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How to reconstruct the eruptive history of the Coconucos Volcanic Chain (Colombia) to assess the volcanic hazards?

Maria Luisa Monsalve

Abstract

The Coconucos volcanic chain (CVLC) located in the Cordillera Central of Colombia (CCC) with a direction N 25° E, is considered as a resurgent volcanism of the 30 km diameter Paletará caldera (2.4 My). The CVLC is 6.5 km long, presents 15 eruptive centers aligned N39°W. In addition to the Puracé volcano, to the NW, one of the most active volcanoes in Colombia (last eruption 1977), there are Piocollo, Curiquinga, Calambás-Paletará, Quintín, Shaka (upper, middle and lower), Killa, Machángara, Pukará, Pan de Azúcar, in the SE end, and the adventitious cones of Amancay and Piki. Since 2015, the Popayán Volcanological and Seismological Observatory (OVSPO) has recorded changes in the behavior of the CVLC, concentrated mainly in the NW sector where Puracé, Piocollo and Curiquinga volcanoes are located. The changes detected consist of an increase in seismicity in this sector, deformation, changes in the hot springs around the chain, fumarolic activity of the Puracé volcano and, on March 29, 2022, a small emission of ash, of phreatic origin, in the crater of the Curiquinga volcano. Although the volcanic hazards in Colombia are established by reconstructing the volcanic history (10,000 years), historical activity and monitoring, for the CVLC takes into account its origin as resurgent volcanism in the Paletará caldera and the eruptive history of the Puracé volcano, which is related to other previous volcanic centers (Chagartón caldera and Prepuracé) and presents a different behavior to the other eruptive centers in the chain.