Cotopaxi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cotopaxi |
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Cotopaxi seen from the high plain (at least 3,700 m (12,139 ft)) of Cotopaxi National Park
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 5,897 m (19,347 ft) |
| Prominence | 2,500 m (8,202 ft) |
| Listing | Ultra |
| Geography | |
| Location | Cotopaxi, Latacunga, Ecuador |
| Parent range | Andes |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Stratovolcano, Historical |
| Volcanic arc/belt | South Volcanic Zone |
| Last eruption | 2023 (ongoing) |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | 28 November 1872 by Wilhelm Reiss and Ángel Escobar |
| Easiest route | North side: Glacier/Snow Climb (Grade PD-) |
Cotopaxi is a very active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. It is located about 50 km (31 mi) south of Quito and 31 km (19 mi) northeast of Latacunga city. Cotopaxi is the second highest mountain in Ecuador, reaching a height of 5,897 m (19,347 ft). It is also one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.
Cotopaxi has erupted 87 times, creating many valleys with lahars, which are dangerous mudflows. Its most recent eruption started on October 21, 2022, and is still ongoing. In February 2023, scientists reported that the volcano had caused about 8,000 earthquakes since October 2022. This means there were around 1,600 earthquakes each month!
Contents
What is Cotopaxi Like?
On a clear day, you can easily see Cotopaxi from Latacunga and Quito. It is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a chain of volcanoes around the Pacific Plate. Cotopaxi has a nearly perfect cone shape. It rises from a high plain that is about 3,800 m (12,470 ft) tall. Its base is about 23 km (14 mi) wide.
Cotopaxi has one of the few glaciers (large sheets of ice) found near the Earth's equator. This glacier starts at a height of 5,000 m (16,400 ft). At the very top, Cotopaxi has a large crater that is about 800 m × 550 m (2,620 ft × 1,800 ft) wide and 250 m (820 ft) deep. The crater has two inner rims, and its inside is covered with ice. The highest point of the volcano is on the outer rim of the crater, on the north side.
Cotopaxi's Past
How Cotopaxi Got Its Name
Local people who speak Quechua have a special name for the volcano. They say coto means 'neck' and paxi means 'moon'. This name comes from the crater of Cotopaxi, which looks like a crescent moon.
Before the Inca people arrived in the 1400s, local Andean people already thought of Cotopaxi as a sacred mountain. They believed it sent rain, which helped their crops grow. They also thought of its summit as a home for gods.
Major Eruptions Through History
Cotopaxi is one of Ecuador's most active volcanoes, with 87 known eruptions. The first eruption that people wrote about happened in 1534.
The most powerful eruptions of Cotopaxi happened in 1742, 1744, 1768, and 1877. The eruptions in 1744 and 1768 destroyed the old town of Latacunga. During the eruption on June 26, 1877, hot pyroclastic flows (fast-moving currents of gas and rock) rushed down the mountain. These flows melted the entire ice cap on top of the volcano. This caused huge lahars (mudflows) that traveled more than 100 km (62 mi) all the way to the Pacific Ocean and the western Amazon basin. The city of Latacunga was completely covered by these mudslides once again.
Scientists Pierre Bouguer and Charles-Marie de La Condamine saw the eruption on June 19, 1742. They were members of the French Geodesic Mission, studying the Earth's shape.
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Cotopaxi had a big eruption from 1903 to 1904. Smaller activity continued until at least 1940, and maybe even 1942. It's hard to see small eruptions because of bad weather, which is why there's some uncertainty about 1942. In 1975 and 2002, there was more heat and earthquake activity, but no actual eruption. In 2002, more steam and sulfur gas came out, and ice inside the crater started to melt.
In 2015, Cotopaxi became active again. On August 14, two large steam eruptions happened. Scientists recorded 2,100 earthquakes in August and a lot of sulfur dioxide gas. The government estimated that about 300,000 people in nearby provinces were at risk from the volcano.
A new eruption started on October 21, 2022, and is still happening as of June 2023.
Climbing Cotopaxi
The first European who tried to climb Cotopaxi was Alexander von Humboldt in 1802. However, he only reached about 4,500 m (14,760 ft). In 1858, Moritz Wagner also tried but could not reach the top.
On November 28, 1872, German geologist Wilhelm Reiss and his partner, Angel Escobar from Colombia, were the first to successfully reach the summit of Cotopaxi.
