The scenic lake-filled Cuicocha caldera is located at the southern foot of the sharp-peaked Pleistocene Cotacachi stratovolcano (top center) about 100 km north of Quito. Farmer's fields encroach on the rim of the 3-km-wide caldera, which was created during a major explosive eruption about 3100 years ago. Dacitic lava domes form two forested islands in the caldera lake. Pyroclastic-flow deposits from the caldera-forming eruptions cover wide areas in now populated areas below the low-rimmed caldera.

Photo by Patricio Ramon, 2003 (Instituto Geofisca, Escuela Politecnica Nacional).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 license terms.

Cuicocha

Cotacachi