Sairecabur
| Sairecabur | |
|---|---|
 View of Cerro Sairécabur volcano | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 5,971 m (19,590 ft) |
| Coordinates | 22°43′0″S 67°53′30″W / 22.71667°S 67.89167°WCoordinates: 22°43′0″S 67°53′30″W / 22.71667°S 67.89167°W |
| Geography | |
| Location | Bolivia-Chile |
| Parent range | Andes |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Stratovolcano |
| Last eruption | probably Holocene epoch |
The Sairecabur volcanic group is a chain of stratovolcanoes located approximately 38 km (24 mi) northeast of San Pedro de Atacama, and directly south of the Putana Volcano, on the border between Bolivia and Chile. This volcanic group contains at least ten peaks, the highest of which is Cerro Sairecabur at 5,971 m (19,590 ft). Other peaks in the complex include Cerro Saciel, Cerro Ojos del Toro, directly north of Cerro Sairécabur, Curiquinca (5,722 m (18,773 ft)), Escalante or El Apagado (5,819 m (19,091 ft)) and Cerro Colorado (5,728 m (18,793 ft)), about 12 km (7 mi) to the north of Cerro Sairecabur. Several, now abandoned, sulfur mines are located in the complex, including Saciel, Ojos del Toro and El Apagado.
Name
The word Sairecabur is the Castilianization of the Kunza name used by the Atacameño (also known as Likan Antai) people to refer to the volcano: saire - rain, cabur - mountain, thus meaning "Rainmountain".
Geology
Cerro Sairecabur rises at the northern end of a 4.5 km wide caldera with steep walls up to 400 m (1,312 ft) which is breached and intersected on the north-end by a 500 m (1,640 ft)-wide volcanic crater. In the caldera lie two secondary cones Negro del Sairecabur and Sairecabur Post Caldera; the reconstructed pre-caldera volcano was higher than 7,000 m (22,966 ft), thus one of the highest in the world (the currently highest volcano Ojos de Salado is 6,885 m (22,589 ft) high).
The volcano is constructed on top of Pliocene-Pleistocene eruption products of the Chaxas and Puripicar formations; some flows overlie the Purico formation. The eruption products belong to three different stages, one Pleistocene precaldera stage and two post-caldera stages (Pleistocene and Holocene respectively). The eruption products are Andesites and dacites of high potassium content.
Lava flows from the recent cone enter the caldera as well as down the flanks of the ancient edifice. Glacial moraines overlie some lava flows and the edifice is deeply dissected by lava flows.
Environment
The environment is extreme with high daily temperature amplitudes, aridity and high insolation. Highly UV-resistant yeasts have been found.
Astronomy
The Receiver Lab Telescope (RLT) is located on Cerro Sairecabur, at am altitude of 5,525 m (18,127 ft).
See also
- Chaxas (volcano)
- List of volcanoes in Bolivia
- List of volcanoes in Chile
- San Pedro de Atacama
- Licancabur
- Laguna Verde
- Tocorpuri
References
- "Sairecabur". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution.
- González-Ferrán, Oscar (1995). Volcanes de Chile. Santiago, Chile: Instituto Geográfico Militar. p. 640 pp. ISBN 956-202-054-1.(Spanish)
- Juan Figueroa C. , Oscar Figueroa. (August 2006). PETROGRAFÍA Y GEOQUÍMICA DE LAS LAVAS DEL VOLCÁN SAIRECABUR, ANDES CENTRALES, CHILE. XI Congreso Geòlogico Chileno. Antofagasta: Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile. pp. 459–462. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
- Bernard Deruelle (November 1982). Sairecabur Volcano; a Plio-Quaternary calc-alkaline massif of the Andes of Atacama. III Congreso Geologico Chileno. Concepción, Chile.
- Pulschen, André A.; Rodrigues, Fabio; Duarte, Rubens T. D.; Araujo, Gabriel G.; Santiago, Iara F.; Paulino-Lima, Ivan G.; Rosa, Carlos A.; Kato, Massuo J.; Pellizari, Vivian H.; Galante, Douglas (2015). "UV-resistant yeasts isolated from a high-altitude volcanic area on the Atacama Desert as eukaryotic models for astrobiology". MicrobiologyOpen: n/a–n/a. doi:10.1002/mbo3.262. ISSN 2045-8827.
External links
- SI Google Earth Placemarks - Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program: Download placemarks with SI Holocene volcano-data.
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