Sairecabur () is a

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

located on the frontier between Bolivia and

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 ...

. It is part of the

Andean 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 l ...

Central Volcanic Zone. Sairecabur proper is high; other mountains in the range are high

Curiquinca Curiquinca () is a stratovolcano that straddles the border between Bolivia and Chile. It lies immediately E of Cerro Colorado and NE to volcán Escalante (El Apagado), all of which are considered to be part of the Sairecabur volcanic group. Th ...

, high Escalante and high Cerro Colorado, all of which have erupted a number of lava flows. Also in close proximity to Sairecabur lie the volcanic centres Licancabur,

Putana In Hinduism, Pūtanā () is a rakshasi (demoness), who was killed by the infant-god Krishna. Putana disguises as a young, beautiful woman and tries to kill the god by breast-feeding poisoned milk; however Krishna sucks her milk as well as her l ...

and Juriques. Sairecabur proper is accompanied by a wide

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 ...

. Before the formation of this caldera the volcano may have been high and thus one of the highest volcanoes on Earth. After the formation of this caldera lava effusion occurred during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

and

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 ...

; there is no reported historical activity, however. Eruption products on Escalante and Sairecabur include

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 predo ...

and

dacite 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 ...

. The climate is dry, cold and very sunny. An Inca sanctuary has been found on Sairecabur, and sulfur mines exist in the mountain chain. More recently, the Receiver Lab Telescope was installed on the volcano. It is the highest submillimeter telescope in the world at an altitude of .

Geology and geography

Geological context

West of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, the Nazca Plate

subduct Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

s beneath the

South America Plate The South American Plate is a major tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America as well as a sizable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the African Plate, with which it forms the southern part of the Mid-A ...

. This process has formed the

Andean Volcanic Belt The Andean Volcanic Belt is a major volcanic belt along the Andean cordillera in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. It is formed as a result of subduction of the Nazca Plate and Antarctic Plate underneath the South American ...

, which is subdivided into the Northern Volcanic Zone, the Central Volcanic Zone and the Southern Volcanic Zone. These belts have different underlying crusts and thus have different typical magma compositions. These volcanic zones are separated from each other by zones where there is no volcanism, associated with a shallow dip of the

seismic zone In seismology, a seismic zone or seismic belt is an area of seismicity potentially sharing a common cause. It may also be a region on a map for which a common areal rate of seismicity is assumed for the purpose of calculating probabilistic ground ...

of the subducting plate. Sairecabur is part of the Andean Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ). A number of stratovolcanoes can be found in the area, many of which were affected by explosive eruptions that have destroyed parts of their edifices. Effusion of large amounts of

lava 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 ...

took place from several cones. Many volcanoes are extinct and only a few have documented activity. The geologist

Juan Brüggen Johannes Brüggen Messtorff better known by his hispanized name Juan Brüggen (Lübeck, Germany, April 25, 1887 – March 7, 1953, Santiago de Chile) was a German-Chilean geologist. One of his most famous works is the extensive treaty of ''Fund ...

in 1950 estimated that there were about 800 volcanoes in northern Chile, about 37 of them east of the

Salar de Atacama Salar de Atacama is the largest salt flat in Chile. It is located south of San Pedro de Atacama, is surrounded by mountains, and has no drainage outlets. In the east it is enclosed by the main chain of the Andes, while to the west lies a secondar ...

. Also part of the volcanism are large

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 surro ...

s, which are usually thought to be of

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), 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 mea ...

age. Those in the area of Sairecabur often originated in the neighbourhood to the conical volcanoes. The volcanoes formed over crust with thicknesses reaching , thus the erupted magmas are heavily influenced by the crust. A number of the highest stratovolcanoes in the world are in the CVZ. Historical activity has been low in comparison to the volcanic zones of southern Chile and Colombia/

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

. In Chile, much of the area of the CVZ is desert and thus difficult to research. Sairecabur is constructed on the two

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58formations. Some lavas from Sairecabur have also overrun the Purico formation, which is of Pleistocene age and includes ignimbrites from the Purico Complex. The basement beneath Sairecabur and Licancabur contains a large number of faults.

Geography

Sairecabur is located at a distance of from

San Pedro de Atacama San Pedro de Atacama is a Chilean town and commune in El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region. It is located east of Antofagasta, some 106 km (60 mi) southeast of Calama and the Chuquicamata copper mine, overlooking the Licancabur volcano. ...

