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Photo: Stitched by Seattle Skier , photos by Martini · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Volcano in Ecuador
Quilotoa is a water-filled crater lake and the most western volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes. The 3-kilometre-wide (2 mi) caldera was formed by the collapse of this dacite volcano following a catastrophic VEI-6 eruption about 800 years ago, which produced pyroclastic flows and lahars that reached the Pacific Ocean, and spread an airborne deposit of volcanic ash throughout the northern Andes. This last eruption followed a dormancy period of 14,000 years and is known as the 1280 Plinian eruption. The fourth eruptive phase was phreatomagmatic, indicating that a crater lake was already present at that time. The caldera has since accumulated a 250-metre-deep (820 ft) crater lake, which has a greenish color as a result of dissolved minerals. Fumaroles are found on the lake floor, and hot springs occur on the eastern flank of the volcano.
