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Laguna del Maule Volcano | John Seach
Chile
36.02 S, 70.58 W
summit elevation 3092 m
Stratovolcanoes
Laguna del Maule Volcano is located in central Chile on the western shore on Lake Maule. The volcano consists of stratovolcanoes, lava domes, pyroclastic cones.
Laguna del Maule volcanic complex covers 300 sq km near the Chile-Argentina border, east of Nevados de Longavi volcano. In this region Andean volcanoes are ~ 90 km above the Benioff zone.
Four volcanic units can be distinguished in the Laguna del Maule volcanic group.
1) Valley unit.
2) Dikes and Volcanic neck unit.
3) Volcanic Cones.
4) Lake unit.
Fourteen lava flows of the Valley unit are exposed in the upper part of the Maule river valley, and they originated from vents covered by flows of the Lake unit.
The Lake unit consists of rhyolitic domes and flows around Maule Lake, and include Domo del Maule, Loma de los Espejos, Colada Occidental, Colada Dendrifonne, Colada las Nieblas, Cerro Barrancas, Colada Cari-Launa, and an explosion crater on the eastern side of the lake.
An abundance of rhyolites at Laguna del Maule distinguishes this volcanic center from more southerly volcanoes in Chile. In central-south Chile Laguna del Maule is located in a transition between mainly basaltic volcanoes south of 37 S and volcanoes north of 36 S which are more andesitic and silicic.
Further reading
Andersen, Nathan L., et al. "Petrochronologic perspective on rhyolite volcano unrest at Laguna del Maule, Chile." Earth and Planetary Science Letters 493 (2018): 57-70.
Frey, Frederick A., et al. "Petrogenesis of the Laguna del Maule volcanic complex, Chile (36 S)." Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 88.1 (1984): 133-149.
Laguna del Maule Volcano Eruptions
No recent eruptions.