Corcovado Volcano () is a stratovolcano located about south of the mouth of the

Yelcho River The Yelcho River is a river in the Los Lagos Region of southern Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, oc ...

, in the

Palena Province Palena Province ( es, Provincia de Palena) is the southernmost administrative area in Chile's Los Lagos Region Los Lagos (X). The area is also called Continental Chiloe or Northern Patagonia, as geographers consider the Palena Province to be the ...

Los Lagos Region Los Lagos Region ( es, Región de Los Lagos , ''Region of the Lakes'') is one of Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. The glacially eroded volcano is flanked by Holocene cinder cones. The volcano's base has likely prehistoric lava flows that are densely vegetated. The most distinctive feature of this volcano is its stepped top, similar to that of Puntiagudo Volcano. At its foot lies a series of lakes. Corcovado dominates the landscape of the

Gulf of Corcovado Gulf of Corcovado () is a large body of water separating the Chiloé Island from the mainland of Chile. Geologically, it is a forearc basin that has been carved out by Quaternary glaciers. Most of the islands of Chiloé Archipelago are located ...

area and is visible from

Chiloé Island Chiloé Island ( es, Isla de Chiloé, , ) also known as Greater Island of Chiloé (''Isla Grande de Chiloé''), is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the west coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. The island is located in southern ...

, weather permitting. The volcano and the adjacent area form part of Corcovado National Park. The town of

Chaitén Chaitén (, ) is a Chilean town, commune and former capital of the Palena Province in Los Lagos Region. The town is north of the mouth of Yelcho River, on the east coast of the Gulf of Corcovado. The town is strategically close to the northern ...

was formerly the main gateway to this protected area, but much of the town was destroyed folllowing an explosive eruption of Chaitén Volcano and the resultant lahars in 2008.

Eruptive history

Corcovado is reported to have erupted in 1834 and 1835, based on second-hand accounts collected by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

. Darwin was passing nearby on

HMS Beagle HMS ''Beagle'' was a 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803 (roughly equivalent to £ in 2018), was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on t ...

, when he experienced the great

1835 Concepción earthquake The 1835 Concepción earthquake occurred near the neighboring cities of Concepción and Talcahuano in Chile on 20 February at 11:30 local time (15:30 UTC) and has an estimated magnitude of about 8.5 . The earthquake triggered a tsunami which ...

. Darwin gathered first-hand accounts of the phenomena that accompanied this earthquake, and published these in a paper in 1840. Among the accounts were suggestions that a number of volcanoes had burst into eruption, following the earthquake. From this, it has been suggested that Corcovado may have erupted, with lava flows from flank cones, but it is likely that these were based on confusion with Michinmahuida volcano. Three tephra layers from major explosive eruptions of

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

age are linked to Corcovado volcano, of which the two youngest are dated at 7,980 BP and 6,870 BP respectively.

References

* * (in Spanish; also includes volcanoes of Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru) * {{Andean volcanoes Volcanoes of Los Lagos Region Stratovolcanoes of Chile Mountains of Los Lagos Region

Eruptive history

See also

References