Puyuhuapi (volcanic group)
Chile · Americas
About
Puyuhuapi Volcanic Group is a volcanic group of cinder cones located at the head of Puyuhuapi Channel, in the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region of Chile. Puyuhuapi is one of the volcanoes in the southern segment of the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone, which includes a number of stratovolcanoes. South of this southern segment, a gap without volcanic activity separates the Southern Volcanic Zone from the Austral Volcanic Zone. Both volcanic zones are produced by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate, which takes place at a rate of 7.3 centimetres per year (2.9 in/year). The volcanic field extends from the western side of the channel north over the head of the channel towards Lake Risopatrón, with one isolated cone found on the eastern side of the channel. The town of Puyuhuapi is located approximately halfway through the field. The cones on the western side are a separate group from the ones towards the north and associated with two different eruption fissures, but both fissures are associated with the Liquiñe-Ofqui fault zone. The basement on which the field is built is formed by rocks of the Patagonian Batholith. The field is formed by cinder cones, while the isolated centre is formed by a fissure fed lava flow. The southernmost cone is also the largest with a diameter of 1,250 metres (4, 100 ft) and features a 59 metres (194 ft) high se
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.