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Huaynaputina
Huaynaputina is a stratovolcano located in a volcanic upland in southern Peru. The volcano does not have an identifiable mountain profile, but instead has the form of a large volcanic crater. It has produced high-potassium andesite and dacite. On 19 February 1600, it exploded catastrophically (Volcanic Explosivity Indexor VEI6), in the largest volcanic explosion in South America in historic times. The eruption continued with a series of events into March. An account of the event was included in Fray Antonio Vazquez de Espinosa's, Compendio y Descripcion de las Indias which was translated into English as Compendium and description of the West Indies in 1942.
Regional effects
When Huaynaputina exploded, it produced about 30 cubic km of tephra and pyroclastic flows traveled 13 km to the east and southeast, and lahars – volcanic mudflows – destroyed several villages and reached the coast of the Pacific Ocean, a distance of 120 km. The eruption began with a Plinian plume that extended into the stratosphere, and the ashfall and accompanying earthquakes caused substantial damage to the major cities of Arequipa and Moquegua.
Ashfall was reported 250–500 km away, throughout southern Peru, and in what is now northern Chile and western Bolivia. The ash layer now forms a useful stratigraphic marker layer throughout Peru.
Regional agricultural economies took 150 years to fully recover.
Global effects
Russia
The explosion had effects on climate around the Northern Hemisphere (Southern hemispheric records are less complete), where 1601 was the coldest year in six centuries, leading to a famine in Russia; see Russian famine of 16011603.
Elsewhere in Europe
In Estonia, Switzerland, and Latvia there were bitter cold winters in 1600-1602; in 1601 in France, the wine harvest came late; additionally, production of wine collapsed in Germany and colonial Peru.
Asia
In Japan Lake Suwa had one of its earliest freezings in 500 years. In China, peach trees bloomed late.
Greenland
In Greenland the sulfuric acid spike was larger than that from Krakatau (1883).
See also
Timetable of major worldwide volcanic eruptions
References
External links
Science News on tie to Russian famine
The 1600 eruption of Huaynaputina in Peru caused global disruption
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Huaynaputina
