Andagua volcanic field
mountain
The Andagua volcanic field (also known as Andahua) is a volcanic field in southern Peru which includes a number of cinder cones, lava domes and lava flows which have filled the Andagua Valley (which is also known as Valley of the Volcanoes for this reason). The volcanic field is part of a larger volcanic province that clusters around the Colca River and is mostly of Pleistocene age, although the Andagua sector also features volcanic cones with historical activity, with the last eruption about 370 years ago. Eruptions were mostly effusive, generating lava flows, cones and small eruption columns. Future eruptions are possible, and there is ongoing fumarolic activity. Volcanic activity in the field has flooded the Andahua valley with lava flows, damming local watersheds in the Laguna de Chachas, Laguna Mamacocha and Laguna Pumajallo lakes and burying the course of the Andagua River. The Andahua valley segment of the larger volcanic province was declared a geopark in 2015.
History and name
The volcanoes were first mentioned in a 1904 report but scientific investigation began by 1960; owing to the small size of Andagua volcanoes and their remote location they have not gained as much scientific interest as the large stratovolcanoes in the region. Eruptions have been dated on the basis of radiocarbon dating, potassium-argon dating and the morphology of the resulting vents as younger structures are steeper.
The term "Andagua volcanic field" has not been used consistently and sometimes the term "Andagua Group" or variants with "Andahua" are used, reflecting the older name of the town; the field is also known as Andagua-Orcopampa volcanic field. The term "Valley of the Volcanoes" is a reference to the volcanoes that fill the valley floor.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Andagua volcanic field” as mountain. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as mountain. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q489647. VIAF identifies the subject as 245921721. Authority coordinates are -15.257, -72.483. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2015, 1904 and 1960.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Andagua volcanic field”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Andagua volcanic field primary sources, Andagua volcanic field archive and Andagua research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Andagua volcanic field” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.