volcano
A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...
in the
Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
. It is a
sacred mountain
Sacred mountains are central to certain religions, and are usually the subjects of many legends. For many, the most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the peak because it is believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious realms. Many reli ...
of the territory, featuring a mountain sanctuary.
The edifice presently has a volume of and based on erosion an age of 4.6 million years has been inferred. The true age of the volcano is unclear; it has a youthful appearance and a cone on the northeast flank was recorded as being active in the last 2000 years, but the appearance of the volcano is similar to other
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58 Cariquima is located within the Pica gap which lacks young volcanism.