Tixani

Tixani (hispanicized spelling Ticsani) is a volcano in the Andes of Peru, about 5,408 metres (17,743 ft) high. It is situated in the Moquegua Region, Mariscal Nieto Province, in the districts of Cuchumbaya and San Cristóbal. Tixani, Ubinas and Huaynaputina sit on a volcanic lineament slightly oblique to the main volcanic front, and Tixani and Huaynaputina are the product of discrete silicic eruptions and appear to share a geochemical source. The volcano is of dacitic composition and has been K-Ar dated to be 190000 years old. The volcano was constructed in several steps, starting from lava flows and volcaniclastics. This system collapsed westward leaving a 3 km (1.9 mi) long NW-SE ridge. In the middle Holocene, three andesitic lava domes formed with explosive eruptions. These were later overlaid with brown pumice and bombs from a later phreatomagmatic eruption. The activity of this system ended with the emplacement of the Tixani lava dome. One dacitic pumice fall of 0,4km³ has been dated ca 11600 yr BP.

Tixani was one of the volcanoes ascended in summer 1902 by Francisco Alayza Paz Soldan.

Recent activity

In May 1999, inhabitants of the neighbouring towns of Calacoa, Cuchumbaya and Carumas noticed earthquake swarms with the maximum strength magnitude 3.5 at a minimum depth of 50 kilometres (31 mi), raising fears of a reactivation of the volcanic system. Between November 2005 and September 2006 a swarm of earthquakes on the NE side was observed, resulting in surface deformation in the northwest sector of the volcano and subsidence in its southeast sector.