GEOSITE

Bayo Hill (Cerro Bayo)

The Cerro Bayo dome is located approximately 10 kilometers west of the city of Chile Chico.
It is the most representative feature of the mining district of the same name, which has been exploited since the 1980s to the present day for the extraction of silver and gold. This activity has played a key role in driving the economy of the General Carrera Province.

A dome is a dome-shaped structure formed in one of the conduits or chimneys through which magma travels within a volcano, usually near its crater.

Facilitated by the aforementioned fault zones, the chimney of an ancient volcano transported large volumes of silica-rich magma. These magmas are highly viscous, flow very slowly, and thus, when extruded, solidified and accumulated on the flanks of the chimney, forming—through layering—the dome of rocks that makes up Cerro Bayo.

You can read more about this geosite in the book “Interactive and Inclusive Routes in Jeinimeni,” available here.