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El Misti, Peru
Location: 16.3S, 71.4W
Elevation: 19,096 feet (5,822 m)
El Misti is a stratovolcano in the northern part of the Atacama Desert. It is made of interbedded pyroclastic flows and lava flows. The pyroclastics are ash, lapilli, and pumice. The rocks are andesite in composition. Mudflows extends from the base of the mountain to the outskirts of the town of Arequipa, a distance of 11 miles (18 km). There is caldera at the summit of the volcano. It is 2,750 feet (835 m) in diameter and 400 feet (120 m) deep. Much of the caldera is filled by a cinder cone that is 1,500 feet (450 m) in diameter. A crater within the cinder cone is 400 feet (120 m) deep and 430 feet (130 m) across. An old lava dome is exposed at the base of the crater.
There have been four confirmed eruptions of El Misti since 1454. Seven other reports of eruptions are unconfirmed. Increases in vapor activity at the volcano alarmed residents in Arequipa in 1667, 1878, and 1949.
Steve Mattox, University of North Dakota
Source of Information:
Birnie, R.W., and Hall, J.H., 1974, The geochemistry of El Misti volcano,
Peru Fumaroles: Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 38, p. 1-15.
Bullard, F., 1962, Volcanoes of southern Peru: Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 24, p. 443-453.
Simkin, T., and Siebert, L., 1994, Volcanoes of the World: Geoscience Press, Tucson, Arizona, 349 p.
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