In 1873, German Geologist Moritz Alphons Stübel climbed it with four Ecuadorians: Rafael Jantui, Melchor Páez, Vicente Ramón, and Eusebio Rodriguez. In 1880, British mountaineer Edward Whymper and Italian guides Jean-Antoine Carrel and Louis Carrel made the third recorded climb. They even spent a night on the summit!
Painters Rudolf Reschreiter [de] and Hans Meyer reached the summit in 1903. Many of Reschreiter's paintings show views of Cotopaxi.
Climbing Cotopaxi became very popular in the late 1900s. The José F. Ribas Refuge (a mountain hut) was built in 1971 at 4,864 m (15,960 ft) and made bigger in 2005.
A sad event happened on Easter Sunday in 1996. An avalanche (a large slide of snow and ice) partly buried the Refuge and many tourists. An earthquake before the avalanche had likely weakened the glacier above. In the warm midday sun, a huge piece of ice broke off. Many people were buried in the snow and ice. Those inside the Refuge broke windows to escape, but 13 people died on the slope above.
Recent Activity and Recreation
Climbing Cotopaxi Today
Climbing Cotopaxi to the summit is very popular. Up to 100 climbers try it on weekends. When the volcano is quiet, mountain guide companies offer guided climbs. Climbers say the usual route is "Mildly Difficult" (alpine PD). You need to use crampons (spikes for your boots) and an ice axe because there are snow and ice slopes that are quite steep. Climbers also use aluminum ladders to cross cracks in the ice called crevasses.
A special 4WD track goes from the national park entrance up to a parking lot at 4,600 m (15,100 ft) on the north side. This is just below the José F. Ribas Refuge. The stone mountain hut is about 200 m (660 ft) higher, at 4,800 m (15,700 ft). It takes about 40-80 minutes to hike up to it. Climbers can stay the night here and start their climb to the summit early in the morning. Most climbers start around 12:30 am to reach the top by 7:30 am. They then return to the hut before the snow melts too much and the glacier crevasses change.
As of July 28, 2014, the Ribas Refuge was being rebuilt. Tour operators often take their clients up the 4WD track in the afternoon for a glacier skills lesson. Then they go back down to a hostel to eat and rest before starting the climb around midnight. Adventure tourism companies in Quito also offer mountain biking tours downhill from the Refuge.
Volcano Eruptions and Dangers
In April 2015, Cotopaxi started showing signs of unrest. There was a big increase in earthquakes and SO2 gas coming out. Scientists also saw slight changes in the volcano's shape, which suggested magma (molten rock) was moving underneath. On August 14 and 15, 2015, there were significant eruptions of ash and steam. Ash fell heavily near the volcano, damaging farms. It also fell lightly as far away as Quito.
A new eruption began on October 21, 2022, and is still happening in June 2023.
Future eruptions of Cotopaxi could be very dangerous for people living nearby. The biggest danger is that a large eruption could quickly melt the glacier on top. This would create powerful lahars (mudflows) that would rush down the volcano's sides, following river valleys. Normal explosive eruptions are mostly dangerous only within Cotopaxi National Park. However, the huge lahars that Cotopaxi's glacier can produce could travel very far. This means that all river valleys leading from the volcano would be at risk. If there was a very large explosion, it could destroy many towns in the valley north of the volcano, near Quito. The city of Latacunga, which is in the south valley, has already been destroyed at least twice (in 1768 and 1877) by lahars from Cotopaxi.
Cotopaxi in Art and Stories
- Cotopaxi is often shown in the traditional paintings of the Tigua people of Ecuador. The volcano is very important to their culture.
- The famous painter Frederic Edwin Church created important artworks featuring Cotopaxi in 1855 and 1862.
- In the short story The Star (1897) by H. G. Wells, Cotopaxi erupts with so much lava that it reaches the coast in just one day.
- In the poem Romance (1916) by Walter J. Turner, Cotopaxi is one of the romantic places that the poet loves.
- In the science fiction novel Shadrach in the Furnace (1976) by Robert Silverberg, an eruption of Cotopaxi is called "the night of Cotopaxi." It starts a series of disasters that lead to a world dictatorship.
- In the American film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), a ship named the SS Cotopaxi (which disappeared in 1925) appears in the Gobi Desert.
- The American rock band The Mars Volta has a song named after the mountain, called "Cotopaxi", released in 2009.
See also
In Spanish: Volcán Cotopaxi para niños
- List of volcanoes in Ecuador
- List of volcanic eruptions by death toll
