Global Volcanism Program | Nevado del Sajama

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Nevado del Sajama.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Nevado del Sajama.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Nevado del Sajama.

The Global Volcanism Program has no synonyms or subfeatures listed for Nevado del Sajama.

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

355809

Pleistocene

6,542 m / 21,463 ft

18.1°S
68.88°W

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Composite

Volcano Types
Stratovolcano
Lava dome

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Geological Summary

Nevado del Sajama, rising to 6542 m about 20 km E of the Chilean border, is Bolivia's highest mountain. The prominent glacier-clad edifice consists of an andesitic stratovolcano overlying andesitic-to-rhyodacitic lava domes. Sajama borders Volcán Cholcani on the SE, and flank centers occupy the saddle between the two peaks. The steep-sided volcano towers about 2200 m above its base, and glaciers descend to about 5600 m. The age of the most recent activity has variously been considered to be Holocene, Pleistocene-Holocene, or Pleistocene, but de Silva (2007 pers. comm.) noted no evidence of Holocene activity.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

de Silva S L, 2007. (pers. comm.).

de Silva S L, Francis P W, 1991. Volcanoes of the Central Andes. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 216 p.

Gonzalez-Ferran O, 1995. Volcanes de Chile. Santiago: Instituto Geografico Militar, 635 p.

Katsui Y (ed), 1971. List of the World Active Volcanoes. Volc Soc Japan draft ms, (limited circulation), 160 p.

Eruptive History

The Global Volcanism Program is not aware of any Holocene eruptions from Nevado del Sajama. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 12,000 years ago, information might be found on the Nevado del Sajama page in the LaMEVE (Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions) database, a part of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Nevado del Sajama.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Nevado del Sajama.

Photo Gallery

Sajama volcano in Bolivia towers beyond the Chilean border above Laguna Chungará. Blocky Pleistocene lava flows from Parinacota volcano, out of view to the left, extend across the middle of the photo. Sajama is Bolivia's highest peak and rises about 2000 m above its base. The dominantly andesitic volcano overlies andesitic-to-rhyolitic lava domes.

Photo by Oscar González-Ferrán (University of Chile).

Nevado del Sajama, rising to 6542 m about 20 km east of the Chilean border, is Bolivia's highest mountain. The steep-sided volcano is seen here from the Chilean side of the border, rising above Laguna Chungará, which was formed when a debris avalanche from Parinacota volcano (out of view to the left) blocked drainages. Sajama consists of an andesitic stratovolcano overlying andesitic-to-rhyodacitic lava domes. Pleistocene lava flows from Parinacota form the ridge at the left, and the flanks of Pleistocene Quisiquisini volcano rise to the right.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 2004 (Smithsonian Institution).

GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Nevado del Sajama in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Nevado del Sajama. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Nevado del Sajama. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

Large Eruptions of Nevado del Sajama

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).