Llaima Volcano is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. It is situated 82 km northeast of Temuco and 663 km southeast of Santiago

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

, within the borders of Conguillío National Park

Conguillío National Park

Conguillío National Park is located in the Andes, in the provinces of Cautín and Malleco, in the Araucanía Region of Chile. Its name derives from the Mapuche word for "water with Araucaria seeds"...

.

Geography

The top of Llaima consists of two summits; the lower of the two, Pichillaima, is about 2920 m (9,580 ft) high and is significantly less prominent than the higher northern summit.

The average elevation of the terrain around Llaima is about 740 m asl.

The volcano, along with Sierra Nevada

Sierra Nevada (stratovolcano)

Sierra Nevada is a stratovolcano located in the Araucanía Region of Chile, near the Llaima volcano. Its last certain eruptions were in the Pleistocene period, but its activity may extend into the Holocene. Its primary lavas are andesitic and basaltic flows, although it has also produced pyroclastic...

, surrounds the Conguillío Lake

Conguillío Lake

Conguillío Lake is located in the Araucanía Region of Chile, within the Conguillío National Park. The lake's surface area is 7.5 km².-References:*...

. Its slopes are drained by the rivers Captrén, Quepe

Quepe River

Quepe River is a river of Chile located in the Araucanía Region. It originates in the lake of the same name, in the vicinity of Llaima volcano. Then flows about 112 km to join the Cautín River near the locality of Almagro, only a few kilometres upstream of the confluence of the rivers Cautín and...

 and Trufultruful

Trufultruful River

Trufultruful River is a river located in the Araucanía Region of Chile. It flows south a few kilometres from its source, the Conguillío Lake, to join the Zahuelhue River, forming the Allipén River at Melipeuco. A great part of its course is contained within Conguillío National Park and drains the...

. The former ones are tributaries of Cautín River

Cautín River

The Cautín is a river in Chile. It rises on the western slopes of the Cordillera de Las Raíces and flows in Araucanía Region. The river's main tributary is the Quepe River. The city of Temuco is located on the Cautín River....

 and the latter is affluent of Allipén River

Allipén River

Allipén River is a river located in the Araucanía Region of Chile. It is formed at the junction of the rivers Trufultruful and Zahuelhue, near Melipeuco...

.

Eruptions

Llaima is one of Chile's most active volcanoes and has frequent but moderate eruptions. Llaima’s activity has been documented since the 17th century, and consists of several separate episodes of moderate explosive eruptions with occasional lava flows.
The last major eruption occurred in 1994.

An eruption on January 1, 2008 forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from nearby villages. A column of smoke approximately 3000 m high was observed. An amateur caught the early eruption phase on video http://youtube.com/watch?v=ju81EJ3_M3I.The volcanic ash

Volcanic ash

Volcanic ash consists of small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions, less than in diameter. There are three mechanisms of volcanic ash formation: gas release under decompression causing magmatic eruptions; thermal contraction from chilling on contact...

 expelled by Llaima travelled east over the Andes into Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. Ash fall was recorded in the area of Zapala

Zapala

Zapala is a city in the Patagonian province of Neuquén, Argentina with about 32,000 inhabitants according to the .The city is located at the geographic center of the province at the confluence of national and provincial roads, on a route to the Andes and Chile...

, Neuquén Province

Neuquén Province

Neuquén is a province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west...

, and forced the cancellation of flights to and from Presidente Perón Airport near the city of Neuquén

Neuquén, Argentina

-Sister cities:Neuquén is sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International with: Knoxville, Tennessee, United States Treviso, Veneto, Italy Valdivia, Chile-External links: - Official website....

. On July 2, 2008, another eruption resulted in evacuation of 40 people from a 15 km exclusion zone.

An eruption occurred on April 5, 2009, with pyroclastic flows, ash and lava seen on the slopes.

See also

• List of volcanoes in Chile
• Lonquimay
  Lonquimay (volcano)
  Lonquimay Volcano is a stratovolcano of late-Pleistocene to dominantly Holocene age, with the shape of a truncated cone. The cone is largely andesitic, though basaltic and dacitic rocks are present. It is located in the Araucanía Region of Chile, immediately SE of Tolhuaca volcano. Sierra Nevada...
  
  
• Tolhuaca
  Tolhuaca (volcano)
  Tolhuaca Volcano is a stratovolcano located in the northern part of the Araucanía Region of Chile. The volcano has been shaped by glacial erosion, which contrasts with the relatively smooth slopes of its neighbor Lonquimay, due to the younger age of this latter volcano.The volcano dominates the...
  
  

External links

• Llaima Volcano Visual Observation Project
• Sulfur Dioxide Plume from Llaima Volcano at the NASA Earth Observatory
  NASA Earth Observatory
  NASA Earth Observatory is an online publishing outlet for NASA which was created in 1999. It is the principal source of satellite imagery and other scientific information pertaining to the climate and the environment which are being provided by NASA for consumption by the general public...