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Maipo (volcano)


Maipo is a stratovolcano in the Andes, lying on the border between Argentina and Chile. It is located 90 km south of Tupungato and about 100 km southeast of Santiago.

Maipo retains a symmetrical, conical volcanic shape, unlike many of the other nearby peaks, making it the best known peak in the region, though it is not the highest. Maipo is also almost the southernmost 5,000 metre peak in the Andes. .

Maipo is located within the Diamante Caldera, a feature of about 15 km by 20 km size that is about one-half million years old. It rises about 1,900 m above the floor of the caldera. Immediately to the east of the peak, on the eastern side of the caldera floor, is Laguna del Diamante, a picturesque lake that formed when lava flows blocked drainage channels from the caldera in 1826.

The region's climate is transitional between the drier Mediterranean climate of the peaks to the north and the cold, moist climate of Chilean Patagonia. Hence, while less glaciated than Patagonia, it has more permanent snow than peaks of similar elevation to the north.

See also

List of volcanoes in Chile

List of volcanoes in Argentina

References

Volcan Maipo or Maipu (span.) [*]
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Maipo (volcano)


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