Tungurahua General Information
Location
Province: Tungurahua Latitude: 1° S Longitude: 78°27" W Mountain range: Cordillera Real of the Andes Area: 20.5 miles (33 Km) from the southeast of Ambato, which Is the capital of Tungurahua province. |
Physiographic Data
Summit elevation: 16,480 ft (5,020 m) Type of volcano: andesitic-dacitic stratovolcano, with conical and symmetrical shapes Typical eruption style: explosive Diameter of the base: 8.6 miles (14 km) Range of the slope’s flanks: 30° - 35° |
Curious facts
Current status: active and erupting Geological epoch: Tungurahua III (the current volcano) is Holocene. First ascenders: German volcanologists Alphons Stübel and Wilhelm Reiss in 1873 Grade of climbing difficulty: |
Description
Tungurahua is one of South America’s most active volcanoes. This is a steep-sided andesitic-dacitic stratovolcano, consisting of three major volcanic edifices sequentially constructed about 100,000 years ago over a basement of metamorphic rocks. Today's volcanic edifice (Tungurahua III) is constructed inside its predecessor (Tungurahua II), which collapsed about 3100 years ago and produced a large debris avalanche and formed a horseshoe shaped caldera that is open to the west. The original edifice (Tungurahua I) collapsed at the end of the late Pleistocene.