Cerro Tuzgle
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Cerro Tuzgle is a dormant
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 ...
in the
Susques Department Susques is a department of the province of Jujuy ( Argentina). It has an area of 9,199km² and it had a population of 3.791 as of 2010, 1.901 were men and 1.890 were women. History By the treaty of May 10, 1889 with Bolivia, Argentina renoun ...
of Jujuy Province in northwestern Argentina. Tuzgle is a prominent volcano of the
back-arc A back-arc basin is a type of geologic basin, found at some convergent plate boundaries. Presently all back-arc basins are submarine features associated with island arcs and subduction zones, with many found in the western Pacific Ocean. Most of ...
of the Andes and lies about east of the main volcanic arc. 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 Americ ...
of the Andes, it is high above sea level and grew during different stages over 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 ...
and
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 on ...
s. Some major lava flows emanate from the summit
crater Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...
, and one confirmed and one possible flank collapse unit as well as an ignimbrite sheet are associated with this volcano. The first volcanic activity of Tuzgle occurred 650,000 years ago and formed the Tuzgle Ignimbrite. Subsequently, lava domes were erupted and several lava flows; scientists have proposed two different schemes of naming the units. The latest lava flows are dated at 300,000 years ago and volcanic activity may have continued into the Holocene. Several
thermal springs 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 circ ...
are associated with the volcano, and some have been investigated for possible
geothermal energy Geothermal energy is the thermal energy in the Earth's crust which originates from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions. The high temperature and pres ...
production.
Sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
was formerly mined on the mountain.


Geography and geomorphology

Cerro Tuzgle is a volcano near the eastern border of the Argentina Puna. Politically, it is part of the
Susques Department Susques is a department of the province of Jujuy ( Argentina). It has an area of 9,199km² and it had a population of 3.791 as of 2010, 1.901 were men and 1.890 were women. History By the treaty of May 10, 1889 with Bolivia, Argentina renoun ...
of the Jujuy Province. San Antonio de Los Cobres lies from Cerro Tuzgle and
Susques Susques is a rural municipality and village in Jujuy Province in Argentina.Ministerio del Interior


Climat ...

, while the cities of
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
and San Salvador de Jujuy are and away, respectively. A locality called "Sey" lies northwest of Cerro Tuzgle. The volcano is visible from Provincial Route 74. Its name, which is also rendered as , or , comes from the
Kunza language Kunza is an extinct language isolate once spoken in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and southern Peru by the Atacama people, who have since shifted to Spanish. The last speaker was documented in 1949. Other names and spellings include Cunz ...
; it means "knoll" and refers to the shape of the volcano. Cerro Tuzgle is a simple volcanic cone and is the largest in the
back-arc A back-arc basin is a type of geologic basin, found at some convergent plate boundaries. Presently all back-arc basins are submarine features associated with island arcs and subduction zones, with many found in the western Pacific Ocean. Most of ...
region of the Andes. It is a well-preserved
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 ...
that rises from a surrounding terrain at elevation to a summit at elevation. A platform lies at the summit of the volcano. The mountain is occasionally snow-covered and
frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a gas) ...
weathering has produced patterned ground and
blockfield A blockfieldWhittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, pp. 66 and 190. . (also spelt block fieldLeser, Hartmut, ed. (2005). ''Wörterbuch Allgemeine Geographie'', 13th ed., dtv, Munich, pp. 107 and 221. ...
s. In 1926 it was reported that a crater lake lies on the summit. Three east-west trending
fissure vent A fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure, eruption fissure or simply a fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive eruption, explosive activity. The vent is often a few metres wide an ...
s in the summit area are the source of dark lava flows that flowed southward and southwestward, and are flanked by high scoria ridges. The
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 moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or und ...
s that make up the volcanic cone are blocky, rich in crystals and have variable appearances. Numerous young-looking lava flows descend the slopes of Cerro Tuzgle. A well-preserved lava flow descends the mountain and is visible on its southern flank. Older flows reached distances of from the volcano. A long
scarp Scarp may refer to: Landforms and geology * Cliff, a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure * Escarpment, a steep slope or long rock that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevatio ...
runs across the northwestern flank of Cerro Tuzgle and separates two units of lava flows; it probably formed through a localized collapse of the volcanic edifice in this sector. A depression in the southern flank of the volcano may also be evidence of a collapse in that direction. A parasitic vent is located on the western foot of the volcano. There are abandoned
sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
mines on Cerro Tuzgle, which are visible from its south-southwestern flank; these include Mina Betty on the northwestern flank between elevation where in 1939 seven sulfur outcrops were reported. A road transitable by trucks was constructed at that time to reach the summit area. The volcano rises in a north-tilted, north-south trending tectonic depression, which is delimited by normal faults and two horsts north and south of Cerro Tuzgle. The region is endorheic and drainages ultimately end in salt pans. The Quebrada Aguas Calientes passes west and Quebrada de Charcos east of the volcano; the latter becomes Quebrada Los Charcos north of the volcano and converges with Quebrada Aguas Calientes. Drainage around the volcano is focused by surrounding ridges into a watershed that drains northward, and contains permanent rivers fed by
spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
s at the bottom of valleys. Carbonate deposits and thermophilic
algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...
have been reported from the Quebrada Aguas Calientes. Peatland-lake complexes occur southeast of Cerro Tuzgle.


