Sabancaya

Infobox Mountain
Name = Volcán Sabancaya
Photo =AmpatoSabancaya.jpg
Caption = Aerial view of Volcán Sabancaya (front) from the northeast with Nevado Ampato in the background.
Elevation = Convert|5976|m|ft|0|abbr=on
Location = Southern Peru
Range = Andes
Prominence = ~ Convert|500|m|ft|-2|abbr=on
Coordinates = coord|15|47|S|71|51|W|type:mountain
Topographic
Location map
Peru| label=Sabancaya
mark=RedMountain.svg| marksize=14 | position=left
lat_deg=15|lat_min=47|lat_sec=0|lat_dir=S
lon_deg=71|lon_min=51|lon_sec=0|lon_dir=W
width=200 | float=right
caption=
Type = Stratovolcano
Age =
Last eruption= 2003
First ascent =
Easiest route=

Sabancaya is an active Convert|5976|m|ft|0 stratovolcano in the Andes of southern Peru, about Convert|100|km|mi|-1 northwest of Arequipa. It is the most active volcano in Peru and is part of a Convert|20|km|mi|0 north-south chain of three major stratovolcanoes, including the extinct and eroded Convert|6025|m|ft|0 Nevado Hualca Hualca at the northern end, the dormant Convert|6288|m|ft|0 Nevado Ampato to the south, and Sabancaya in the middle. Sabancaya hosts several glaciers which cover an area of about Convert|3.5|km2|sqmi|1 and descend as low as Convert|5400|m|ft|-2|abbr=on|abbr=on|abbr=on|abbr=on|abbr=on on its flanks.

Volcanic activity

The andesite stratovolcano of Sabancaya has been very active during historic times, with the earliest recorded eruptions in 1695 and 1758 (other sources list 1750 and 1784 as possible eruptions, too). Following over 200 years of dormancy, satellites detected an increase in thermal emission in July 1986 and intense activity resumed in December of that year, with several eruptive cycles over the next two years producing a lava dome in the crater.

The most sustained period of activity began with explosive eruptions on May 28, 1990, and continued for over eight years. The eruptive cycle rated a VEI of 3, with more than Unit cbkm|0.025|3 of lava flows and tephra produced over that period. At the height of the activity in 1994, eruptions producing large ash clouds occurred every two hours. Although published topographic maps have not been revised since the eruptive cycyle, it is suspected that the cone may have grown to just over Convert|6000|m|ft|-2|abbr=on during that time. [Biggar, p. 154] Additional smaller eruptions occurred in 2000 and 2003.

Volcanic hazards

Sabancaya is considered one of the most hazardous volcanoes in Peru, along with the massive Coropuna and the cone of El Misti near Arequipa. As of the mid-1990s, over 8,000 people lived in the valleys draining the flanks of the volcano. Potential hazards include lahars and pyroclastic flows down the Majes, Colca, and Siguasi river drainages. During the 1988 eruption, cattle died in nearby areas either directly from poisonous volcanic gases or from eating contaminated vegetation. [Da Silva, p. 27]

Footnotes

References

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* (in Spanish; also includes volcanoes of Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru)
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