Los Patos

This article is about the mountain. For the town in the Dominican Republic, see Los Patos, Dominican Republic. For the river in Argentina, see Rio de los Patos. For the BRT station, see Los Patos (Mexibús).

Los Patos
Tres Quebradas
Tres Quebradas from the northwest (Chilean side)
Highest point
Elevation	6,239 m (20,469 ft)[1]
Prominence	1,518 m (4,980 ft)[1]
Listing	Ultra
Coordinates	27°18′00″S 68°48′30″W[1]
Geography
Los Patos Located on Argentina/Chile border
Location	Catamarca, Argentina - Atacama, Chile
Parent range	Andes

Los Patos (also known as Tres Quebradas) is a mountain in the Andes mountain range of South America. The peak is located on the international border of the Catamarca Province of Argentina and the Atacama Region of Chile. It has a summit elevation of 6,239 metres (20,469 ft).[1]

Los Patos is a volcano. Potassium-argon dating on dacite taken from the northern flank showed an age of 4,550,000 ± 180,000 years ago.[2] At that time, volcanic activity in the Maricunga Belt had just ended and was shifting towards the area of Ojos del Salado and Nevado Tres Cruces.[3] Another date obtained on the lower part of the volcano is 7,600,000 ± 600,000 years ago.[4] The base of Nevado Tres Cruces rises immediately east of Los Patos. Los Patos is part of the Cordillera Sundt, a mountain chain containing stratovolcanoes with lava domes and lava flows. The chain is constructed by dacite and smaller amounts of andesite. Other volcanoes in the chain include Falso Azufre, Monte Pissis and Mulas Muertas.[2] So-called "Pircas Negras" lavas with compositions similar to adakite have been found on the northern flanks of Los Patos. They contain amphibole and clinopyroxene as the dominant minerals and some samples have been found at 27.251°S 68.792°W / -27.251; -68.792 and 27.278°S 68.784°W / -27.278; -68.784.[5] The volcano has a prehistoric sanctuary on its summit.[6]

See also

• List of mountains in the Andes
• List of Ultras of South America

References

1. "Argentina and Chile North: Ultra-Prominences" Peaklist.org. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
2. Gonzalez-Ferran, O.; Baker, P. E.; Rex, D. C. (1985-03-01). "Tectonic-volcanic discontinuity at latitude 27° south Andean Range, associated with Nazca Plate Subduction". Tectonophysics. Structures and Processes in Subduction Zones. 112 (1): 423–441. Bibcode:1985Tectp.112..423G. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(85)90189-1.
3. Mpodozis, C.; Kay, S.M.; Gardeweg, M.; Coira, B. "Geología de la región de Valle Ancho-Laguna Verde (Catamarca, Argentina): una ventana al basamento del extremo sur de la zona volcánica de los Andes Centrales". ResearchGate (in Spanish). 3.
4. Kay, Suzanne Mahlburg; Coira, Beatriz; Mpodozis, Constantino (2008-01-01). "Field trip guide: Neogene evolution of the central Andean Puna plateau and southern Central Volcanic Zone". Field Guides. 13: 161. doi:10.1130/2008.0013(05). ISBN 978-0-8137-0013-7. ISSN 2333-0937.
5. Goss, Adam R.; Kay, Suzanne Mahlburg; Mpodozis, Constantino (2013-11-01). "Andean Adakite-like high-Mg Andesites on the Northern Margin of the Chilean–Pampean Flat-slab (27–28·5°S) Associated with Frontal Arc Migration and Fore-arc Subduction Erosion". Journal of Petrology. 54 (11): 2193–2234. doi:10.1093/petrology/egt044. ISSN 0022-3530.
6. Reinhard, J. (1983). "Las montañas sagradas: Un estudio etnoarqueológico de ruinas en las altas cumbres andinas". Cuadernos de historia (in Spanish). 3: 32.

External links

• "Los Patos". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution.
• "Tres Quebradas, Argentina/Chile" on Peakbagger