Geology

Along the west coast of South America, the
Nazca Plate The Nazca Plate or Nasca Plate, named after the Nazca region of southern Peru, is an oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin off the west coast of South America. The ongoing subduction, along the Peru–Chile Trench, of the Na ...
subducts 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 ...
in an east-northeast direction beneath the
South American 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 ...
in the Peru-Chile Trench, at a rate of . The subduction process is responsible for the volcanic activity in the Andes, which occurs in four volcanic belts, from north to south these 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 Ame ...
, 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 Americ ...
, 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 American ...
and the
Austral Volcanic Zone The Andean Volcanic Belt is a major volcanic belt along the Andes, 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 Am ...
. The Central Andes are subdivided into three sectors: the Western Cordillera with the active volcanic arc, the wide Altiplano- Puna high plateau and the Eastern Cordillera-Subandean Ranges. The high plateau began to form in the Eocene
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...
due to tectonic shortening of the Andes. Volcanic activity is distributed between the Western Cordillera and the Altiplano-Puna high plateau, where
strike-slip fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
s and thrust faults organize magma ascent. The tectonic regime in the area has changed over time and now the volcano lies just north of a transitional zone which separates steep subduction farther north from shallow subduction farther south. During the Miocene and Pliocene, the lower crust failed, allowing the uplift of the region and the injection of fresh magma that triggered extensive volcanic activity. During that time, the Subandean Ranges and the Eastern Cordillera formed. Later, during the Pliocene, subduction became steeper and volcanism shifted westward, and the composition of the remnant volcanism changed along with a change in the tectonic regime from uplift and east-west directed compression to north-south directed spreading and east-west directed compression. Volcanic activity also changed; between 17.5 and 5.3 million years ago it took place over the entire area whereas from 1.5 million years ago it has focused on the central-eastern Puna plateau. Between these two phases, sedimentation occurred and formed the Pastos Chicos Formation.


Local

Cerro Tuzgle is part of the back-arc of the Andean Central Volcanic Zone, being about east of the main volcanic arc, and its largest
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 years ...
member. Other volcanic cones in the area are San Jerónimo volcano and Negro de Chorrillos, which erupted 780,000±100,000 and 200,000±150,000 years ago, respectively, Tocomar, which erupted 1.5–0.5 million years ago, and
Aguas Calientes caldera Aguas Calientes is a major Miocene caldera in Salta Province, Argentina. It is in the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, a zone of volcanism covering southern Peru, Bolivia, northwest Argentina and northern Chile. This zone contains stratovo ...
. All these volcanoes are located south of Cerro Tuzgle. Extensive volcanic rocks of Miocene to Pliocene age occur in the area, which were erupted by volcanoes such as Aguas Calientes caldera and Cerro Queva. Older rocks belong to the Faja Eruptiva geologic formation of Ordovician age. The total thickness of the crust reaches . The
basement A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...
is formed by
Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...
and
Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...
formations of metamorphic character, such as the Puncoviscana Formation. A large tectonic lineament, the Calama-Olacapato-El Toro lineament, intersects the Andes at Cerro Tuzgle. It reaches from the forearc in Chile across the mountain range into the foreland of the Andes in Argentina, and it separates the northern from the southern Puna. The distribution and history of volcanic activity differs between these two regions. Other similar faults cut across the Andes. The Calama-Olacapato-El Toro lineament is a strike-slip fault that consists of several separate faults, some of which show evidence of Quaternary activity and could produce earthquakes. Within the Andes proper, this activity mainly occurs in the form of normal faulting; only south of Cerro Tuzgle is there a segment with strike-slip faulting. Movement along most of these faults appears to clamp the magma chamber and magma conduits at Cerro Tuzgle, thus impeding volcanic activity there. Gravimetric and magnetotelluric surveys have identified a partially molten magma chamber between depth, which also contains saline fluids.
Seismic tomography Seismic tomography or seismotomography is a technique for imaging the subsurface of the Earth with seismic waves produced by earthquakes or explosions. P-, S-, and surface waves can be used for tomographic models of different resolutions based on ...
has identified zones with anomalously low seismic velocity which descend from Cerro Tuzgle to depth in the downgoing slab.


