Paniri

About

Paniri (Aymara for "he who comes, visits") is a stratovolcano located in El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region, Chile, and near the border with Bolivia. To its northwest lie the twin volcanoes San Pedro and San Pablo, and to its southeast lies Cerro del León, from which it is separated by the huge Chao lava dome. The volcano features lava flows, which are well preserved on the south-southwest flanks, and a scoria cone on its summit. The volcano has three craters. Paniri also shows evidence of glacier activity on its southeastern slope. The volcano developed in several different stages with substages; the first stage formed a shield like volcano with most of its volume, the later ones formed the cone and "main edifice". One date obtained from the youngest stage is 150,000 years ago, with an uncertainty of 6,000 years. Once considered of Holocene or Pleistocene age, Paniri was later determined that to be of Pleistocene age. Paniri is part of the San Pedro-Linzor volcanic chain, a chain of volcanoes formed by lava flows and pyroclastic flows. Composition of the rocks erupted by Paniri ranges from basaltic andesite and dacite.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.