Strange formations in the Andes

Dentren

Rank:

Contact:

Strange formations in the Andes

Submitted by Dentren on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 14:36.

Hey, I wonder if anybody knows what there formations in the Andes are. I found them in Google earth around the Chile-Bolivia border. One of them is located at 22° 26' 26'' S; 67° 47' 12'' W at the western edge of the Altiplano plateau. To me it seems like the product of a kind of recent volcanic activity in the area.

Login or register to post comments
Send to friend

Mathias2007

Rank:

Contact:

I don't have Google Earth

Wed, 08/20/2008 - 19:49

I don't have Google Earth available now. Could you upload a screenshot of the area please?

The Lost Geologist's Blog

http://lostgeologist.blogspot.com/

Matt

Rank:

Roles:
Moderator

Contact:

There are certainly

Thu, 08/21/2008 - 09:08

There are certainly volcanoes in that area. Could you post a screenshot and highlight exactly what features it is you're looking at.

Dentren

Rank:

Contact:

Here I got an image. The yellow line is the border with Bolivia.

Thu, 08/21/2008 - 12:05

Matt

Rank:

Roles:
Moderator

Contact:

Tough one. It looks like an

Thu, 08/21/2008 - 13:10

Tough one. It looks like an eroded plateau surrounded by screes, but what it's made of I'm unsure. Theres some lobate forms on the western side by the river, and I can't decide whether they're mass movements or lava flows. The way the rivers flow so neatly round its edges and the way it doesn't seem to be overlain by any of the lava flows from nearby volcanoes make me think it's more recent than its surroundings...

hypocentre

Rank:

Roles:
Moderator

Contact:

Salt dome?

Thu, 08/21/2008 - 23:40

One possibility is a salt diapir breaching the surface. (I don't know the area - only a guess/possibility)

Geologists like a nappe between thrusts

GeologyRocks