Global Volcanism Program

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Aucanquilcha.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Aucanquilcha.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Aucanquilcha.

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

355823

Pleistocene

6,176 m / 20,262 ft

21.22°S
68.47°W

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Composite

Volcano Types
Stratovolcano
Lava dome(s)

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Geological Summary

The world's highest permanent human habitation is situated below a sulfur mine in the summit region of Cerro Aucanquilcha, one the largest volcanoes of northern Chile. Several distinct cones are located along a 10-km-long, E-W ridge that forms the broad summit. A Pleistocene debris-avalanche deposit is a prominent feature on the lower NW flank. Extensive Pleistocene glacial moraines surround the stratovolcano, but postglacial lava flows overlie these moraines on the upper southern flanks (de Silva and Francis, 1991). Wörner et al. (2000) obtained surprisingly old Potassium-Argon dates of 400,000 to 780,000 years from the youngest flows on the NE and SW flanks, and eruptive activity appears to have ended during the late Pleistocene. It presently displays fumarolic activity.

References

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

de Silva S L, 2007. (pers. comm.).

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

Francis P W, Wells G L, 1988. Landsat thematic mapper observations of debris avalanche deposits in the central Andes. Bull Volcanol, 50: 258-278.

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

Katsui Y (ed), 1971. List of the World Active Volcanoes. Volc Soc Japan draft ms, (limited circulation), 160 p.

Klemetti E W, Grunder A L, 2008. Volcanic evolution of Volcan Aucanquilcha: a long-lived dacite volcano in the Central Andes of northern Chile. Bull Volcanol, 70: 633-650.

Worner G, Hammerschmidt K, Henjes-Kunst F, Lezaun J, Wilke H, 2000. Geochronology (40Ar/39Ar, K-Ar and He-exposure ages) of Cenozoic magmatic rocks from Northern Chile (18-22° S): implications for magmatism and tectonic evolution of the central Andes. Rev Geol Chile, 27: 205-240.

Eruptive History

The Global Volcanism Program is not aware of any Holocene eruptions from Aucanquilcha. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 12,000 years ago, information might be found on the Aucanquilcha 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.

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Mino, Cerro

Stratovolcano

Domes

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Cerro Cumbre Negra

Dome

5670 m

Summit 5867

Dome

Photo Gallery

A truck bearing sulfur ore descends from Aucanquilcha volcano in northern Chile. The world's highest permanent human habitation is situated below a sulfur mine at the summit region of Aucanquilcha. Several distinct cones were built on a 10-km-long, E-W-trending ridge forming the broad summit complex of the 6176-m-high stratovolcano, which is one of the largest in Chile. Postglacial lava flows are visible on the upper flanks. No historical eruptions are known from Cerro Aucanquilcha.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1983.

An ore truck dumps a load of sulfur ore at Aucanquilcha volcano in northern Chile. The world's highest mine is located near the summit of 6176-m-high Volcán Aucanquilcha. A switchbacked road leads to the sulfur mines, which are located in areas of extensive hydrothermal alteration along the elongated summit ridge of the volcano.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1983.

The 10-km-long, E-W-trending ridge that forms the broad summit of 6176-m-high Aucanquilcha stratovolcano consists of several overlapping volcanic edifices. This view overlooks the southern flank of Aucanquilcha from Puquois. The world's highest mine and permanent human habitation is located at the summit region of Aucanquilcha. No historical eruptions are known from Cerro Aucanquilcha, but postglacial lava flows overlie moraines on the upper southern flanks.

Photo by Erik Klemetti, 2000 (Oregon State University).

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Aucanquilcha 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 Aucanquilcha. 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 Aucanquilcha. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

Large Eruptions of Aucanquilcha

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).