Licancabur is a stratovolcano on the border between Bolivia and Chile, south of

the Sairecabur volcano and west of Juriques. Part of the Andean Central Volcanic Zone, it has a
prominent, 5,916-metre (19,409 ft)-high cone. A 400-metre (1,300 ft) summit
crater containing Licancabur Lake, a crater lake which is among the highest lakes in the world, caps
the volcano. Three stages of lava flow emanate from the volcano, which formed
on Pleistocene ignimbrites.

Licancabur has been active during the Holocene, after the ice ages. Although no historic eruptions of
the volcano are known, lava flows extending into Laguna Verde have been dated to 13,240
100 BP. The volcano has primarily erupted andesite, with small amounts of dacite and basaltic
andesite.

Its climate is cold, dry and very sunny, with high levels of ultraviolet radiation.[2] Licancabur is not
covered by glaciers, and vegetation such as cushion plants and shrubs are found lower on its
slopes. Chinchillas were formerly hunted on the volcano.

Licancabur is considered a holy mountain by the Atacameno people, related to the Cerro Quimal hill
in northern Chile. Archeological sites have been found on its slopes and in the summit crater, which
was possibly a prehistoric watchtower.

General setting
The Andean Volcanic Belt consists of three main volcanic zones: the Northern Volcanic Zone (from
2 N to 5 S), the Central Volcanic Zone (16 to 28 S) and the Southern Volcanic Zone (33 to 46
S). Active volcanism occurs where the Nazca Plate subducts beneath the South American Plate. The
plates are separated by shallower subduction zones, with no present-day volcanism. [4] These
shallower zones have been attributed to the high speed of the plate collision, the young age of the
subducting oceanic lithosphere and the curvature of the subducting plate. The most plausible theory
is that variations in buoyancy of a subducting plate creates a flat subduction zone.[5] The Cocos, Juan
Fernandez and Nazca Ridges are associated with such volcanic gaps where they collide with
the oceanic trench.[6] The subduction of spreading ridges can also diminish volcanism, as observed
in the Chile Rise further south. The buoyancy of these crustal structures may hinder subduction,
reducing water supply to the mantle[7] and inducing the formation of melts.[8]

Not all volcanism in Chile is relative to subduction of the Nazca Plate; the Chile
Ridge exhibits submarine volcanism,[9] and volcanism in the Austral Volcanic Zone is triggered by
the Antarctic Plate subducting beneath the South American Plate.[10] One hundred ninety-eight South
American volcanoes are on the Global Volcanism Program's Holocene volcano list.[11]

Local setting
Licancabur across Laguna Verde

Licancabur is part of the Central Volcanic Zone at the western edge of the Altiplano.[12] Among the
region's active volcanoes are Putana (erupted at the end of the 19th century), Llullaillaco (1868)
and Lascar (1993).[a][14] Other stratovolcanoes are Tacora, Nevados de Payachata, Isluga, Tata
Sabaya, Ollague, Tocorpuri, Sairecabur and Socompa.[15] The Central Volcanic Zone has more than
1,100 volcanic centresmany older than the Pleistocene, since the area's prevailing arid climate
prevented substantial erosion.[9] During the Miocene, the area around Licancabur became the site of
major ignimbrite-forming eruptions.[16] Llano de Chajnantor (southeast of Licancabur) is the site of
several observatories, including the Llano de Chajnantor Observatory.[17]

The volcano is just south of Sairecabur, a group of volcanoes which rises to 5,800 metres (19,000 ft)
and is an apparent source of recent volcanic activity. East of Licancabur is its companion volcano,
Juriques.[18] This 5,710-metre (18,730 ft)-high volcano has a large1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi)[1]
deep crater and is considered a parasitic cone.[14] West-east alignments of volcanoes like Licancabur
and Juriques are common in the region, due to tectonic influences.[19] Araral, Cerro Cabana, Cerro
Canapa, Cerros de Tocorpuri, Cerro Linzor, Inacaliri, Inca, Jardin, Putana, Volcan
Tatio and Zapaleri are other volcanoes in the neighbourhood of Licancabur.[20] Nineteen kilometres
(12 miles) southeast, the volcanic chain continues with Tocol, the Purico Complex and the 6,723-
metre (22,057 ft)-high Llullaillaco. Volcanoes in the Puna de Atacama formed during
the Pliocene on Tertiary dacite, liparite and rhyolite ignimbrites. These rocks have a light colour, due
to the rhyolite.[18] Licancabur was formed over 1.35-million-year-old Purico,[21] La Pacana and Chaxas
ignimbrite.[12] The Chaxas ignimbrite erupted 1.09 0.56 million years ago.[22]

