Licancabur

Licancabur
The Licancabur volcano behind the Laguna Verde
height	5920  m
location	Departamento Potosí , Bolivia / Region Antofagasta , Chile
Mountains	To the
Dominance	12.84 km →  Sairecabur
Notch height	1320 m
Coordinates	22 ° 50 ′ 1 ″  S , 67 ° 52 ′ 58 ″  W Coordinates: 22 ° 50 ′ 1 ″  S , 67 ° 52 ′ 58 ″  W
Type	Stratovolcano
particularities	Crater lake

Licancabur (from Kunza : Lickanckabur or Licancaur = "mountain of the people") is a 5920 m high inactive volcano in the Cordillera Occidental . It is located on the border between Bolivia and Chile near the Laguna Verde and towers over the Atacama Desert . It is located in the Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Abaroa in the immediate vicinity of the Juriques volcano, which is only 200 m lower .

In its crater there is one of the highest lakes in the world, in which a multitude of living things thrive despite outside temperatures as low as −30 ° C. Because of the extreme environmental conditions, this flora and fauna in the approx. 5000 m² large lake is of evolutionary interest; the NASA and the SETI Institute have already taken a number of expeditions to the summit. Findings about the adaptation of animals and plants to the extreme conditions should help to understand the development of life in its earliest stages.

The closest place is the Chilean village of San Pedro de Atacama . The famous Laguna Verde is right in front of the mountain. The summit is mostly ice-free on the Bolivian side (in contrast to the Chilean side).

Access

The normal route to the summit starts from Laguna Verde on the Bolivian side. From the Chilean side, the ascent is much more difficult and only possible with precise local knowledge, as the area there is mined. The way to the summit itself is very arduous due to the soft volcanic ash, the sharp-edged rubble and the great height. Remains of structures from the Inca period can be found both along the normal route and directly on the summit. Agencies in San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) and Uyuni (Bolivia) offer guided tours to the summit.

photos

• 

  Licancabur from the road to San Pedro de Atacama.

• 

  Licancabur and the Laguna Verde.

• 

  Licancabur crater lake seen from the summit.

• 

  Shore edge of the crater lake.

See also

• List of mountains or elevations in South America

Web links

Commons : Licancabur  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• High Lakes Project, Andes Mountains, Bolivia and Chile Information about the two NASA expeditions on nasa.gov (English)
• Highlake's description and pictures of the NASA expedition on seti.org (English)
• Researchers measure UV record in the Andes in Spiegel Online , July 8, 2014
• Thomas Trösch: Which record makes the Licancabur so interesting? ( Memento from April 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Article in the Handelsblatt from March 12, 2012
• Licancabur on summitpost.org (English)
• Licancabur in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ de Emilio F. Vaïsse, Félix Segundo Hoyos y Aníbal Echeverría y Reyes: Glosario de la Lengua Atacameña , 1896, p. 25. (PDF, Spanish)
2. ↑ Licancabur on Cumbresaustrales.cl ( Spanish )