Volcan Osorno

Osorno Volcano is a tall conical stratovolcano lying between Osorno Province and Llanquihue Province, in Los Lagos Region of Chile. It stands on the southeastern shore of Llanquihue Lake, and also towers over Todos los Santos Lake. Osorno is considered a symbol of the local landscape and, as such, tends to be the referential element of the area in regards to tourism and marks the beginning of Chilean Patagonia.

Etymology

The current name comes from a nearby town, Osorno, where it was visible to Spanish settlers. Native populations gave it different names, such as Purailla, Purarhue, Prarauque, Peripillan, Choshueco, Hueñauca and Guanauca. The latter two names were the most common in the mid-18th century.

Overview

The volcano has a height of 2,652 meters (8,701 feet) and its imposing conical feature looms over lake Llanquihue, across from the cities of Frutillar, Puerto Varas, and Llanquehue. There has been no volcanic activity for over one hundred years. Skiing and hiking have become a common activity on the mountain.

Location

Osorno is located almost 45 kilometers (28 miles) northeast of Puerto Varas. Its height means that it can be seen from the entire province of Osorno, even in some places on the island of Chiloé, which dominates region's landscape. In recent years it has become a popular tourist attraction.

The volcano is accessible from Puerto Klocker, Ensenada, Petrohué and at its base is the town of Las Cascadas.

Volcanic activity

Osorno is one of the most active volcanoes of the southern Chilean Andes, with eleven eruptions recorded between 1575 and 1869, and 1835.

On January 19, 1835 during the second voyage of the Beagle Charles Darwin was near Ancud and witnessed an eruption of the volcano, which he recorded, noted, and made him suspect the existence of a relationship between the simultaneous activity of geographically distant volcanoes. However, the data on which it was based were, at least in part, wrong, since they reported an eruption in Aconcagua, which was almost impossible, since it is not a volcano, but rather a paleovolcano or extinct volcano.

Appearance

The basalt and andesite lava flows generated during these eruptions reached both lake Llanquihue and lake Todos Los Santos. The upper slopes of the volcano are almost entirely covered in glaciers despite its very modest altitude and latitude, sustained by the substantial snowfall in the very moist maritime climate of the region. This mountain also produces pyroclastic flow, since it is a composite volcano.

Some say the volcano looks similar in appearance to Mt Fuji in Japan.

Osorno volcano sits on top of a 250,000-year-old eroded stratovolcano, La Picada, with a 6-km-wide caldera.

Image gallery

See also

* List of volcanoes in Chile

References

Further reading

*
* (in Spanish; also includes volcanoes of Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru)

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Stratovolcanoes of Chile
Mountains of Chile
Active volcanoes
Volcanoes of Los Lagos Region
Mountains of Los Lagos Region
South Volcanic Zone
Holocene stratovolcanoes