Cerro El Cóndor is a

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 peri ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. Cerro El Cóndor is a remote peak in the

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

Puna de Atacama. As such it was probably the last major 6000m+ peak in the Andes to be climbed, with the summit reaching a height of . The volcano has the form of a massif (which covers a surface of ) constructed by two separate volcanoes; the older edifice forms parts of the northern and eastern flanks which are cut by scarps interpreted as caldera remnants.Grosse ''et al.'' 2018, p.14 The summit region is formed by the newer edifice, and features a series of craters with diameters of and a cover of

pyroclastic Pyroclastic rocks (derived from the el, πῦρ, links=no, meaning fire; and , meaning broken) are clastic rocks composed of rock fragments produced and ejected by explosive volcanic eruptions. The individual rock fragments are known as pyroc ...

material and

scoria 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) '' ...

. Also part of the newer phase are extensive lava flows which form the western and parts of the eastern and southern slopes and reach distances of from the summit.Grosse ''et al.'' 2018, p.15 Surrounding volcanoes include Condorito (which is considered to be part of the old El Cóndor volcano),

Falso Azufre Falso Azufre is a complex volcano at the border of Argentina and Chile. Falso Azufre is elongated in east–west direction and contains craters and lava domes; most craters have diameters of with the exception of the main crater, which is wid ...

and Laguna Escondida which have constrained the extent of El Cóndor's lava flows. The volcano rises within the Laguna Amarga

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 ...

, and an older

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 in ...

monogenetic volcano lies north of El Cóndor. Radiometric dating has yielded ages of 2.89 - 2.67 million years ago to 0.13 - 0.02 million years ago, with the volcano developing in two phases. The older group of ages has been obtained on the Condorito and the older edifice, while the ages of 130,000 years ago and younger come from the younger edifice and lava flows; some of these dates have high uncertainties (one young age is 20,000 ± 30,000 years ago from the western flank) 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 ...

eruptions in the summit region are possible. Presently, Cóndor is considered to be a dormant volcano with the potential of future activity, and while the remoteness of the volcano reduces any hazard potential future

eruptions could impact air traffic over the region and east of it. Cerro El Cóndor is part of the

Central Volcanic Zone 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 America ...

of 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 ...

together with about 110 other

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million year ...

volcanoes, and lies in the southern sector of the volcanic zone;Grosse ''et al.'' 2018, p.2 other volcanic zones in the Andes are the

Northern Volcanic Zone 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 America ...

, the

Southern Volcanic Zone 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 America ...

and the

Austral Volcanic Zone 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 America ...

. The history of volcanic activity is poorly known for most of these volcanoes owing to the lack of dating; only a few historical eruptions have been recorded, such as an eruption at

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, ...

in 1993. The volcano has erupted

trachyandesite Trachyandesite is an extrusive igneous rock with a composition between trachyte and andesite. It has little or no free quartz, but is dominated by sodic plagioclase and alkali feldspar. It is formed from the cooling of lava enriched i ...

and trachydacite in the later stages of activity, after a stage with

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 predomin ...

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 rhyol ...

eruptions.Grosse ''et al.'' 2018, p.7 The rocks define a

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 atmos ...

-rich

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 ...

suite.

References

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External links

"El Cóndor, Argentina" on Peakbagger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Condor, Cerro El Stratovolcanoes of Argentina Subduction volcanoes Mountains of Argentina Polygenetic volcanoes Six-thousanders of the Andes Pliocene stratovolcanoes Pleistocene stratovolcanoes

See also

References

Sources

External links