Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador

The glacier-capped summit of Ecuador's Cotopaxi volcano is truncated by two nested craters.

The outer crater, seen here from the SE, is 800 x 550 m wide.

A cone that grew inside this crater is cut by a smaller crater that is 250 m wide and 120 m deep.

Frequent explosive eruptions during historical time have modified the shape of the summit crater.

In 1903, prior to growth of a broad central cone, it was 450 m deep.

PHOTO SOURCE: Tom Simkin, courtesy of the Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, used with permission.

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