Payún Matrú volcano, Altiplano de Payún Matrú, Agua Escondida District, Malargüe Department, Mendoza Province, Argentinai

Regional Level Types
Payún Matrú volcano	Shield Volcano
Altiplano de Payún Matrú	Plateau
Agua Escondida District	District
Malargüe Department	Department
Mendoza Province	Province
Argentina	Country

Payún Matrú is a shield volcano in the Reserva Provincial La Payunia of the Malargüe Department, south of the Mendoza Province in Argentina. It lies in the back-arc region of the Andean Volcanic Belt and was formed by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate. Payún Matrú, along with the Llancanelo, Nevado and Salado Basin volcanic fields, form the Payenia province. It has been proposed as a World Heritage Site since 2011.

Payún Matrú developed on sediment and volcanic rocks ageing from the Mesoproterozoic to the Tertiary periods. It consists of a large shield volcano capped by a caldera, formed during a major eruption between 168,000 and 82,000 years ago, a high compound volcano (known as Payun or Payun Liso), and two groups of scoria cones and lava flows. The Pleistocene Pampas Onduladas lava flow reaches a length of 167–181 km (104–112 mi) and is the world's longest Quaternary lava flow.

Volcanic activity at Payún Matrú commenced during the Plio-Pleistocene period and generated lava fields such as Pampas Onduladas, the Payún Matrú shield volcano and the Payun volcano. After the formation of the caldera, volcanism continued both within the caldera as lava domes and flows, and outside of it with the formation of scoria cones and lava flows east and especially west of Payún Matrú. Volcanic activity continued into the Holocene until about 515 years ago; the oral tradition of local inhabitants contains references to earlier eruptions.

Located in a National Park (collecting strictly prohibited!), just north of the Colorado River (and therefore just outside the formal border of the vast region known as Patagonia) in southern Mendoza.

Famous for giant crystals of hematite pseudomorphs after magnetite, of volcanic fumarole origin.

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay%C3%BAn_Matr%C3%BA
Wikidata ID:	Q2749256

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