Cerro de los Chenques facts for kids

Cerro de los Chenques is a special kind of volcano in Argentina. It is found in the Chubut Province. This volcano was once thought to be quite young, from a time called the Holocene period. But scientists later found out it is much older, from the early Pleistocene period.

This volcano sits on very old rocks. These rocks were formed a long, long time ago, during the Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic eras. There are also newer rocks around it, including other volcanic rocks and granite.

Cerro de los Chenques: A Volcano in Argentina

What is Cerro de los Chenques?

Cerro de los Chenques is a type of volcano called a monogenetic volcano. This means it probably erupted only once. It is not like huge volcanoes that erupt many times over a long period.

When it erupted, it sent out both lava flows and pyroclastics. Lava flows are streams of hot, melted rock. Pyroclastics are pieces of rock, ash, and gas that explode from the volcano. The lava flows from Cerro de los Chenques covered a large area, about 28 square kilometers.

The volcano itself looks like a cone. It has other smaller hills nearby that might be more cones. The main cone is made up of layers of hardened lava and pyroclastic material. There is a break or opening on its northeast side.

What Came Out of It?

The rocks that erupted from Cerro de los Chenques are called alkali basalt and basanite. These are types of dark, volcanic rocks. Inside these rocks, you can find small crystals. Scientists call these crystals phenocrysts.

These crystals are made of different minerals. Some are clinopyroxene, which is a dark green or black mineral. Others are olivine, which is often green. You can also find plagioclase, which is a type of feldspar mineral.

Part of a Bigger Picture

Cerro de los Chenques is part of a larger group of volcanoes. These are known as the Patagonian basaltic volcanics. These volcanoes are found behind the main chain of volcanoes in the Andes Mountains. This type of volcanic activity is called backarc volcanism. It happens when the Earth's plates move in a certain way.

These volcanoes often form large, flat areas called volcanic plateaus. Scientists are very interested in these volcanoes because they contain special rocks called xenoliths. Xenoliths are pieces of rock from deep inside the Earth. They are brought to the surface by the erupting lava. By studying these xenoliths, scientists can learn about what the Earth's mantle is made of. The mantle is the thick layer of rock between the Earth's crust and its core.

See also

In Spanish: Cerro de los Chenques para niños