Composition

Cerro Tuzgle has mainly erupted andesite and dacite, which constitute a crystal- and potassium-rich calc-alkaline suite with seriate flux and
porphyritic Porphyritic is an adjective used in geology to describe igneous rocks with a distinct difference in the size of mineral crystals, with the larger crystals known as phenocrysts. Both extrusive and intrusive rocks can be porphyritic, meaning all ...
textures. The rocks contain large feldspar and quartz phenocrysts and small phenocrysts of
amphibole Amphibole () is a group of inosilicate minerals, forming prism or needlelike crystals, composed of double chain tetrahedra, linked at the vertices and generally containing ions of iron and/or magnesium in their structures. Its IMA symbol is A ...
, clinopyroxene, olivine,
orthopyroxene 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) ...
and plagioclase. Xenoliths and
xenocryst A xenolith ("foreign rock") is a rock fragment (country rock) that becomes enveloped in a larger rock during the latter's development and solidification. In geology, the term ''xenolith'' is almost exclusively used to describe inclusions in igne ...
s are also found and
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 ...
, sanidine and zircon have been reported. At Aguas Calientes, sinters consisting of boronatro-
calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...
, chalcedony and opal occur. A cesium-rich pharmacosiderite-like mineral has been found at a hot spring. Different rock units have different phenocryst components and trace element compositions. The rocks of Cerro Tuzgle are the most diverse volcanic rocks in the back-arc of the Central Andes. One unusual mineral is
caesium Caesium (IUPAC spelling) (or cesium in American English) is a chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-golden alkali metal with a melting point of , which makes it one of only five elemental metals that a ...
-containing pharmacosiderite. Magma mixing processes involving fractionating mafic magmas and crystallization have been invoked to explain the origin of Cerro Tuzgle's magmas. The parent magmas originated in the
mantle A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that. Mantle may refer to: *Mantle (clothing), a cloak-like garment worn mainly by women as fashionable outerwear **Mantle (vesture), an Eastern Orthodox ve ...
and the crust, with the crustal parts joining the mantle-derived magmas in the deep crust. These crustal components originally came from the upper crust and reached the lower crust during tectonic processes. At this stage crystal fractionation also took place. The ascending magmas then accumulated in the crust and either erupted or were assimilated by ascending mafic magmas.


