Chimborazo (volcano)

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This article is about the Volcano. For the Ecuadorian province, see Chimborazo Province.
Chimborazo

Chimborazo from the SW
Elevation 6,268.2 metres (20,565 ft) [1]
Location Ecuador
Range Andes, Cordillera Occidental
Prominence 4,123 m Ranked 17th
Coordinates 01°28′09″S, 78°49′03″WCoordinates: 01°28′09″S, 78°49′03″W
Topo map IGM, CT-ÑIV-C1 [2]
Type Stratovolcano
Age of rock Paleogene (Gomez 1994)
Last eruption 640 AD ± 500 years [3]
Easiest route glacier/snow climb PD

The inactive stratovolcano Chimborazo (pronounced [tʃimboˈraso]) is Ecuador's highest summit. Its last eruption is thought to have occurred some time in the first millennium AD. Its summit is generally regarded as the spot on the surface farthest from the center of the Earth, measuring 6,384.4 km (3,968 mi) from the Earth's core to the peak.

Contents

[edit] Geography

The shadow of Chimborazo as seen from the summit at sunrise
The shadow of Chimborazo as seen from the summit at sunrise

[edit] Location

Chimborazo is located in the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes of central Ecuador, 150 km (93 mi) south-southwest of the capital Quito. It's neighbored by 5,018 m high Carihuairazo. Chimborazo's majestic summit rises 2,500 m above the surrounding highlands (~3,500 to 4,000 m) with a ~20 km wide base. Under clear conditions the summit of Chimborazo can be seen from the coastal city Guayaquil. The nearest cities are Riobamba (~30km to the southeast), Ambato (~30km to the northeast) and Guaranda (~25km to the southwest).Chimborazo is surrounded by the "Reserva de Produccion Faunistica Chimborazo" which forms a protected ecosystem to preserve the habitat for the andes native camelids Vicuña, Llama and Alpaca.

[edit] Glacier

The top of Chimborazo is completely covered by glaciers with some north-eastern glacier arms flowing down to 4,600 m. Its glacier is the source of water for the population of the Bolivar and Chimborazo provinces of Ecuador. Chimborazo glacier's ice mass has decreased over the past decades due to the combined influences of global warming, ash covers from recent volcanic activity[4] of Tungurahua (Schotterer et al 2003) and the El Niño phenomenon (Chaffaut & Guillaume 2004, [1]).

As on other glaciated Ecuadorian mountains, Chimborazo's glacial ice is mined by locals (the so called Hieleros from span. Hielo for Ice) to be sold in the markets of Guaranda and Riobamba. In earlier days the ice was transported down to coastal towns like Babahoyo or Vinces (Borja 2004).

False-color satellite image of Chimborazo (bright blue mass in the center left) and its neighbor Tungurahua (center right, with plume of ash).
False-color satellite image of Chimborazo (bright blue mass in the center left) and its neighbor Tungurahua (center right, with plume of ash).

[edit] Volcanism

Chimborazo is a dominantly andesitic-dacitic stratovolcano. About 35,000 years ago a collapse of Chimborazo produced a debris avalanche, the deposits of which underlie Riobamba. Chimborazo then erupted several times during the Holocene, the last time around 640 AD ± 500 years.[3] Today Chimborazo is considered inactive.

[edit] Elevation

With an elevation of 6,268 m[1], Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador and the Andes north of Peru; it is higher than any more northerly summit in the Americas.

[edit] Farthest point from Earth's center

The summit of Mount Everest reaches a higher elevation above sea level, but the summit of Chimborazo is widely reported to be the farthest point from Earth's center (Senne 2000, [2]), despite a possible challenge from Huascarán.[5] Chimborazo is one degree south of the equator and the earth's diameter at the equator is greater than at the latitude of Everest, nearly 28° north, with sea level also elevated. Despite being 2,581 m (8,568 ft) lower in elevation above sea level, it is 6,384.4 km (3,968 mi) from the Earth's center, 2.1 km farther than the summit of Everest.[6]

[edit] History

Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland at the Chimborazo base
Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland at the Chimborazo base

[edit] Etymology

Several theories regarding the origin of the name Chimborazo exist. After one theory it is a combination of the Cayapa Schingbu for Women and the Colorado/Quichua Razo for Ice/Snow resulting in Women of Ice. After another theory Chimbo is Jivaro for Throne of Master/God resulting in Icethrone of God. The locals also used to call the mountain Urcorazo, with the Quichua Urco for Mountain resulting in Mountain of Ice (Schmudlach 2001). For the local indigenous mysticism the Chimborazo represents Taita (Father) whereas neighbouring Tungurahua is seen as Mama, Taita Chimborazo and Mama Tungurahua.

