Cerro Bayo Complex Explained

Cerro Bayo
Elevation M:	5401
Location:	Argentina-Chile
Range:	Andes
Coordinates:	-25.4167°N -103°W
Type:	Complex volcano
Last Eruption:	Unknown

Cerro Bayo is a complex volcano on the northern part border between Argentina and Chile. It consists of four overlapping stratovolcanoes along a north–south line. The main volcano face is located on the Argentine side, thought the summit of the complex is just west of the border, in Chile. The volcano is about 800,000 years old, but it is associated with ongoing ground uplift encompassing also the more northerly Lastarria and Cordón del Azufre volcanoes. The 5401m (17,720feet) high summit is the source of two viscous dacitic lava flows with prominent levees that traveled to the north.

Elemental sulfur can be found at Bayo,^[1] both in the form of high-grade massive deposits and as extinct fumarole chimneys.^[2] The volcano formed in three separate phases that produced lava flows. One is dated to 1.6±0.4 million years ago.^[3] The volcano can bear snow in winter.^[4] The youngest dated rocks are about 23,000 years old;^[5] in 2007 a steam eruption were observed by researchers investigating nearby salt pans such as Salar Ignorado.^[6]

See also

• List of volcanoes in Chile
• List of volcanoes in Argentina
• List of mountains in the Andes
• Los Colorados (caldera)

References

• Book: González-Ferrán, Oscar . Volcanes de Chile . Santiago, Chile: Instituto Geográfico Militar . 1995 . 978-956-202-054-1 . 640 pp . (in Spanish; also includes volcanoes of Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru)
• 355122. Cerro Bayo.
• Froger. J.-L.. Remy. D.. Bonvalot. S.. Legrand. D.. Two scales of inflation at Lastarria-Cordon del Azufre volcanic complex, central Andes, revealed from ASAR-ENVISAT interferometric data. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. March 2007. 255. 1–2. 148–163. 10.1016/j.epsl.2006.12.012.

Notes and References

1. Karmanocky . F. J. . Benison . K. C. . A fluid inclusion record of magmatic/hydrothermal pulses in acid Salar Ignorado gypsum, northern Chile . Geofluids . August 2016 . 16 . 3 . 490–506 . 10.1111/gfl.12171 . en.
2. Book: Stratabound ore deposits in the Andes . 1990 . Springer-Verlag . L. Fontboté, Multiciencias, Unesco . 978-3-642-88282-1 . Berlin . 610340030. 698.
3. Trumbull . R.B . Wittenbrink . R . Hahne . K . Emmermann . R . Büsch . W . Gerstenberger . H . Siebel . W . Evidence for Late Miocene to Recent contamination of arc andesites by crustal melts in the Chilean Andes (25–26°S) and its geodynamic implications . Journal of South American Earth Sciences . March 1999 . 12 . 2 . 140 . 10.1016/S0895-9811(99)00011-5.
4. Escudero . Lorena . Oetiker . Nia . Gallardo . Karem . Tebes-Cayo . Cinthya . Guajardo . Mariela . Nuñez . Claudia . Davis-Belmar . Carol . Pueyo . J. J. . Chong Díaz . Guillermo . Demergasso . Cecilia . A thiotrophic microbial community in an acidic brine lake in Northern Chile . Antonie van Leeuwenhoek . 1 August 2018 . 111 . 8 . 1403–1419 . 10.1007/s10482-018-1087-8 . en . 1572-9699.
5. Grosse. Pablo. Silvina. Guzmán. I.. Petrinovic. Volcanes compuestos cenozoicos del noroeste argentino. Ciencias de la Tierra y Recursos Naturales del NOA (Muruaga, C.; Grosse, P (2017). 2017. 506. ResearchGate.
6. Benison . Kathleen C. . The Physical and Chemical Sedimentology of Two High-Altitude Acid Salars in Chile: Sedimentary Processes In An Extreme Environment . Journal of Sedimentary Research . 1 February 2019 . 89 . 2 . 149–150 . 10.2110/jsr.2019.9 . en . 1527-1404.