. The volcano saddles the frontier between Bolivia and Chile, where it lies in the

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region ( es, Región de Antofagasta, ) is one of Chile's sixteen first-order administrative divisions. The second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta, El Loa and Tocopilla. It is bordered t ...

. Laguna Verde lake, Licancabur volcano and Portezuelo de Chaxas pass lie south of Sairecabur. East of the Sairecabur range lie

Mount Nelly Nelly ( Spanish ''Cerro Nelly'') is a stratovolcano in the Andes located in the Cordillera Occidental of Bolivia, about 5,676 m (18,622 ft) high. It is situated within the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, north east of the ...

and Cerro Laguna Verde. The Treaty of Peace and Friendship (1904) traced the frontier between Bolivia and Chile along the Sairecabur chain. Disagreements between the topographic maps in the two countries mean that the naming of the mountains is often confusing. Escalante is also known as Apagado. The volcano is associated with a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

of the same name. The Sairecabur range forms a drainage divide between the Salar de Atacama on the western side and a number of small

endorheic An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

basins in Bolivia on the eastern side. Licancabur and Juriques farther south and

Tocorpuri Tocorpuri is a volcano in Chile, close to the border with Bolivia. Its peak height is most recently given as and it features a wide summit crater. The volcano consists mainly of lava flows and pyroclastic deposits and is subdivided into two se ...

farther north are part of the same divide. Dry valleys on the eastern side of the Sairecabur range ultimately drain into Laguna Verde. The Rio Purifica originates on Sairecabur's slope at an altitude of , it later converges with the Rio Puritama to form the

San Pedro de Atacama River San Pedro River is a river of Chile located in the Antofagasta Region of northern Chile. It is formed at the confluence of the Grande and Salado (also known as Chuschul) rivers. Grande River begins at the confluence of the Jauna and Putana rivers ...

Geology

The Sairecabur range is a long chain of

volcanoes 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 a ...

going from Escalante volcano (south of

Putana Volcano In Hinduism, Pūtanā () is a rakshasi (demoness), who was killed by the infant-god Krishna. Putana disguises as a young, beautiful woman and tries to kill the god by breast-feeding poisoned milk; however Krishna sucks her milk as well as her l ...

) to Sairecabur proper in the south, including at least ten centres which have been active in

postglacial 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 togethe ...

time. Two additional centres exist northeast of Escalante. high Sairecabur is the highest volcano in the range. A wide caldera exists south of Sairecabur and formed on an older volcano. Lava flows extend from Sairecabur as far as to the northwest, and further young lava flows formed south of this caldera. The high Escalante () has a

crater lake Crater Lake ( Klamath: ''Giiwas'') 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 famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fill ...

. Puritama volcano west of Sairecabur has generated lava flows that extend along tectonic canyons. high Curiquinca () and high Cerro Colorado () are found northwest and northeast, respectively, of the range. Sairecabur Caldera

The caldera is bounded by cliffs reaching a height of , which are buried by lava flows from Sairecabur on the northern rim; one of these lava flows reaches the caldera bottom. The pre-collapse volcano was about high and would have been one of the highest volcanoes in the world;

Ojos del Salado Nevado Ojos del Salado is a dormant complex volcano in the Andes on the Argentina–Chile border. It is the highest volcano on Earth and the highest peak in Chile. The upper reaches of Ojos del Salado consist of several overlapping lava domes, ...

reaches an altitude of . Sairecabur proper has three cones. Thick () and short lava flows emanated from the northern cone.

Glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...

erosion has affected Sairecabur and moraines cover some lava flows south of Sairecabur. The total volume of the Sairecabur proper is about . Lava flows with a young appearance extend from each of these ten centres. An older centre has generated a long lava flow that flowed southwestwards. Some older lava flows from Sairecabur were later buried by lava flows from Licancabur. Cerro Colorado and Curiquinca are aligned in a west-east pattern. Other volcanoes in the area such as

Lascar A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland, or other land east of the Cape of Good Hope, who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the middle of the ...

