Antofagasta de la Sierra is a volcanic field

Volcanic field

A volcanic field is an area of the Earth's crust that is prone to localized volcanic activity. They usually contain 10 to 100 volcanoes, such as cinder cones and are usually in clusters. Lava flows may also occur...

 in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. The main type of volcanic edifice in the area are scoria cones

Cinder cone

According to the , Cinder Cone is the proper name of 1 cinder cone in Canada and 7 cinder cones in the United States:In Canada: Cinder Cone In the United States:...

. The area contains the youngest vents in the whole of the Puna

Puna

Puna may refer to:* Puna grassland, a type of grassland in the central part of the high Andes* Puna , the king of Hiti-marama or of Vavau in the Tuamotu legend of Rata* Puna , a type of wind in the Andes...

 region of Argentina. It is considered by many authors that the cones in the field are only a few thousand years old, thus putting them firmly into the Holocene

Holocene

The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...

 period. The field lies between the Salar de Antofalla volcanic field and the Cerro Galan caldera

Caldera

A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...

. The caldera lies west of Antofagasta de la Sierra and the other volcanic field to the east. The other prominent volcanic feature of the region, the peak Beltran, lies to the south-west of the field.