Quimsachata (possibly from

Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...

and

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

''kimsa'' three, Pukina ''chata'' mountainTeofilo Laime Ajacopa, Lengua Pukina en Jesús de Machaca, referring to

Alfredo Torero Alfredo Augusto Torero Fernández de Córdova (September 10, 1930 in Huacho, Lima Region, Peru – June 19, 2004 in Valencia, Spain) was a Peruvian anthropologist and linguist. He was a student at the National University of San Marcos, from wh ...

("Reflexión acerca del pukina escrito por Alfredo Torero ... Pukina '''' – Castellano ''Cerro'' – Palabras relacionadas en aymara ''Qullu''") (English: mountain). ... Existencia de palabras pukinas en Jesús de Machaca: Qullunaka (cerros): ''Kimsa Chata'') is an extinct

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. It is located in the

Cusco Region Cusco, also spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu suyu ), is a department and region in Peru and is the fourth largest department in the country, after Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto. It borders the departments of Ucayali on the north; Madre de D ...

Canchis Province Canchis Province is one of thirteen provinces in the Cusco Region in the southern highlands of Peru. Geography The Willkanuta River or Willkamayu is one of the largest rivers of the province. Siwinaqucha, the biggest lake of the province, is a ...

at about northwest of the town of Sicuani. This volcano is constructed from two separate centres, one active 11,500 years ago which formed a

scoria cone Scoria is a pyroclastic, highly vesicular, dark-colored volcanic rock that was ejected from a volcano as a molten blob and cooled in the air to form discrete grains or clasts.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackson, eds. (2005) ''G ...

and a lava field and another active 4450

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

which formed two lava flows and a

lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions on ...

Geological context

Volcanism in southern Peru occurs as part of two distinct volcanic systems, the

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

es of the Western Cordillera and the

Altiplano The Altiplano (Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechua and Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extensive high plateau on Earth outside Tibet. The plateau is located at the ...

volcanoes which are typically small systems with surface areas of less than . Of these Altiplano volcanoes, a number of them are potassium enriched or

ultrapotassic Ultrapotassic igneous rocks are a class of rare, volumetrically minor and generally ultramafic or mafic silica-depleted igneous rocks. Ultrapotassic rocks are defined by molar K2 O/ Na2O >3 in much of the scientific literature. In other papers wr ...

rocks and are arranged along various lineaments. One of these lineaments is associated with the Cusco and Vilcanota faults which separate the Altiplano into a western and eastern portion. Quimsachata is located along this central and still active lineament, whereas the other two lineaments on each side of the fault system were active in the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

and

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

. A variety of rock types occur in association with these lineaments.

Geology

The Quimsachata group consists of two volcanoes, Quimsachata itself and Oroscocha. Situated along the foot of the Eastern Cordillera, they are the northernmost young Peruvian volcanoes and lie far away from the principal

volcanic arc A volcanic arc (also known as a magmatic arc) is a belt of volcanoes formed above a subducting oceanic tectonic plate, with the belt arranged in an arc shape as seen from above. Volcanic arcs typically parallel an oceanic trench, with the arc lo ...

. Local Inka myths may refer to volcanic activity at Quimsachata, and they may have included the event into their creation myths and religious practices despite the eruption occurring long before their civilization. the Quimsachata volcano is unmonitored but plans to install a monitoring network exist. It is considered a "very low hazard" volcano. The area is frequented by both national and international tourists and features

archeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and ...

s. Quimsachata was formed by a

and a lava field, next to the Vilcanota valley. It erupted about 11,500 years ago. Oroscocha () is a

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

with two associated

lava flows Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

that reach thicknesses of . The volcano covers a surface area of . Oroscocha was erupted from a fissure about 4450 BCE, and the flow modified the course of the Vilcanota river. Oroscocha is formed by

phenocryst 300px, feldspathic phenocrysts. This granite, from the Switzerland">Swiss side of the Mont Blanc massif, has large white plagioclase phenocrysts, triclinic minerals that give trapezoid shapes when cut through). 1 euro coins, 1 euro coin (diameter ...

-rich,

felsic In geology, felsic is a modifier describing igneous rocks that are relatively rich in elements that form feldspar and quartz.Marshak, Stephen, 2009, ''Essentials of Geology,'' W. W. Norton & Company, 3rd ed. It is contrasted with mafic rocks, whi ...

porphyritic Porphyritic is an adjective used in geology to describe igneous rocks with a distinct difference in the size of mineral crystals, with the larger crystals known as phenocrysts. Both extrusive and intrusive rocks can be porphyritic, meaning all ...

rocks with a composition of

peraluminous Peraluminous rocks are igneous rocks that have a molecular proportion of aluminium oxide higher than the combination of sodium oxide, potassium oxide and calcium oxide.Blatt, Harvey and Robert J. Tracy, ''Petrology,'' Freeman, 2nd ed., 1995, p. ...

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

in the flows and

trachydacite Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava enriched with silica and alk ...

in the dome, of which the dome is darker than the lava flows.

Mafic A mafic mineral or rock is a silicate mineral or igneous rock rich in magnesium and iron. Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite. Common mafic rocks include ...

inclusions with sizes larger in the lava flows than in the dome are also found. The magma that gave rise to the rocks was probably modified by the injection of

lamprophyres Lamprophyres () are uncommon, small-volume ultrapotassic igneous rocks primarily occurring as dikes, lopoliths, laccoliths, stocks, and small intrusions. They are alkaline silica-undersaturated mafic or ultramafic rocks with high magnesium oxide ...

while still in the

magma chamber A magma chamber is a large pool of liquid rock beneath the surface of the Earth. The molten rock, or magma, in such a chamber is less dense than the surrounding country rock, which produces buoyant forces on the magma that tend to drive it upw ...

. Quimsachata is formed by

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosphe ...

-rich

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quimsachata (Canchis) Volcanoes of Peru Mountains of Cusco Region Mountains of Peru Landforms of Cusco Region