.

MundoAndino Home : Argentina Guide at MundoAndino

Tupungato


Tupungato, one of the highest mountains in South America, is a massive stratovolcano dating to Pleistocene times. It lies on the border between Chile and the , near a major international highway about 80 km east of Santiago, Chile. It is located about 100 km south of Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America, and gives its name to an important Argentine wine producing region within Mendoza, the Tupungato Department. Many villages are found in the area, and Tupungato is traditionally approached from either the north, west, or south. Nearby to the southwest is the smaller peak known as Tupungatito, an active volcano whose last eruption was in 1987.

1947 plane crash

On August 2, 1947, the airliner Star Dust, an Avro Lancastrian carrying 11 passengers over the Andes range, crashed into a steep glacier high on Tupungato. The plane was quickly buried in the resulting avalanche and heavy snowfall that was taking place at the time. The plane lay undetected deep beneath the snow and glacial ice for over 50 years, before its remnants finally re-emerged at the glacier terminus in 2000. Shortly thereafter, a team discovered the scattered debris and wreckage, collecting some of the evidence for investigation.

See also

List of volcanoes in Argentina

List of volcanoes in Chile

External links

Pictures of Mount Tupungato

Technical information

Star Dust Plane Crash Mystery

Andes Mountains (Spanish) [*]

Didn't find what you were looking for.
Need more information for your travel research or homework?
Ask your questions at the forum about Mountains of Argentina or help others to find answers.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Tupungato


Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - 2009