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is a dormant
volcano
located high in the Western Cordilleras of the Andes, 35 km
west of Latacunga. The caldera is oval shaped with an
diameter of 2.5 km and is filled with water.
The highest
point in the crater wall is 3840m
and its exact geographical location is 0.85° S
and 78.9° W. The surrounding area of the volcano is deeply gullied
by erosion with the Toachi
river draining the area to the
Pacific coast (similar to the Ten Thousand Smokes valley and
Mt. Katmai in Alaska). |
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Quilotoa volcano does not stick
out like other volcanoes (picture taken from Chuchiglan)
as it does not have a cone and its crater rim only
raises itself gradually from its surroundings. Almost the
entire outer wall (and even some of the steep inside wall)
is used for farming with small fields and pastures,
reaching right up to the top. The surrounding region is
very sandy and heavily eroded and the Toachi
river cut a deep valley draining the area to the
west, towards the Pacific ocean. |
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Quilotoa had
five large, ash-producing eruptions in the last 40 000 years
with long periods of inactivity in between them. That it has
in common with other volcanoes of the Western Cordillera
(dacitic volcanism). The last eruption occurred 800 years ago and produced an average
ash layer of
10 cm over an area of around 35 000 km2, reaching distant sites as far
as Otavalo. This ash cover with its distinct mineral and chemical
composition is a great time marker for archaeological studies.
The plains around the crater lake are buried by a thick layer of pyroclastic
materials, which were ejected by the various eruptions of the
volcano. |
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The
caldera of Quilotoa is filled with
water which is alkaline and
does not support much life except some algae.
The steep crater walls drop in some parts
more than 300
meters to the water level at 3500m. The
lake
itself is 240 m deep
and the water level dropped a few meters in the last years. |
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In case
of an eruption, small rural villages and
farms, bordering the caldera are affected because of their
proximity. Another threat as seen by some scientists are the
possibility of a silent and odorless killer called monoxide.
This gas could escape through
underwater volcanic vents and be
gathering in the water and once saturated that
poisonous
gas could rise from it and kill unsuspecting people. That
happened once before in a village in Africa,
located close to a similar crater lake. |
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Latest Update: |
Danger alert:
none
No activities reported in the last few hundred years. |
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