Mocho-Choshuenco (Chile)

Status Normal Eruption 1937 2422m
Stratovolcano(es) (Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km))

The compound Mocho-Choshuenco volcano is composed of twin glacier-covered stratovolcanoes, located east of Lago Rinihué and SE of Lago Panguipulli and post-dating a 4-km-wide basaltic caldera. The small Choshuenco stratovolcano, constructed on the NW rim of the caldera, is late-glacial in age. A major plinian eruption produced the Neltume Pumice about 10,300 years ago. The larger andesitic-to-dacitic, 2422-m-high El Mocho volcano, constructed within the caldera, is postglacial and has been historically active. Parasitic craters and basaltic scoria cones are located on the flanks of Mocho-Choshuenco, primarily on the NE and SW sides. Two historical eruptions have been reported, one in 1864 and the other in 1937.

The compound Mocho-Choshuenco volcano, seen here from the SW, is composed of two glacier-covered stratovolcanoes post-dating a 4-km-wide caldera. Choshuenco (left), was constructed during the late Pleistocene on the NW rim of the caldera. The andesitic-to-dacitic, 2422-m-high El Mocho (center), is a small cone that grew within the caldera and has remained active into historical time.

Photo by Oscar González-Ferrán (University of Chile).

Last updated 2019-08-04 00:28:03