- Aucanquilcha
Infobox Mountain
Name = Aucanquilcha
Photo =
Caption =
Range =Andes
Elevation = 6,176 m (20,262 ft)
Location = NorthernChile
Coordinates = coord|21|13|0|S|68|28|0|W|type:mountain
Type =Stratovolcano
Age = up to ~1 million years
Last eruption = ~170,000 years ago
First ascent =
Easiest route = hike up former mining roadAucanquilcha is a massive
stratovolcano located inAntofagasta Region of northernChile , just west of the border withBolivia . It comprises a number of overlapping cones along a 10 km (6 mi) long ridge that forms the summit. There is weak, episodic fumarolic activity and voluminoussulfur deposits in the summit region. During thePleistocene ice ages, an extensiveice cap with an area over 45 km² (17 mi²) mantled the upper slopes, extending down as low as 4,600 m (15,000 ft) and leaving largemoraine s.A sulfur mine, owned by the Carrasco family, was located near the summit of Aucanquilcha, which was the world's highest mine until it closed in the 1990s, and it was serviced by perhaps the highest driveable
road in the world, but this road is no longer usable by vehicles. The highest permanent human habitation was a miners' barracks at about 5,500 m (18,000 ft). Mining originally began on the volcano in 1913, initially usingllama s as pack animals to carry down the sulfur. An aerial cable system extending for 22 km (14 mi) was completed in 1935, to lower the sulfur in buckets. Eventually this was replaced by the road which switchbacked up to the summit and was capable of supporting 20-ton mining trucks.ee also
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List of volcanoes in Chile References
* [http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=150505=A Global Volcanism Program: Aucanquilcha]
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* (in Spanish; also includes volcanoes of Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru)
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* cite journal | last = McIntyre | first = Loren | title = The High Andes | journal =National Geographic | volume =171 | issue =4 | pages =422–460
publisher = National Geographic Society | date = April 1987 | url = (includes description and photos of Aucanquilcha summit road and mine)
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