Kunturiri ( Aymara ''kunturi'' condor, ''-ri'' a

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

, Hispanicized spelling ''Condoriri'') is a volcano in the Andes on the border of

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and Chile which rises up to . On the Chilean side it is located in the Arica and Parinacota Region and on the Bolivian side in the Oruro Department, Sajama Province, Curahuara de Carangas Municipality, Sajama Canton as well as in the La Paz Department,

Pacajes Province Pacajes is a province in the Bolivian department of La Paz. Its capital is Coro Coro. Geography Some of the highest mountains of the province are listed below:Boliviam IGM map Rosario Hoja 5841-IV The most important river of the province ...

Calacoto Municipality Calacoto or Qala Qutu (Aymara ''qala'' stone, ''qutu'' heap, pile, "stone pile") is the third municipal section of the Pacajes Province in the La Paz Department, Bolivia. Its seat is Calacoto (Qala Qutu). Geography Some of the highest mount ...

, Ulloma Canton. Northeast of it in Bolivian territory lies

Jach'a Kunturiri Jach'a Kunturiri ( Aymara ''jach'a'' big, ''kunturi'' condor, ''-ri'' a suffix, Hispanicized spelling ''Jachcha Condoriri'') is a mountain in the Andes of Bolivia. It is situated in the Oruro Department, Sajama Province, Curahuara de Cara ...

, due east lies Nevado Pumuta, due south

Patilla Pata Patilla Pata is a stratovolcano in the Oruro Department in Bolivia. It is situated in the Sajama Province, in the west of the Curahuara de Carangas Municipality, at the border with Chile. Patilla Pata lies south-west of the mountain Jisk'a Kunturir ...

and northwest lies Laram Q'awa. The mountain is covered by ice along with some of the surrounding mountains and is the source of a number of rivers that flow down its slopes. There are several lakes on the mountain, colloquially known as the Casiri Lakes; they include Sora Pata, Ch'iyar Quta, Casiri Macho and Casiri Hembra. Kunturiri is part of a complex of volcanoes along the frontier between

and Chile, which have developed atop older ignimbrites of unknown thickness. Three separate

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 generated through both

effusive eruption An effusive eruption is a type of volcanic eruption in which lava steadily flows out of a volcano onto the ground. Overview There are two major groupings of eruptions: effusive and explosive. Effusive eruption differs from explosive eruption, ...

s and

explosive eruption In volcanology, an explosive eruption is a volcanic eruption of the most violent type. A notable example is the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Such eruptions result when sufficient gas has dissolved under pressure within a viscous magma such ...

s make up the Kunturiri complex. It is formed by rocks ranging from rhyodacite to

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 ...

and which contain phenocrysts of

biotite Biotite is a common group of phyllosilicate minerals within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . It is primarily a solid-solution series between the iron-endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more alumino ...

, plagioclase and

pyroxene The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated to ''Px'') are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes have the general formula , where X represents calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), iron (Fe II) ...

. The Kunturiri volcanic complex 3-2.2 million years ago was the origin of the large Lauca-Perez Ignimbrite, which covered about of land with over and reached as far as the Pacific Ocean, leaving a distinctive landscape on the Altiplano. The eruption left a

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

now presumably buried underneath the Kunturiri volcanic complex. While the volcanic complex was once considered to be 7-9 million years old, later efforts have found younger ages and argon-argon dating has yielded ages of 650,000 ± 70,000 years ago for rocks erupted from the Kunturiri volcanic complex; there is no fumarolic activity at Kunturiri, but Kakepe has hydrothermal activity. Other volcanoes in the area are Pomerape and Parinacota which are constructed on the so-called Condoriri lineament together with Kunturiri; this lineament may act as a magma pathway to the three volcanoes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunturiri (Bolivia Chile) Volcanoes of Arica y Parinacota Region Volcanoes of La Paz Department (Bolivia) Volcanoes of Oruro Department

See also

References