Licancabur is a 5,916-metre (19,409 ft)-high[1] symmetrical cone.[17] The cone, rising 1,500 metres
(4,900 ft) above the surrounding terrain, has a base diametre of 9 cubic kilometres (2.2 cu mi) and a
total volume of 35 cubic kilometres (8.4 cu mi).[21] The top of the mountain is a 400-metre (1,300 ft)-
wide crater, and its slopes have an approximately 30 gradient. [1] The volcano has erupted
blocky lava flows, with thicknesses ranging from 50 to 10 metres (164 to 33 ft); younger lava flows
are thinner.[23] Young lava flows on the western sides of the volcano are 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) long;
older flows extend 15 kilometres (9.3 mi).[1] Some old lava flows reach Laguna Verde,[12] and 12-
kilometre (7.5 mi)-long pyroclastic flow deposits have been found.[1] The volcano's eastern and
western flanks look different, since it formed on a basement which dips towards the Salar de
Atacama. West of Licancabur are deposits stemming from debris avalanche activity,[21] including
blocks 10 metres (33 ft) wide.[23] The border between Bolivia and Chile, defined by the Treaty of
Peace and Friendship (1904), crosses the volcano.[24]

Licancabur Lake

An elliptical lake was identified in the Licancabur crater 90 metres (300 ft) beneath the crater rim,
with a length of 85 metres (280 ft) and a depth of 1.53.0 metres (510 ft).[25][26] Fed by snowfall,[27] it is
one of the highest lakes in the world.[1] Based on its relative lack of salt deposits, in 1955 researchers
postulated that the lake spilled through a 9.1-metre (30 ft) notch in the crater's southwestern rim
when the climate was wetter. Excess water now leaves through seepage, keeping salt levels low.
[28]
There are other lakes (usually frozen) at similar altitudes in the Andes.[27]

The slopes of Licancabur are unstable and prone to rock falls. Some of the instability may be due
to earthquakes, snow, wind[14] or geothermal effects (resulting in thermal stress),[27] and it frustrated a
1920s attempt by a Chuquicamata engineer to climb the mountain.[29]

Composition
Licancabur has erupted primarily andesite, but basaltic andesite and dacite have also been found.
[30]
The rocks are dark and grey-coloured.[31] Basaltic andesite was found in the older lavas, and dacite
in the more-recent ones.[32] Although the rocks have a seriate texture,
[33]
the groundmass is hyalopilitic.[30] Phenocrysts include amphibole, clinopyroxene,[33] hornblende,[30] or
thopyroxene, plagioclase and titanomagnetite;[33] olivine is found in andesite,[30] and biotite in dacites.
[34]
Plagioclase is the most common.[21] The amount of phenocrysts in Licancabur's rocks is smaller
than that in other Central Volcanic Zone volcanoes, such as Lascar.[33]

Clots of crystals with diametres of 23 millimetres (0.0790.118 in) or larger have also been found.
They contain glass, microliths and phenocrysts, and have a composition similar to phenocrysts.
[35]
The clots probably formed from the aggregation of phenocrysts and their subsequent growth;
some phenocrysts in the rocks formed when the clots broke apart.[36]

The temperature of Licancabur's pre-eruption magma determined the composition of the rocks; it
ranges from 860 to 1,060 20 C (1,580 to 1,940 36 F) for andesite and 930 20 C
(1,706 36 F). Isotope ratios are typical of Central Volcanic Zone volcanoes. There are differences
in the elemental composition of andesites and dacites, [34] with the latter resembling adakites more
than the former. Antisana (in the Northern Volcanic Zone) and El Negrillar (in the Central Volcanic
Zone) are two other centres which have erupted adakites or adakite-like lavas. [37]

Based on its composition, it is assumed that the magma at Licancabur formed from the partial
melting of the oceanic crust subducted at the Peru-Chile Trench after metamorphosis. This magma
melted part of the mantle wedge above the subducting plate, mixing with the melt products. Further
contamination by crustal Tonalite-Trondhjemite-Granodiorite-like rocks from the Archean, crystal
fractionation and magma mixing further up in the crust then yielded the Licancabur magmas. [38] The
younger lavas may have formed from the mixing of dacite with the magmas forming the older lavas.
[32]
Some inclusions in Licancabur rocks seem to be from wall rocks of the magma chamber.[39]

Xenoliths containing gabbro are also found.[33] Unlike neighbouring volcanoes, such as Saciel at
Sairecabur (further north) and Tocol (further south), there appear to be no sulfur deposits on
Licancabur.[40]