Caichinque

Caichinque is a relatively small Pleistocene-Holocene volcanic complex that forms a topographic high dividing Salar Capur from Salar Talar. More than a half-dozen vents produced andesitic-to-dacitic lava flows, with young flows descending to the NE and SE from the summit. One prominent flow traveled 6 km to the E, forming two lobes extending into the Salar Talar. The youthful morphology of the flows suggested a prehistorical age (González-Ferrán, 1995), but de Silva (2007 pers. comm.) considered the volcanic complex to perhaps be as old as late Pleistocene.