Misti
Misti is a stratovolcano in southern Peru, near Arequipa. Its summit rises to 5,822 meters above sea level.
Stratovolcano: A steep-sided volcano built from alternating layers of lava, ash, and other erupted material. Misti’s cone and layered deposits place it in this volcanic form.
Arequipa: A major city in southern Peru, situated near the volcanoes Misti, Chachani, and Pichu Pichu. Misti rises immediately northeast of the city and dominates its skyline.
Nazca Plate: An oceanic tectonic plate that moves eastward beneath the South American Plate along Peru’s Pacific margin. Its descent drives the magmatism underlying Peru’s volcanic arc.
Volcanic hazard: A potentially harmful process or phenomenon produced by volcanic activity. Misti’s ash, lahars, and possible explosive eruptions are assessed as hazards.
Subduction zone: A region where one tectonic plate descends beneath another into Earth’s mantle. Nazca Plate subduction beneath South America supplies the tectonic setting for Misti’s volcanism.
Chachani: A volcanic massif northwest of Arequipa in southern Peru. It is one of the neighboring high volcanoes framing Arequipa’s volcanic landscape.
South American Plate: A major tectonic plate that carries South America and its adjoining Atlantic Ocean floor. Misti stands on this plate, above the margin where it meets the Nazca Plate.
Volcanic risk: The expected harm from volcanic hazards, shaped by exposure and vulnerability. Arequipa’s population and infrastructure make Misti’s hazards a serious risk-management concern.
Andesite: A fine-grained volcanic rock with an intermediate silica content, common in volcanic arcs. Andesite is characteristic of magma erupted by many volcanoes in the Andean arc.
Pichu Pichu: An eroded volcanic massif east of Arequipa in southern Peru. Together with Misti, it forms the volcanic backdrop around the city.