Andagua volcanic field

The Andagua volcanic field (also known as Andahua) is a volcanic field in southern Peru which includes a number of cinder cones, lava domes and lava flows which have filled the Andagua Valley (which is also known as Valley of the Volcanoes for this reason). The volcanic field is part of a larger volcanic province that clusters around the Colca River and is mostly of Pleistocene age, although the Andagua sector also features volcanic cones with historical activity, with the last eruption about 370 years ago. Eruptions were mostly effusive, generating lava flows, cones and small eruption columns. Future eruptions are possible, and there is ongoing fumarolic activity. Volcanic activity in the field has flooded the Andahua valley with lava flows, damming local watersheds in the Laguna de Chachas, Laguna Mamacocha and Laguna Pumajallo lakes and burying the course of the Andagua River. The Andahua valley segment of the larger volcanic province was declared a geopark in 2015. The volcanoes were first mentioned in a 1904 report but scientific investigation began by 1960; owing to the small size of Andagua volcanoes and their remote location they have not gained as much scientific interest as the large stratovolcanoes in the region. Eruptions have been dated on the basis of radiocarbon dating, potassium-argon dating and the morphology of the resulting vents as younger structures are steeper. The term "Andagua volcanic field" has not been used consistently and sometimes the term "Andagua Group" or variants with "Andahua" are used, even though the name of the village is Andagua; the field is also known as Andagua-Orcopampa volcanic field. The term "Valley of the Volcanoes" is a reference to the volcanoes that fill the valley floor. The Andagua volcanic field lies in southern Peru, from the city of Arequipa and within the Arequipa Department and its provinces Castilla, Caylloma and Condesuyos. The towns of Orcopampa, Andagua/Andahua, Soporo, Chachas, Sucna and Ayo lie in its area along with mines and the Inka sites of Antaymarca, Ayo and Jello Jello; economic activity includes farming and mining as well as commerce and industrial activity.