyroclastic-flow deposits related to dome growth. The late Pleistocene-to-Holocene, NNE-trending dacitic Chachimbiro-Pucará line of lava domes includes the Pitzantzi lava dome, which erupted about 5700 years ago, producing an ash deposit that extends to the NW. Hot springs and thermal areas are present in the complex.

Part of the Chachimbiro volcanic complex, located about 25 km NW of the city of Ibarra, is seen from the south. The late Pleistocene-to-Holocene, NNE-trending dacitic Chachimbiro-Pucará line of lava domes includes the Pitzantzi lava dome, which erupted about 5700 years ago, producing an ash deposit that extends to the NW. Hot springs and thermal areas are present at the Chachimbiro complex. Quarries in the foreground are cut into deposits from the caldera-forming eruption of Cuicocha volcano.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 2006 (Smithsonian Institution).

Last updated 2019-11-01 09:00:03