Climate and vegetation

The climate is cold, owing to Cerro Tuzgle's high elevation, and the diurnal temperature range reaches . Winds blow mainly from the west and reach . During winter,
insolation Solar irradiance is the power per unit area (surface power density) received from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument. Solar irradiance is measured in watts per square metre (W/m ...
is high, cloud cover and precipitation are low and strong winds blow through the area. According to 1939 reports, thunderstorms and snowfall are common at Cerro Tuzgle. The region is arid, with less than annual precipitation as it is part of the Andean Arid Diagonal where the Eastern Cordillera prevents moisture-bearing winds from reaching the Puna. The little precipitation that falls originates in the Atlantic Ocean and the Amazon and arrives during the summer monsoon; additionally cold fronts come from the westerlies over the Pacific Ocean. The amount of precipitation is influenced by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, where El Niño is associated with drought and La Niña with wetter weather. Vegetation is sparse and consists of tola, ''
Vachellia caven ''Vachellia caven'' (Roman cassie, , aromo criollo, caven, , , espinillo, espinillo de baado, espino, espino maulino) is an ornamental tree in the family Fabaceae. ''Vachellia caven'' is native to Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Urugua ...
'' and yareta. Animals that live in the area include
chinchilla Chinchillas are either of two species (''Chinchilla chinchilla'' and ''Chinchilla lanigera'') of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha. They are slightly larger and more robust than ground squirrels, and are native to the Andes mount ...
s, condors, coots,
Darwin's rhea Darwin's rhea or the lesser rhea (''Rhea pennata'') is a large flightless bird, the smaller of the two extant species of rheas. It is found in the Altiplano and Patagonia in South America. Description The lesser rhea stands at tall. Length ...
s, ducks,
eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
s, ''Galea'' species, guanacos, llamas,
suris Suris is a former commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Terres-de-Haute-Charente.vicuñas. '' Trichomycterus'' fish have been found in creeks around the volcano. Peatlands are dominated by the plants ''
Oxychloe andina ''Oxychloe'' is a genus of plants in family Juncaceae described as a genus in 1860. The genus is native to the Andes of South America.Kirschner, J. & al. (2002). Juncaceae. Species Plantarum: Flora of the World 6-8: 1-237, 1-336,1-192. Australia ...
'', ''
Distichia muscoides ''Distichia muscoides'' is a species of plant in the rush family Juncaceae. It is native to the Andes of South America where it grows in upland wetland areas known as bofedales. Description ''D. muscoides'' is a cushion plant, forming sheets or ...
'' and '' Zameioscirpus muticus'', with other
cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...
being subordinate. Annual precipitation there amounts to , almost all of which falls during October to March. Peatlands close to Cerro Tuzgle have been used to reconstruct the local climate during the Holocene. Reconstructed past precipitation levels show alternations between wetter and drier periods during the last 1,800 years, with the last 130 years being relatively dry.


Eruption history

Cerro Tuzgle was active during the Pleistocene and its most recent eruption may have followed a period of inactivity. With the exception of one flow, most are partially degraded and buried by wind-transported material. Volcanic activity took place in multiple stages: * First, a
rhyodacitic Rhyodacite is a volcanic rock intermediate in composition between dacite and rhyolite. It is the extrusive equivalent of those plutonic rocks that are intermediate in composition between monzogranite and granodiorite. Rhyodacites form from rapid ...
ignimbrite with a volume of was erupted and flowed north over the pre-existing terrain, forming a thick plateau. This homogeneous ignimbrite has a yellow-white colour; the middle and upper parts of the ignimbrite contain pumice and the lower part contains
lithic Lithic may refer to: *Relating to stone tools **Lithic analysis, the analysis of stone tools and other chipped stone artifacts **Lithic core, the part of a stone which has had flakes removed from it **Lithic flake, the portion of a rock removed to ...
fragments. It has been dated to be 650,000±180,000 years old and was presumably erupted from a small
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 buried under Cerro Tuzgle. *
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 on ...
s of dacitic composition with a total volume of about were emplaced on the rim of the caldera, forming the "Old Complex". The "Old Complex" was erupted about 300,000 years ago. The domes crop out north, south and southeast from the volcano and are reddish-brown to light grey in colour. The lava flows are homogeneous and feature flow structures and laminations. Two schemes for classifying the subsequent activity have been proposed, the first: * Andesitic lava flows partially buried the lava domes, forming the "Pre-platform unit". It has been dated to be 300,000±1,000,000 years old. * Mafic andesite lava filled the caldera. It constitutes the prominent "Platform unit". * Northwest-southeast directed faulting dissected the volcano, and the "Postplatform" and "Young Flow" units were erupted along these faults. A latite lava flow has yielded ages of 100,000±100,000 and 100,000±300,000 years old. The "Young Flow" unit is considered to be of Holocene or Pleistocene-Holocene age, and is represented by multiple young lava flows. A substantially different reconstruction was provided by Gianluca Norini ''et al'' in 2014: * Six units of massive, up to thick, dark grey to reddish-brown coloured lava flows form the San Antonio Synthem. This unit crops out on the southern and northwestern side of the volcano, which at this stage already had a major topographic expression. A fan formed by volcanic debris attributed to this stage covers an area of north of Cerro Tuzgle; it probably formed during a large collapse of the volcanic edifice that removed about of its volume and generated the scarp on the northwestern flank. * After an episode of erosion, the Azufre Synthem was emplaced around the summit. It consists of massive, up to thick, dark grey to reddish-brown coloured lava flows. These lava flows are sometimes hydrothermally altered; the sulfur deposits on the volcano are linked to this synthem. * Faulting and hydrothermal alteration took place after the emplacement of the Azufre Synthem. 13 units of lava flows form the Tuzgle Synthem. These aa and block lava flows reach thicknesses of and are the last stage of volcanic activity at Cerro Tuzgle. A stage of solfataric activity followed the last eruptions and deposited
sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
. The "Old Complex" has a volume of , the subsequent units only reach . There is a trend from voluminous ignimbrites and dacites, formed through melting of the crust at high temperatures, early in the volcano's history to less voluminous mafic magmas, which erupted through brittle faults. Tephra deposits east of San Antonio de los Cobres may have originated at Tuzgle. The volcano is presently inactive. The Argentina geological service SEGEMAR considers Cerro Tuzgle among the more dangerous volcanoes in Argentina, ranking it 11th out of 38. While the region is thinly inhabited, the occurrence of a sector collapse at Cerro Tuzgle implies that mining and geothermal energy exploitation efforts in the area could be imperiled by similar future events.


