The glacier-capped summit of Ecuador's Cotopaxi volcano has two nested summit craters. The outer crater, seen here from the SE, is 550 x 800 m wide. A cone that grew inside this crater contains a smaller crater that is 250 m wide and 120 m deep. Frequent explosive eruptions during historical time have modified the shape of the summit crater. In 1903 the outer crater was 450 m deep.

Photo by Tom Simkin (Smithsonian Institution).

This image is made available under the Public Domain Dedication CC0 license, but proper attribution is appreciated.

Galleries: Stratovolcanoes

Keywords: crater | stratovolcano

Cotopaxi