Logo link to homepage

Chimborazo

Photo of this volcano
  • Country
  • Volcanic Region
  • Landform | Volc Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  • 1.469°S
  • 78.817°W

  • 6,261 m
    20,541 ft

  • 352071
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

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

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

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

The Global Volcanism Program has no synonyms or subfeatures listed for Chimborazo.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 6 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

0550 ± 150 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption
0550 ± 150 years - Unknown Evidence from Correlation: Tephrochronology

List of 3 Events for Episode 1

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow
   - - - -    - - - - Ash

0270 ± 150 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption
0270 ± 150 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 3 Events for Episode 1

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow
   - - - -    - - - - Ash

2500 BCE ± 1500 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption
2500 BCE ± 1500 years - Unknown Evidence from Correlation: Tephrochronology

List of 3 Events for Episode 1

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow
   - - - -    - - - - Ash

4130 BCE ± 150 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption
4130 BCE ± 150 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 3 Events for Episode 1

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow
   - - - -    - - - - Ash

5410 BCE ± 75 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption
5410 BCE ± 75 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 4 Events for Episode 1

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow
   - - - -    - - - - Ash
   - - - -    - - - - Lahar or Mudflow

7500 BCE ± 2500 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption
7500 BCE ± 2500 years - Unknown Evidence from Correlation: Tephrochronology

List of 4 Events for Episode 1

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow
   - - - -    - - - - Ash
   - - - -    - - - - Lahar or Mudflow
Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Chimborazo.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Chimborazo.

Photo Gallery

Clouds drape glacier-clad, 6310-m-high Chimborazo, Ecuador's highest volcano. Chimborazo anchors the southern end of the country's "Avenue of Volcanoes" 30 km NW of the city of Riobamba. The volcano is mostly of Pliocene-to-Pleistocene age, but recent work has shown that it remained active into the Holocene. The volcano is composed of three edifices along an east-west line, the youngest and westernmost of which forms the current summit of Chimborazo.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1978 (Smithsonian Insitution).
Glacier-clad, 6310-m-high Chimborazo is Ecuador's highest volcano. It is seen here from the NE with Carihuairazo volcano forming the lower, mostly snow-free peak to the left. The youngest and westernmost of three edifices constructed along an E-W line forms the current summit of Chimborazo. Although activity was once thought to have ceased during the very latest Pleistocene, recent work indicates that Chimborazo erupted several times during the Holocene.

Photo by Patricio Ramon, 2004 (Instituto Geofisca, Escuela Politecnica Nacional).
An erosional unconformity cutting diagonally across the center of the photo due to a glacial advance about 20,000-18,000 years ago separates two sequences of late-Pleistocene tephra layers from Ecuador's Chimborazo volcano. A less prominent unconformity below the light-colored tephra layer at the top of the sequence marks a 16,000-14,000 year old glacial advance. This ~12-m-thick exposure lies on the SW flank.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 2006 (Smithsonian Institution).
GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

The maps shown below have been scanned from the GVP map archives and include the volcano on this page. Clicking on the small images will load the full 300 dpi map. Very small-scale maps (such as world maps) are not included.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

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

External Sites