Chimborazo is a currently inactive stratovolcano in the Cordillera Occidental range of the Andes. Chimborazo had been thought to be extinct, but new studies have shown that it still is an active volcano. Although there are no historical eruptions,
Chimborazo erupted at least 7 times during the past 10,000 years. These eruptions produced pyroclastic surges that reached down to 3800 m elevation. The average time interval between single eruptions is about 1000 years and the last eruption occurred about 1400 years ago, which means that statistically, it is due for another one.
The dominantly andesitic-to-dacitic Chimborazo volcano is mostly of Pliocene-to-Pleistocene age. The volcano collapsed about 35,000 years ago, producing a major debris avalanche, whose deposits underlie Riobamba and temporarily dammed the Río Chambo, producing an ephemeral lake.
Subsequent eruptions have been dominantly andesitic and constructed three edifices along an east-west line, the youngest and westernmost of which forms the current summit of Chimborazo.
Chimborazo’s summit is the farthest point of the earth’s surface from the center of the earth. Due to the centrifugal forces of its rotation, the earth’s shape deviates from a perfect shpere and has a larger diameter at the equator than the length of its N-S axis. The distance of Chimborazo’s summit from the center is 6,384.4 km, 2229 m more than the distance of Mt Everest’s top to the center.
Picture Credit : Google
