Laguna del Maule (volcano)

Laguna del Maule Volcano

Maule Lake as seen from the route to Pehuenche Pass
Highest point
Elevation 3,092 m (10,144 ft) [1]
Coordinates 36°1′0″S 70°35′0″W / 36.01667°S 70.58333°W / -36.01667; -70.58333Coordinates: 36°1′0″S 70°35′0″W / 36.01667°S 70.58333°W / -36.01667; -70.58333
Geography
Location Chile
Parent range Andes
Geology
Mountain type Caldera
Last eruption about 2000 years ago[2]

Laguna del Maule Volcanic Complex is a caldera measuring 15 km by 25 km over which sit several small stratovolcanoes, lava domes, and pyroclastic cones. Within the caldera is Laguna del Maule, the source of the Maule River. The volcanic complex is located mainly in Chile with a small portion lying in Argentina.

The eruption history is extensive, involving 130 known vents and the production of over 350 km3 of rock and ash over the last 1.5 million years. Most of the output has been of andesitic composition, but with some basalt early and becoming more rhyolitic later. Three caldera-forming eruptions have occurred, marked by welded ignimbrites.[2]

Laguna del Maule has produced 46 silicic eruptive units: 11 postglacial rhyolites, 9 postglacial rhyodacites, 6 late pleistocene units, 11 middle pleistocene, and 9 from the early pleistocene and older. The 20 postglacial units erupted from 24 distinct vents and include 36 separate coulées and lava domes which formed with comagmatic pumice and ash events, none of these are confirmed to have been plinian, with most expected to have a VEI of 4 or less. [3]

Some time between 2004 and 2007, the area under and around Laguna del Maule began an "exceptionally rapid" uplift, as measured by satellite-based radar interferometry and surface GPS stations.[2] Field investigations and analyses have determined that a large body of molten rock, probably rhyolitic in composition is accumulating beneath the surface, signifying a potentially large and explosive eruption sometime in the future.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Laguna del Maule". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution.
  2. 1 2 3 Feigl, Kurt L.; Le Mével, Hélène; Ali, S. Tabrez; Córdova, Loreto; Andersen, Nathan L.; DeMets, Charles; Singer, Bradley S. (February 2014). "Rapid uplift in Laguna del Maule volcanic field of the Andean Southern Volcanic zone (Chile) 2007–2012". Geophys. J. Int. 196 (2): 885–901. doi:10.1093/gji/ggt438. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Hildreth, Wes; Godoy, Estanislao; Fierstein, Judy; Singer, Brad (2009). "Laguna del Maule Volcanic field:Eruptive history of a Quaternary basalt-to-rhyolite distributed volcanic field on the Andean rangecrest in central Chile" (PDF). Servicio Nacional de Geologia y Mineria - Chile 63. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "Dynamics of a large, restless, rhyolitic magma system at Laguna del Maule, southern Andes, Chile", Singer et al, GSA Today, Vol.24, Issue 12, December 2014, pp. 4-10

External links


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