Maipo 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 per ...

in the Andes, lying on the border between Argentina and Chile. It is located south of Tupungato and about southeast of Santiago. It has a symmetrical, conical volcanic shape, and is among the southernmost 5,000 metre peaks in the Andes. Maipo is located within the Diamante caldera, a feature measuring 15 km by 20 km that is about half a million years old. It rises about 1,900 m (6,230 ft) above the floor of the caldera. Immediately to the east of the peak, on the eastern side of the caldera floor, is

Laguna del Diamante ''Laguna del Diamante'' (Spanish for "lake of the diamond") is a lake located in the province of Mendoza, Argentina, in the San Carlos Department, some 198 km from Mendoza. It covers a surface area of about 14.1 km2 and is one of the ...

, a lake that formed when lava flows blocked drainage channels from the caldera in 1826. The Diamante Caldera erupted of tephra, 450 ka. The region's climate is transitional between the drier Mediterranean climate of the peaks to the north and the cold, moist climate of Chilean Patagonia. Hence, while less glaciated than Patagonia, it has more permanent snow on the wet, Chilean side than peaks of similar elevation to the north.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Volcan Maipo or Maipú (span.

* Volcán Maipo NASA

Mountains of Mendoza Province Volcanoes of Mendoza Province Mountains of Santiago Metropolitan Region Volcanoes of Santiago Metropolitan Region Stratovolcanoes of Chile Subduction volcanoes Active volcanoes VEI-7 volcanoes Stratovolcanoes of Argentina Argentina–Chile border International mountains of South America Five-thousanders of the Andes Principal Cordillera Holocene stratovolcanoes {{MendozaAR-geo-stub

See also

References