View source for Cerro Escorial

{{Short description|Mountain in Argentina}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Cerro Escorial
| photo = Casualidad C 3.jpg
| photo_caption = Road to Mina Julia on Cerro Escorial (1970). 
| elevation_m = 5,451
| elevation_ref =<ref name=GVP /> 
| prominence = 
| location = [[Argentina]] and [[Chile]]
| range = [[Andes]]
| coordinates = {{coord|25.083|S|68.367|W|type:mountain_region:AR}}
| coordinates_ref=<ref name=GVP />
| topo = 
| type = [[Stratovolcano]]
| age = 
| last_eruption = 
| first_ascent = 
| easiest_route = 
}}

'''Cerro Escorial''' is a [[stratovolcano]] at the border of [[Argentina]] and [[Chile]]. It is part of the [[Corrida de Cori]] volcanic group and its youngest member. A well-preserved {{convert|1|km|mi|adj=mid|-wide|1}} crater forms its summit area. Lava flows are found on the Chilean and smaller ones on the Argentinian side, the former reaching as far as {{convert|3|-|4|km}} from the volcano. One of these is dated 342,000 years ago by [[argon-argon dating]].<ref name=GVP />

Off the western coast of [[South America]], the [[Nazca Plate]] [[subduct]]s beneath the [[South America Plate]]. This process has given rise to the [[Andes]] mountain chain and the [[Altiplano]]-[[Altiplano|Puna]] high plateau, which formed through shortening of the [[Crust (geology)|crust]] that lasted until 1 million years ago. Cerro Escorial rises from the Puna, which is dissected at Cerro Escorial by the Archibarca [[lineament]]; it is a [[strike-slip fault]] that has facilitated the ascent of [[magma]].<ref name="FiedrichHeinrich2020" />

[[Andesite]] lavas were erupted during the [[Miocene]] and [[Pliocene]].<ref name="FiedrichHeinrich2020" /> [[Hydrothermal]] alteration has affected an area {{convert|4|km}} from the crater.<ref name="AmigoOrozco2012" /> A [[Plinian]] eruption on Escorial was the source of the [[dacitic]] Escorial [[ignimbrite]],<ref name=Richards2003 /><ref name=RichardsVilleneuve2002 /> which is also known as the Corrida de Cori ignimbrite or Caletones Cori ignimbrite.<ref name="FiedrichHeinrich2020" /> Pulsed changes in the magma supply during the eruption generated a radial ignimbrite structure which was deposited in various flows. The source magma underwent significant crustal contamination and contains [[quartz]] veins, indicating that the ignimbrite interacted with a buried [[hydrothermal]] system.<ref name=RichardsVilleneuve2002 /> Lithic clasts including basement material are also present. The ignimbrite has a volume of about {{convert|0.6|km3}} and was erupted 460,000±10,000 years ago.<ref name=Richards2003 /> The eruption of the ignimbrite was followed by more lava eruptions and the formation of a [[Holocene]] [[cinder cone]]. Present-day activity is of [[hydrothermal]] nature<ref name="FiedrichHeinrich2020" /> and the absence of infrastructure and human population in the region mean that renewed activity is unlikely to have an impact.<ref name="AmigoOrozco2012" /> It is considered to be Argentina's 28th most dangerous volcano.<ref name="GarciaBadi2021" />

A sulfur mine lies {{convert|4|km}} southwest of Escorial.<ref name=GVP /> Mining ceased about 1983.<ref name=Richards2003 />

==See also==
{{Portal|Andes}}
*[[List of volcanoes in Chile]]
*[[List of volcanoes in Argentina]]

==Sources==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="GarciaBadi2021">{{cite journal |last1=Garcia |first1=Sebastian |last2=Badi |first2=Gabriela |title=Towards the development of the first permanent volcano observatory in Argentina |journal=Volcanica |date=1 November 2021 |volume=4 |issue=S1 |page=26 |doi=10.30909/vol.04.S1.2148 |url=http://www.jvolcanica.org/ojs/index.php/volcanica/article/view/74 |language=en |issn=2610-3540|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021Volca...4S..21G }}</ref>
<ref name="AmigoOrozco2012">{{cite report|language=es|url=https://biblioteca.sernageomin.cl/opac/datafiles/CGCH_GAMB_17_TextoyMapa.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629145638/https://biblioteca.sernageomin.cl/opac/datafiles/CGCH_GAMB_17_TextoyMapa.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 29, 2021|access-date=20 August 2021|issn=0717-7305|publisher=[[SERVICIO NACIONAL DE GEOLOGÍA Y MINERÍA]]|title=Peligros volcánicos de la Zona Norte de Chile|first1=Álvaro R.|last1=Amigo|first2=Daniel U.|last2=Bertin|first3=Gabriel L.|last3=Orozco|year=2012|series=Carta geológica de Chile: Serie Geología Ambiental|volume=17|page=21}}</ref>
<ref name="FiedrichHeinrich2020">{{cite journal |last1=Fiedrich |first1=Alina M. |last2=Heinrich |first2=Christoph A. |last3=Bachmann |first3=Olivier |title=Evolution from magmatic to hydrothermal activity beneath the Cerro Escorial volcano (NW Argentina) as sampled by erupted quartz and brines |journal=Lithos |date=November 2020 |volume=374-375 |page=105706 |doi=10.1016/j.lithos.2020.105706 |bibcode=2020Litho.37405706F |language=en |issn=0024-4937|doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11850/432234 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
<ref name=RichardsVilleneuve2002>{{cite journal|last1=Richards|first1=Jeremy P|last2=Villeneuve|first2=Michael|title=Characteristics of late Cenozoic volcanism along the Archibarca lineament from Cerro Llullaillaco to Corrida de Cori, northwest Argentina|journal=[[Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research]]|date=August 2002|volume=116|issue=3–4|pages=161–200|doi=10.1016/S0377-0273(01)00329-8|bibcode=2002JVGR..116..161R }}</ref>
<ref name=GVP>{{cite web|title=Escorial|url=http://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=355112|website=[[Global Volcanism Program]]|publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]]|accessdate=25 September 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=Richards2003>{{cite journal|last1=Richards|first1=Jeremy P.|title=HIGH-TEMPERATURE HYDROTHERMAL ACTIVITY BENEATH THE CERRO ESCORIAL VOLCANO, NW ARGENTINA, AS SAMPLED BY AN EXPLOSIVE VOLCANIC ERUPTION|journal=Abstracts with Programs|date=September 2003|volume=35|issue=6|page=551|url=https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2003AM/finalprogram/abstract_59693.htm|accessdate=25 September 2015|publisher=[[Geological Society of America]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100503/https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2003AM/finalprogram/abstract_59693.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Escorial, Cerro}}
[[Category:Volcanoes of Antofagasta Region]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of Salta Province]]
[[Category:Stratovolcanoes of Chile]]
[[Category:Subduction volcanoes]]
[[Category:Polygenetic volcanoes]]
[[Category:Argentina–Chile border]]
[[Category:International mountains of South America]]
[[Category:Mountains of Antofagasta Region]]
[[Category:Mountains of Salta Province]]
[[Category:Five-thousanders of the Andes]]


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