Geothermal activity

Springs occur at Agua Caliente de Tuzgle northwest from the summit, and at Mina Betty () south-southeast. Both emit alkaline waters containing chloride at temperatures of and , respectively. Agua Caliente de Tuzgle also emits gases and has produced sinter deposits. The Antuco hot springs southwest from Cerro Tuzgle may receive their heat from Cerro Tuzgle. These springs and other springs in the Tuzgle area are recharged by precipitation on surrounding ridges; large-scale fracture systems in the ground control its flow and water emerges in proximity to deeply incised valleys which provide the path for water to reach the surface. Temperatures at depth exceed .


Tourism, mining and geothermal potential

Hot springs such as Pompeya and Tocomar might be used for tourism, as they are located close to the main roads of the area. The volcano might also be a suitable target for
mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...
; its ascent poses little difficulty to trained mountaineers. Inca ceremonial sites in the form of a raised platform and structures formed by piled-up rocks on the summit region were reported by María Constanza Ceruti in 1999. Neighbouring volcanoes as well as the Nevado del Chañi ridge are visible from the summit. The first findings of sulfur occurred in 1924, but they were not immediately exploited. A mining concession for Mina Betty was issued in 1933, while approval for two other proposed mines in the summit area was still pending in 1939. The machinery required for sulfur processing was installed south-southeast of the volcano and the site bore the name "Ojo del Tuzgle"; the sulfur was transported there either by
mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...
s or by trucks. A spring there was used as a water source for mining activities. During parts of the year bad weather conditions rendered mining impossible. In the 1970s and 1980s numerous companies prospected the area for
geothermal power Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 2 ...
generation. They established the presence of two superposed heat reservoirs, one at depth in an older ignimbrite and another at depth in Ordovician-age rocks. Initially they were interpreted as a joint Tocomar-Tuzgle geothermal system before these were identified as separate systems in 2008 and 2016. A major power line between Argentina and Chile runs across the area, and local mines along with the towns of
Olacapato Olacapato is a village and rural municipality in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina.Ministerio del Interior
Ola ...
and San Antonio de Los Cobres could provide a market for geothermal power. Private companies are active in conducting feasibility studies. A potential yield of 28–34 megawatts of electrical power has been estimated, but no progress towards exploiting these resources has been made. The geothermal vents could also be used to extract minerals or for
spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
s. Concerns have been raised that the sensitive ecosystems might be threatened by human activity.


See also

*
List of volcanoes in Argentina This is a list of active and extinct volcanoes in Argentina. Volcanoes {, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;" , - style="text-align:center;" ! rowspan="2" , Name ! rowspan="2" , Type ! colspan="2" , Elevation ! Location ...


Notes


References


Sources

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


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuzgle, Cerro Mountains of Argentina Polygenetic volcanoes Stratovolcanoes of Argentina Subduction volcanoes Pleistocene stratovolcanoes