- Aguas Calientes, Licancabur-Juriques and La Torta-Tocorpuri also form such alignments which seem to be controlled by north-south tension in the crust. Sairecabur is located on faults which are also apparent at Laguna Verde. File:Escalante volcano.jpg, Escalante File:Cerro colorado and part of volcan escalante.jpg, Cerro Colorado File:Cerro volcan curiquinca.jpg, Curiquinca File:Closeup on the sairecábur volcano.jpg, Sairecabur File:Sairecabur volcano atacama cl.jpg, Left Saciel, right Sairecabur

Petrology

Escalante and Sairecabur have erupted dark andesites, and later also dacites.

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 incl ...

enclaves are found in the post-caldera lavas. The colour of the rocks is black, brown or gray. Minerals include amphibole, biotite,

bronzite Bronzite is a member of the pyroxene group of minerals, belonging with enstatite and hypersthene to the orthorhombic series of the group. Rather than a distinct species, it is really a ferriferous variety of enstatite, which owing to partial a ...

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar t ...

-containing augite,

clinopyroxene 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 I ...

hornblende Hornblende is a complex inosilicate series of minerals. It is not a recognized mineral in its own right, but the name is used as a general or field term, to refer to a dark amphibole. Hornblende minerals are common in igneous and metamorphic rock ...

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With th ...

, orthopyroxene,

plagioclase Plagioclase is a series of tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continuous solid solution series, more pro ...

, pyroxene and

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...

. In addition, apatite,

ilmenite Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing ...

, iron oxides and

zirconia Zirconium dioxide (), sometimes known as zirconia (not to be confused with zircon), is a white crystalline oxide of zirconium. Its most naturally occurring form, with a monoclinic crystalline structure, is the mineral baddeleyite. A dopant sta ...

are found. At least one lava erupted after the caldera-forming eruption contains

olivine The mineral olivine () is a magnesium iron silicate with the chemical formula . It is a type of nesosilicate or orthosilicate. The primary component of the Earth's upper mantle, it is a common mineral in Earth's subsurface, but weathers quickl ...

. Lavas erupted before the caldera-forming eruption of Sairecabur contain glass and have a

microlith A microlith is a small stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 35,000 to 3,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Th ...

ic texture. The

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

s are

calc-alkaline The calc-alkaline magma series is one of two main subdivisions of the subalkaline magma series, the other subalkaline magma series being the tholeiitic series. A magma series is a series of compositions that describes the evolution of a mafic m ...

with medium-high

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 atmosph ...

content. Fumarolically altered rocks are found on the eastern flanks of the chain. Desert patine covers post-caldera lavas. Based on crystal composition, the magmas of Sairecabur formed at temperatures of . The process started by partial melting of the mantle involving peridotite and subsequent interaction with the crust and fractional crystallization. Andesites erupted before the caldera formation were produced at temperatures higher than dacites erupted after the formation of the caldera.

Oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and strontium isotope ratios are typical for magmas in CVZ. The isotope ratios are consistent with these found in the crust, specifically of the so-called "Antofalla" domain of Andean crust, the remnant of a

terrane In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust (geology), crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and Accretion (geology), accreted or "Suture (geology), sutured" to crust lying on another pla ...

of Gondwana.

Geological history

The 7 million year-old Chaxas ignimbrite massif has been related to the caldera-forming eruption at Sairecabur. These dacitic ignimbrites spread southwest towards the Salar de Atacama. This high age estimate for the Chaxas ignimbrite however has been questioned, considering that it is inconsistent with

stratigraphic Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostra ...

relationships of this ignimbrite to older ignimbrite. The lava formations are named Post-Caldera Lavas I and Post-Caldera Lavas II; the first is of Pleistocene and the second of Holocene age. A fresh flow that extends northwest from Sairecabur appears to be the most recent flow. The formation of the caldera occurred before the Holocene and preceded the formation of the other cones in the range. The edifice this caldera formed during the Pliocene- Quaternary considering the morphology of its deposits. During the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

s, a valley due west of the main Sairecabur summit was occupied by a long

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

that extended down to an elevation of ; the main Sairecabur summit grew inside of the valley occupied by the glacier, which also left lateral and terminal moraines. Sairecabur volcano is the youngest volcano in the chain; Escalante is also young but not as young as Sairecabur. There are no reports of contemporaneous activity nor has

fumarolic A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volc ...

activity been reported, although fumaroles and

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by c ...

s were found at the shores of Laguna Verde which border on Sairecabur. Future activity at Sairecabur may disturb activity at

Atacama Large Millimeter Array The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of 66 radio telescopes in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, which observe electromagnetic radiation at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. The ...

