La Paz, Bolivia

April 3, 2011

Here I am, in South America, my first time here. I’m in La Paz, one of the Bolivian capitals, the highest capital in the world. The exact location of La Paz is at 16° 30’ S and 68° 08’ W. La Paz is located in one the valleys of the Andes Mountains.

The Andes are one of the world’s highest mountain ranges. They were formed by convergent subduction of the Nazca plate and the South American plate. The heavier Nazca plate forced the South American plate upwards and slid underneath it. As it slid downwards, it got closer to the earth’s core, which heated the plate until it started to melt. The melted plate bubbled upwards to the surface through the South American plate, creating a volcano. The Andes is made up of lots of volcanoes that were created like this.

A day or two’s drive from La Paz there are two volcanoes, Olca-Paruma, and Irruputuncu. The last time Olca-Paruma exploded was in 1967, and the last known eruption of Irruputuncu was in 1995. I am planning to go visit at least one of the two in the next day or two.



Mount Olca-Paruma: http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1505-05=&volpage=photos&photo=109079



Mount Irruputuncu: http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1505-04=&volpage=photos&photo=109077

The subduction boundary that created the volcanoes and makes them explode also causes earthquakes. Sometimes when the plates come together, one doesn’t slide under the other easily, and instead they bump against each other, creating an earthquake. About 200 miles north of La Paz there was an 8.2 earthquake in 1994. There was also a more recent 6.9 earthquake in the city of Potosi in 2005. Other than that, there have not been any major earthquakes in Bolivia in the recent past. This is most likely due to the fact that Bolivia is farther inland in South America, and therefore farther away from the subduction zone.

After a day of learning about volcanoes and earthquakes here in Bolivia, I went to La Casa de los Paceños for dinner. I had a delicious dish of “Sajta”; chicken in a spicy sauce. It was a bit too spicy for me, but other than that, I enjoyed my dinner greatly. I think I’ll go back tomorrow and try something less spicy.

J