Miñiques is a massive

volcanic complex A complex volcano, also called a compound volcano or a volcanic complex, is a mixed landform consisting of related volcanic centers and their associated lava flows and pyroclastic rock. They may form due to changes in eruptive habit or ...

containing a large number of craters,

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 ...

s and flows, located in the

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region (, ) is one of Chile's Administrative divisions of Chile, sixteen first-order administrative divisions. Being the second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, El ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. Located south of Volcán Chiliques and west of Cordón Puntas Negras, it is part of a frequently visited attraction conformed by the high plain lagoons

Laguna Miscanti Laguna Miscanti is a brackish water lake located in the altiplano of the Antofagasta Region in northern Chile. Cerro Miñiques volcano and Cerro Miscanti tower over this lake. This large heart-shaped lake has a deep blue colour and developed i ...

Laguna Miñiques Miñiques is the name of a lake and a volcano in Chile. It lies south of Laguna miscanti, Laguna Miscanti and at the foot of the Cerro Miscanti volcano. The lake is fed from Laguna Miscanti by seepage and its waters are brackish. Lake Laguna ...

and the Cerro Miscanti volcano.

Mountain

Miñiques consists of four overlapping volcanoes formed by

s and

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

es. It has two summits, a lower northern summit which reaches elevation and a higher southern one which is high. The mountain features two

crater lake Crater Lake ( Klamath: ) is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the Western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is a tourist attraction for its deep blue color and water clarity. T ...

s, one at and the other at elevation on the southeastern and western side of the northern summit, respectively. A set of well developed

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

s exists on the southern flank and may reflect

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s advancing either from the summit area or a plateau at elevation; overall however glaciation on Miñiques was of limited extent and the terrain of Miñiques today is dominated by

periglacial Periglaciation (adjective: "periglacial", referring to places at the edges of glacial areas) describes geomorphic processes that result from seasonal thawing and freezing, very often in areas of permafrost. The meltwater may refreeze in ice wedg ...

processes.

lies on its northwestern foot; it was separated from

by a

lava flow Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

from Miñiques. The mountain rises from a high

ignimbrite Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surrou ...

plateau. It is of

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

age and formed by

andesitic 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 predomina ...

and

dacitic Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

rocks; it formed during two stages in the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Plio-Pleistocene The Plio-Pleistocene is an informally described geological pseudo-period, which begins about 5 million years ago (Mya) and, drawing forward, combines the time ranges of the formally defined Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs—marking from about 5&n ...

. There is no indication of historical eruptions and the volcano is classified as

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

and its lava flows have been offset by faulting, but activity of the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

. Renewed eruptions may impact as well as the surroundings of Laguna Miñiques and would mostly consist of lava flows, but are unlikely to impact populated areas. There are a number of

crater A crater is a landform consisting of a hole or depression (geology), depression on a planetary surface, usually caused either by an object hitting the surface, or by geological activity on the planet. A crater has classically been described ...

s, some of which contain

s and

s. Stone structures and archeological sites are found on the summit and the flanks of Miñiques mountain, and the church of Socaire is oriented towards the mountain. The Inca associated the mountain with the god Tunupa and with

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

References

Sources

Further sources

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miniques Volcanoes of Antofagasta Region Mountains of Antofagasta Region Stratovolcanoes of Chile Pliocene stratovolcanoes Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Five-thousanders of the Andes

Mountain

See also

References

Sources

Further sources

External links