Cerro Miscanti

{{short description|Mountain in Chile}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Cerro Miscanti

| photo = Chiliques miscanti puntas negras.jpg

| photo_caption = Seen from the Laguna Miscanti, FLTR: Volcán Chiliques, Cerro Miscanti, Cordón Puntas Negras.

| elevation_m = 5,622

| elevation_ref = {{Cite web |url=http://www.igm.cl/producto_resumen2.asp?id=2051 |title=Chilean IGM |access-date=2007-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929094836/http://www.igm.cl/producto_resumen2.asp?id=2051 |archive-date=2007-09-29 |url-status=dead}}

| location = Chile

| range = Andes

| coordinates = {{Coord|23|40|25|S|67|42|58|W|type:mountain_region:CL_source:NGA|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref = {{cite web |url=http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/cntry_files.html |title=National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504031911/http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/cntry_files.html |archive-date=2012-05-04}}

| easiest_route =

| last_eruption = Pleistocene{{Cite GVP |vn=355853 |name=Miscanti}}

}}

Cerro Miscanti (also known as Ipira{{cite report |last=Riso Patrón |first=Luis |page=557 |year=1924 |url=https://bibliotecadigital.ciren.cl/items/fe08a997-05b2-484b-b6f9-ca21ae3144c5 |format=PDF |publisher=Universitaria |title=Diccionario Jeográfico de Chile. |access-date=2021-10-07 }}) is a mountain of volcanic origin located in the Antofagasta Region of Chile, immediately south of Chiliques and north of Miñiques. It towers over Laguna Miscanti. Rock samples from Cerro Miscanti are of andesitic composition,{{Cite book |last1=Harmon |first1=R. S. |last2=Hoefs |first2=J. |title=Andean Magmatism |chapter=Oxygen Isotope Ratios in Late Cenozoic Andean Volcanics |date=1984 |page=13 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4684-7335-3_2 |language=en |isbn=978-1-4684-7337-7}} but andesite-containing dacites have also been found.{{cite journal |last1=MATTHEWS |first1=S. J. |last2=JONES |first2=A. P. |last3=GARDEWEG |first3=M. C. |title=Lascar Volcano, Northern Chile; Evidence for Steady-State Disequilibrium |journal=Journal of Petrology |date=1 April 1994 |volume=35 |issue=2 |page=429 |doi=10.1093/petrology/35.2.401 |bibcode=1994JPet...35..401M |url=https://academic.oup.com/petrology/article/35/2/401/1484187 |language=en |issn=0022-3530 |access-date=25 February 2018 |archive-date=16 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016172520/https://academic.oup.com/petrology/article/35/2/401/1484187 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}

The edifice covers an area of {{convert|38|km2}} and bears traces of a westward collapse, which exposed the internal sector of the volcano. A new volcano grew inside the collapse scar. Miscanti may be either extinct or may have erupted in the Pleistocene-Holocene. Renewed eruptions are likely to consist of lava flows, which could impact the northern shores of Laguna Miscanti.{{cite report |language=es |url=https://biblioteca.sernageomin.cl/opac/datafiles/CGCH_GAMB_17_TextoyMapa.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629145638/https://biblioteca.sernageomin.cl/opac/datafiles/CGCH_GAMB_17_TextoyMapa.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 29, 2021 |access-date=20 August 2021 |issn=0717-7305 |publisher=SERVICIO NACIONAL DE GEOLOGÍA Y MINERÍA |title=Peligros volcánicos de la Zona Norte de Chile |first1=Álvaro R. |last1=Amigo |first2=Daniel U. |last2=Bertin |first3=Gabriel L. |last3=Orozco |year=2012 |series=Carta geológica de Chile: Serie Geología Ambiental |volume=17 |page=19}}

An Inka sanctuary has been reported from Cerro Miscanti.{{cite web |title=QHAPAQ ÑAN El Sistema Vial Andino y los Incas en el Norte de Chile |url=http://www.monumentos.gob.cl/sites/default/files/articles-55450_doc_pdf.pdf |website=Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales de Chile |access-date=6 October 2021 |page=122 |language=es |archive-date=7 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007024942/https://www.monumentos.gob.cl/sites/default/files/articles-55450_doc_pdf.pdf |url-status=live }}