[edit] First ascent by Europeans

Until the beginning of the nineteenth century it was thought that Chimborazo was the highest mountain on Earth (measured from sea level), and such reputation led to many attempts on its summit during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1802 during his expedition to South America, Baron Alexander von Humboldt, accompanied by Aimé Bonpland and the Ecuadorian Carlos Montúfar attempted to reach the summit. From his description of the mountain it seems he reached a point at 5,875 m, from where he and his companions returned suffering from altitude sickness. At that point they had reached the highest point attained by any European in recorded history.[7] Chimborazo's summit was then first climbed by Edward Whymper and the brothers Louis and Jean-Antoine Carrel in 1880. As there were many critics who doubted that Whymper had reached the summit, later in the same year he climbed to the summit again choosing a different route (Pogyos) with the Ecuadorians David Beltrán and Francisco Campaña (Whymper 1892).

[edit] SAETA Flight 232

In August 1976 SAETA Flight 232 carrying 55 passengers and four crew members aboard a Vickers Viscount from Quito to Cuenca disappeared enroute. In October 2002, after 26 years, the aircraft was found with the bodies of its 59 occupants at 5,400 metres (18,000 ft) elevation on Chimborazo by Ecuadorian climbers on the rarely used eastern route Integral. (El Comercio 2003).

[edit] Other

  • Chimborazo is featured on the Ecuadorian coat of arms, to represent the beauty and richness of the Ecuadorian Sierra (Highlands).
  • Simón Bolívar's poem, "Mi delirio sobre el Chimborazo", was inspired by the mountain.

[edit] Mountaineering

As Ecuador's highest mountain, Chimborazo is a very popular climb, and can be climbed year round with the best seasons being December-January and July-August.

Sketch of Chimborazo Huts, main Summits and Routes
Sketch of Chimborazo Huts, main Summits and Routes

[edit] Routes

The easiest (Grade: PD) and most climbed routes are the Normal and the Whymper route. Both are western ridge routes starting at the Whymper hut and leading via the Ventemilla summit to the main (Whymper) summit. There are several other less used and more challenging routes on the other mountains faces and ridges leading to one of Chimborazo's summits: Main (Whymper, Ecuador), Politecnico (Central), N. Martinez (Eastern). The mountain is contained on the IGM (Instituto Geografico Militar) 1:50000 Map Chimborazo (CT-ÑIV-C1) (IGM 1991, [3]).

[edit] Refugios

There are two functioning Huts, the Carrel Hut (4,850 m) and the nearby Whymper Hut (5,000 m). The Carrel Hut can be reached by car from Riobamba, Ambato or Guaranda. On the north-west side there is the now defunct Zurita hut (4,900 m) which served as base for the Pogyos route.

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b The elevation given here was established by a differential GPS survey in 1993. The survey was carried out by a team of 10 personnel from the School of Military Survey in Newbury, United Kingdom, working in cooperation with the Ecuadorean Instituto Geografico Militar. Accuracy of ±2 m is claimed. Source: Mountain INFO 136, High Magazine, March 1994 (copy). This figure is compatible with SRTM data, unlike an older but still frequently given figure of 6,310 metres (20,702 ft).
  2. ^ Topographic Map
  3. ^ a b Chimborazo. Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
  4. ^ Tungurahua's recent activity period started in 1999 with the most significant eruptions between October and December 1999 and May and July 2006 (Actividad Volcan Tungurahua. Instituto Geofísico, EPN Ecuador. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.).
  5. ^ See the calculation at Talk:Huascarán. If the heights given by Wikipedia for Chimborazo and Huascaran are correct, it is a close tie. But Huascarán is often only credited with 6,746 m, in which case Chimborazo is a likely clear winner.
  6. ^ In this ranking order several other Andean peaks and also Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, precede Everest.
  7. ^ Incans reached much farther already, see Llullaillaco.

[edit] External links

Ecuador Portal
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