The inactive
stratovolcano Chimborazo (pronounced
[t?imbo'raso]) is
Ecuador's highest summit. Its last eruption is thought to have occurred some time in the first millennium AD. Its summit is generally regarded as the spot on the surface farthest from the center of the Earth, measuring 6,384.4 km (3,968 mi) from the Earth's core to the peak.
Chimborazo is located in the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes of central Ecuador, 150 km (93 mi) south-southwest of the capital Quito. It's neighbored by 5,018 m high Carihuairazo. Chimborazo's majestic summit rises 2,500 m above the surrounding highlands (~3,500 to 4,000 m) with a ~20 km wide base. Under clear conditions the summit of Chimborazo can be seen from the coastal city Guayaquil. The nearest cities are Riobamba (~30km to the southeast), Ambato (~30km to the northeast) and Guaranda (~25km to the southwest).Chimborazo is surrounded by the "Reserva de Produccion Faunistica Chimborazo" which forms a protected ecosystem to preserve the habitat for the andes native camelids Vicuña, Llama and Alpaca.
The top of Chimborazo is completely covered by glaciers with some north-eastern glacier arms flowing down to 4,600 m. Its glacier is the source of water for the population of the Bolivar and Chimborazo provinces of Ecuador. Chimborazo glacier's ice mass has decreased over the past decades due to the combined influences of global warming, ash covers from recent volcanic activity[4] of Tungurahua (Schotterer et al 2003) and the El Niño phenomenon (Chaffaut & Guillaume 2004, [1]).
As on other glaciated Ecuadorian mountains, Chimborazo's glacial ice is mined by locals (the so called Hieleros from span. Hielo for Ice) to be sold in the markets of Guaranda and Riobamba. In earlier days the ice was transported down to coastal towns like Babahoyo or Vinces (Borja 2004).
