Villarrica (Chile)

Status Minor Eruption 2019 2847m
Stratovolcano (Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km))

Glacier-clad Villarrica, one of Chile's most active volcanoes, rises above the lake and town of the same name. It is the westernmost of three large stratovolcanoes that trend perpendicular to the Andean chain. A 6-km-wide caldera formed during the late Pleistocene. A 2-km-wide caldera that formed about 3500 years ago is located at the base of the presently active, dominantly basaltic to basaltic-andesitic cone at the NW margin of the Pleistocene caldera. More than 30 scoria cones and fissure vents dot the flanks. Plinian eruptions and pyroclastic flows that have extended up to 20 km from the volcano were produced during the Holocene. Lava flows up to 18 km long have issued from summit and flank vents. Historical eruptions, documented since 1558, have consisted largely of mild-to-moderate explosive activity with occasional lava effusion. Glaciers cover 40 km2 of the volcano, and lahars have damaged towns on its flanks.

Snow-covered Villarrica, one of Chile's most active volcanoes, rises above the resort town of Pucón below its northern flank. A faint steam plume drifts from an active lava lake in the summit crater. The steep summit cone was constructed within a mostly buried, 2-km-wide caldera whose dissected outer flanks rise above the tree line. Villarrica is the westernmost of three large stratovolcanoes that trend perpendicular to the Andean chain. Historical eruptions have been documented since 1558 CE.

Phot by Lee Siebert, 2004 (Smithsonian Institution).

Last updated 2023-11-02 16:31:26