Global Volcanism Program | Chachani Volcanic Complex

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Chachani Volcanic Complex.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Chachani Volcanic Complex.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Chachani Volcanic Complex.

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

354007

Pleistocene

6,059 m / 19,879 ft

16.1792°S
71.5292°W

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Cluster

Volcano Types
Stratovolcano
Lava dome(s)
Shield

Rock Types

Major
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Dacite
Rhyolite

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Population

Within 5 km
Within 10 km
Within 30 km
Within 100 km

97
1,182
887,176
1,032,411

Geological Summary

The andesitic-dacitic Chachani Volcanic Complex, located immediately north of Arequipa, consists of a 320 km² group of Pleistocene lava domes, a stratovolcano complex, and a flank shield volcano. The central Nevado Chachani edifice contains multiple vents along an arcuate line, including a well-defined summit crater at the western end. Two early Pleistocene ignimbrites were erupted from now-buried vents of older edifices. Pleistocene lava domes form the northern end of the complex. Thin lava flows from Chachani overlie glacial moraines. The 8-km-wide lava shield of Pampa de Palacio on the SW side produced a well-preserved lava flow field that represents the youngest products of the complex. In a comprehensive review of the Chachani volcanic cluster, Aguilar et al. (2022) found that the Cabreria cone on the S flank had most recent eruption, ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar dated at 56.5 ± 31.6 ka.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

Aguilar R, Thouret J-C, Samaniego P, Wörner G, Jicha B, Paquette J-L, Suaña E, Finizola A, 2022. Growth and evolution of long-lived, large volcanic clusters in the Central Andes: The Chachani Volcano Cluster, southern Peru. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 426, 107539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2022.107539

de Silva S L, Francis P W, 1990. Potentially active volcanoes of Peru - observations using Landsat Thematic Mapper and Space Shuttle imagery. Bulletin of Volcanology, 52: 286-301.

de Silva S L, Francis P W, 1991. Volcanoes of the Central Andes. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 216 p.

Gonzalez-Ferran O, 1995. Volcanes de Chile. Santiago: Instituto Geografico Militar, 635 p.

IAVCEI, 1973-80. Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome: Internatl Assoc Volc Chemistry Earth's Interior.

Jenks W F (ed), 1956. Handbook of South American geology, an evaluation of the geologic map of South America. Geol Soc Amer Mem, 65: 1-378.

Paquereau Lebti P, Thouret J-C, Worner G, Fornari M, 2006. Neogene and Quaternary ignimbrites in the area of Arequipa, southern Peru: stratigraphical and petrological correlations. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 154: 251-275.

Paquereau-Lebti P, Fornari M, Roperch P, Thouret J-C, Macedo O, 2008. Paleomagnetism, magnetic fabric, and 40Ar/39Ar dating of Pliocene and Quaternary ignimbrites in the Arequipa area, southern Peru. Bulletin of Volcanology, 70: 977-997.

Reyes-Hardy M-P, Di Maio L S, Dominguez L, Frischknecht C, Biass S, Guimarães L F, Nieto-Torres A, Elissondo M, Pedreros G, Aguilar R, Amigo A, García S, Forte P, Bonadonna C, 2024. Volcanic risk ranking and regional mapping of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 24, 4267–4291. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-4267-2024

Eruptive History

The Global Volcanism Program is not aware of any Holocene eruptions from Chachani Volcanic Complex. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 12,000 years ago, information might be found on the Chachani Volcanic Complex page in the LaMEVE (Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions) database, a part of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Synonyms

Chanchani | Cachani

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Andes, Cerro los

Cone

3650 m

16° 17' 0.00" S

71° 36' 0.00" W

Cabreria, Cerro

Cone

4308 m

16° 14' 44.00" S

71° 30' 59.00" W

Chachani, Nevado

Stratovolcano

6059 m

16° 11' 38.00" S

71° 31' 55.00" W

Horqueta, Cerro

Cone

5484 m

16° 11' 46.00" S

71° 33' 58.00" W

Pampa de Palacio
Cortaderas, Las

Shield volcano

3862 m

16° 15' 0.00" S

71° 36' 0.00" W

Volcancillo, Cerro el

Cone

5180 m

16° 9' 40.00" S

71° 31' 8.00" W

Craters

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Cortaderal, Cerro el

Fissure vent

3680 m

16° 15' 0.00" S

71° 35' 0.00" W

Domes

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Chingana, Cerro la

Dome

5500 m

16° 8' 31.00" S

71° 30' 47.00" W

Nocarane, Cerro
Frailes, Los

Dome

5784 m

16° 7' 41.00" S

71° 32' 13.00" W

Penones, Cerro los

Dome

Photo Gallery

The Chachani Volcanic Complex, seen here from the SW near the village of Yura, consists of a large cluster of Pleistocene volcanic features. This view shows Cerro Nocarane (left distance), El Rodado (center foreground), La Horqueta (center high peak), Nevado Chachani (center right, snow covered), and Estribo (right).

Photo by Norm Banks, 1988 (U.S. Geological Survey).

Seen here looking N from the international airport at Arequipa, Perú, multiple edifices of the massive Chachani Volcanic Complex extend ~9 km across the horizon, with Nevado Chachani in the center. The dark hills in the left-center foreground are lava domes and flows on the SW flank of the main complex dated to about 350-400 ka.

Photo by Norm Banks, 1988 (U.S. Geological Survey).

The Chachani Volcanic Complex lies immediately north of the city of Arequipa, Perú, seen here in a NASA Landsat image (N is at top). This large cluster of volcanic features includes the snow-covered Nocarane (top center) and Chingana (top right) peaks, the central group (left to right) of El Rodado, La Horqueta, Chachani, Angel, and Estribo (top), and the Airport-Potrero lava domes and flows (bottom center).

NASA Landsat 7 image (worldwind.arc.nasa.gov)

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Chachani Volcanic Complex in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Chachani Volcanic Complex. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Chachani Volcanic Complex. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

Large Eruptions of Chachani Volcanic Complex

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).