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| Cerro Negro de Mayasquer | |
|---|---|
| Name | Cerro Negro de Mayasquer |
| Elevation m | 4444 |
| Range | Andes |
| Location | Colombia–Ecuador border |
| Type | stratovolcano |
| Last eruption | 1936 (disputed) |
Cerro Negro de Mayasquer Cerro Negro de Mayasquer is a stratovolcanic summit on the Colombia–Ecuador border within the Andes mountain chain. It forms part of a highland complex near major peaks and volcanic centers, contributing to the orography that influences nearby basins, national parks, and transit corridors between Quito, Bogotá, and Cali. The peak lies adjacent to other notable features and has been the subject of geological, ecological, and hazard-focused studies by institutions in Ecuador and Colombia.
Cerro Negro de Mayasquer sits in the Nariño Department of Colombia and the Carchi Province of Ecuador, near the international boundary demarcated by treaties between Colombia and Ecuador. It is close to the Chiles–Cerro Negro volcanic complex and within the watershed feeding the Guáitara River, Tulcán, and Patía River catchments that affect municipalities such as Ipiales, Pasto, and Tulcán. The summit is accessible from regional roads linking to Panama, Peru, and the Amazon Basin corridors, and lies within ecological transition zones proximate to Cotopaxi National Park, Los Nevados National Natural Park, and Sangay National Park. Nearby human settlements include Pasto, Tulcán, Ipiales, and smaller communities along the Inter-American Highway and Andean highland trade routes.
Geologically, Cerro Negro de Mayasquer is part of the Northern Volcanic Zone of the Andes associated with subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate. The edifice comprises andesitic to dacitic lavas and pyroclastic deposits similar to those at Chiles, Reventador, Cumbal, and Cotopaxi. It shares magmatic affinities with centers in the Northern Andean Volcanic Belt including Tulcan Volcanic Complex and has been studied alongside Galeras, Sangay, Nevado del Ruiz, and Machín for petrology, geochemistry, and crustal processes. Structural mapping reveals stratigraphic relationships and sector collapse features reminiscent of Colima and Tungurahua, with volcanic-tectonic interactions influenced by faults such as the Romeral Fault System and local thrusts tied to Andean orogeny studied by geologists from Instituto Geofísico (EPN), Servicio Geológico Colombiano, and universities in Quito, Bogotá, and Cali.
The eruptive record of Cerro Negro de Mayasquer is sparse and partly obscured by proximity to Chiles and mixed tephra stratigraphy evident in cores and outcrops near Papallacta, Pastó, and highland lakes. Historic attributions include an event in 1936 sometimes assigned to the nearby complex, similar to disputed reports for Tungurahua and Cotopaxi accounts from the 19th and 20th centuries. Paleovolcanological studies using radiocarbon dating, tephrochronology, and stratigraphic correlation have compared eruptions to those at Nevado del Huila, Puracé, Doña Juana, and Cerro Machín. Monitoring records from IG-EPN, SGC, and international collaborations with USGS, Smithsonian Institution, and universities have sought to distinguish emissions, lahars, and ash dispersal patterns that could affect Quito, Bogotá, Popayán, and transnational air routes managed by authorities like IATA and national aviation agencies.
The mountain’s ecosystems encompass high Andean páramo and montane cloud forest transitions comparable to those preserved in Los Nevados, Sangay, and Podocarpus National Park. Flora and fauna assemblages include species linked to protected areas such as Pululahua, Otonga, Cajas National Park, and conservation programs run by organizations like Fundación Jocotoco, Conservación Internacional, and government agencies in Ecuador and Colombia. Climatic conditions are influenced by the Intertropical Convergence Zone, Pacific moisture influx via the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, and orographic effects seen across Andean Northern Highlands; this affects glacial remnants and periglacial features similarly documented at Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and Antisana. Hydrological regimes feed downstream wetlands, páramo peatlands, and water supplies used by municipalities including Pasto and Tulcán.
Local indigenous groups and communities around the site draw cultural associations to Andean sacred landscapes referenced in studies of Quichua and Umbra traditions and regional rituals comparable to those at Otavalo and Ipiales pilgrimage sites. Cross-border cooperation involves agencies such as Ministerio del Ambiente (Ecuador), Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (Colombia), and municipal authorities in Tulcán and Pasto for land use, tourism, and emergency planning similar to programs near Cotopaxi and Nevado del Ruiz. Historical travelogues and scientific expeditions by explorers and naturalists—paralleling accounts linked to Alexander von Humboldt, Franz Steindachner, and later fieldwork by researchers from Universidad de Antioquia, Universidad del Cauca, and Universidad Central del Ecuador—have documented landscape change, agriculture, and transboundary communication corridors.
Research initiatives involve collaborations among IG-EPN, Servicio Geológico Colombiano, USGS, Smithsonian Institution, and academic institutions in Quito, Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, and Cuenca. Monitoring includes seismic networks, GPS deformation arrays, gas sampling compared with studies at Reventador and Tungurahua, and remote sensing via Landsat, Sentinel-2, and satellite thermal instruments used in analyses of Nevado del Ruiz and Cotopaxi. Hazard assessments consider ashfall impacts to aviation overseen by ICAO and regional emergency response coordinated with UN OCHA frameworks and national civil defense agencies such as ONEMI and Colombian emergency management offices. Potential risks include tephra, pyroclastic density currents, lahars down valleys toward Ipiales and Pasto, and impacts to transnational infrastructure including sections of the Pan-American Highway and Andean rail corridors.
Category:Volcanoes of Colombia Category:Volcanoes of Ecuador Category:Stratovolcanoes