Coropuna is a dormant compound volcano located in the Andes mountains of southeast-central Peru. The upper reaches of Coropuna consist of several perennially snowbound conical summits, lending it the name Nevado Coropuna in Spanish. The complex extends over an area of and its highest summit reaches an altitude of above sea level. This makes the Coropuna complex the third-highest of Peru. Its thick ice cap is the most extensive in Earth's tropical zone, with several outlet glaciers stretching out to lower altitudes. Below an elevation of , there are various vegetation belts which include trees, peat bogs, grasses and also agricultural areas and pastures.
The Coropuna complex consists of several stratovolcanoes. These are composed chiefly of ignimbrites and lava flows on a basement formed by Middle Miocene ignimbrites and lava flows. The Coropuna complex has been active for at least five million years, with the bulk of the current cone having been formed during the Quaternary. Coropuna has had two or three Holocene eruptions and either or ago which generated lava flows, plus an additional eruption which may have taken place some 6,000 years ago. Current activity occurs exclusively in the form of hot springs.
Coropuna is located northwest of the city of Arequipa. People have lived on the slopes of Coropuna for millennia. The mountain was regarded as sacred by the Inca, and several archaeological sites have been discovered there, including the Inca sites of Maucallacta and Acchaymarca. The mountain was considered one of the most important Inca religious sites in their realm; human sacrifices were performed on its slopes, Coropuna forms part of many local legends and the mountain is worshiped to the present day.
The ice cap of Coropuna, which during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) had expanded to over , has been in retreat since at least 1850. Estimates published in 2018 imply that the ice cap will persist until about 2120. The retreat of the Coropuna glaciers threatens the water supply of tens of thousands of people relying upon its watershed, and interaction between volcanic activity and glacial effects has generated mudflows that could be hazardous to surrounding populations. Because of this, the Peruvian geological agency, INGEMMET, monitors Coropuna and has published a hazard map for the volcano.
Name and etymology
In Quechua, means "plateau", and is a common component of toponyms such as with Coro Coro, Bolivia, though its etymology is unclear. The name may mean , "Puna of Gold", "golden mountain", "cold, snowy" or "cut off at the top". The name is also spelled . The mountain is also called Nevado Coropuna; "Nevado" is the Spanish word for "snowy". There is another volcano in the Andahua volcanic field which has the same name, but is completely separate.
Geography and geomorphology
Coropuna lies in the Andes of Peru, on the border between the Castilla and Condesuyos Provinces of the Arequipa Department. Towns around the volcano belong to the Chuquibamba, Machaguay, Pampacolca and Viraco Districts. The volcano can be reached on paved roads through the town of Andahua, either from Arequipa or through Aplao from the Pan-American Highway. Roads also pass along the northern and western sides of the volcano.
Regional
The Andes stretch along the western coast of South America from Tierra del Fuego northwards to Venezuela, forming the longest mountain chain in the world. More regionally, the volcano is in the , a mountain range which lies at an average of from the Pacific coastline, and contains nearly one hundred glaciers.
Coropuna is in the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, which contains 44 stratovolcanoesincluding many of the world's highestand several glaciated volcanoes. Besides Coropuna, some of the latter are Sara Sara, Solimana, Mismi, Ampato, Hualca Hualca, Sabancaya, Chachani, Misti, Ubinas, Huaynaputina, Tutupaca, Yucamane and Casiri. Also found nearby are Neogene-age calderas. Sixteen volcanoes in Peru are active or potentially active.
There is no habitation on Coropuna above , but numerous villages dot the lower slopes. Agriculture and animal husbandry are the most common economic activities; there are copper and gold mines as well. The city of Arequipa lies to the southeast.
Local
General outline
Seen from above, Coropuna has a pear-shaped outline and is a eastwest ridge that features four summits that are separated by broad saddles. In addition, there is another summit north of the eastwest trend. A high subsidiary peak named Cerro Cuncaicha lies east of Coropuna; it is a stratovolcano. Coropuna covers a surface area of and its various main summits rise about above the surrounding plateau.