, and will most likely involve the production of lava domes and lava flows with local impacts.

Climate and biology

The climate at Sairecabur is dry and cloudless, leading to the absence of glaciers and permanent snowcover at Sairecabur although an 1985 map shows a persistent ice/snow cover in the summit area. Overall the Atacama Altiplano has a desert climate with precipitation below , but during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene the climate was wetter.

Tritium Tritium ( or , ) or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with half-life about 12 years. The nucleus of tritium (t, sometimes called a ''triton'') contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of ...

isotope ratios of present-day snowfall are consistent with the isotope ratios determined for precipitation that arises in the continent, rather than from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. The

rainshadow effect A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is carri ...

exercised by the Andes and the stability of the South Pacific High are responsible for this dryness. The dry and cloudless climate together with the low latitude and high altitude gives the region some of the highest insolations on Earth; at Sairecabur it amounts to 98% of the solar constant. The coincidence between the southern hemisphere summer solstice on 21 December and the

perihelion An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any elli ...

, the point of lowest Earth-Sun distance, on 3 January contribute to the high insolation.

Ultraviolet radiation Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation i ...

is also high in the area, with values reported for ultraviolet radiation B and ultraviolet radiation A respectively. Temperatures at ranged in 1991–1994. A series of measurements in 1995 indicated that surface temperatures at an altitude of range from in winter, and soil temperatures at depths of also in winter between almost and less than . There are large differences between daytime and night temperatures. Between 1991–1994 the average speed of wind amounted to . Research on plant diversity in the region west of Sairecabur and Licancabur has shown that about 250 plant species occur there, and on the volcano itself

extremophilic An extremophile (from Latin ' meaning "extreme" and Greek ' () meaning "love") is an organism that is able to live (or in some cases thrive) in extreme environments, i.e. environments that make survival challenging such as due to extreme tempe ...

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constit ...

species have been found. In 1955, penitentes, a form of ice, was reported to be widespread at Saciel.

Human history

Pre-modern times

Sairecabur and Curiquinca both have mountain sanctuaries made by the

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

. Licancabur and Juriques farther south were also sites of such sanctuaries. Sairecabur was considered to be a

sacred mountain Sacred mountains are central to certain religions, and are usually the subjects of many legends. For many, the most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the peak because it is believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious realms. Many rel ...

, and andesite found at some archeological sites in the Atacama may come from Sairecabur.

Recent times

A sulfur mine is active at Saciel, north of Sairecabur. Sulfur mining there, at Cerro Colorado and Putana in the 1950s contributed to the growth of San Pedro de Atacama, where the mined sulfur was transported to. A report in 1955 indicated the presence of about ore containing 55–60% sulfur. A long mining

dirt road A dirt road or track is a type of unpaved road not paved with asphalt, concrete, brick, or stone; made from the native material of the land surface through which it passes, known to highway engineers as subgrade material. Dirt roads are suitable ...

with a single lane leads from the El Tatio highway to Sairecabur. Sairecabur is since 2003 the site of the diameter Receiver Lab Telescope, a telescope which operates in the terahertz range of the

electromagnetic spectrum The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of frequencies (the spectrum) of electromagnetic radiation and their respective wavelengths and photon energies. The electromagnetic spectrum covers electromagnetic waves with frequencies ranging fro ...

; ground-based astronomy in this range was long considered to be impossible since the atmosphere absorbs radiation in that frequency range heavily. With an altitude of the telescope is the highest submillimeter telescope in the world.

Gallery

File:Sairecabur chain from co colorado to vn sairecabur.jpg, File:Sairecabur volcanic complex Chile 175.jpg, Sairecabur range File:Volcán Sairecabur, Bolivia, 2016-02-02, DD 41.JPG, Sairecabur proper

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Sairecabur ASTER Imagery
* {{andean volcanoes Volcanoes of Antofagasta Region Volcanoes of Potosí Department Andean Volcanic Belt Stratovolcanoes of Bolivia Stratovolcanoes of Chile International mountains of South America Five-thousanders of the Andes Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Holocene stratovolcanoes