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Descabezado Grande Volcano | John Seach
Chile
35.58 S, 70.75 W
summit elevation 3953 m
stratovolcano
Descabezado Grande Volcano is located in central Chile. The volcano has a basal diameter of -11 km, a volume of 30 cubic km, and a 1.4-km-wide ice-filled summit crater.
The north-east edge of the caldera contains fumaroles.
2009 Activity
On 28th April 2009 there were reports of fumaroles on the northern sector of Descabezado Grande volcano, at various times of the day. Photos taken from Armerillo, 33 km SW of the volcano, showed elevated fine pale brown emissions from NE flank of the volcano. The emissions may have been from minor eruptive activity, or gravitational collapse of material from northeastern slopes of the crater.
1982 Fumarolic activity
Vapour plumes were visible rising from the main crater on 19th March 1982. This was the first activity at the main crater since 1933.
1932 eruption
Descabezado Grande Volcano erupted 2 weeks after the Plinian eruption at nearby Cerro Azul (Quizapu). Fumarolic activity high on the west flank betweenl23-28 April 1932 and continued until at least 1936. This was the first fumarolic activity ever reported at Descabezado Grande in centuries of observation, and it suggests that in 1932 magma injection occurred over an extensive area. The phreatic eruption began sometime between early June and 2nd July 1932. Central Valley towns experienced fine ashfall, a new 600-m-wide crater developed on the upper NNE slope of Descabezado Grande. Dark ash clouds reached a maximum altitude of 8 km, and deposited up to 40 m of ejecta on the crater rim.
Further reading
Salas, Pablo A., et al. "Mafic monogenetic vents at the Descabezado Grande volcanic field (35.5 S–70.8 W): the northernmost evidence of regional primitive volcanism in the Southern Volcanic Zone of Chile." International Journal of Earth Sciences 106.3 (2017): 1107-1121.
Descabezado Grande Volcano Eruptions
1932-33