Which geyser field in Chile is the highest in the world?
Answer
El Tatio
The highest geyser field in the world is El Tatio, a geothermal field in northern Chile’s Andes.
El Tatio sits at roughly 4,320 meters above sea level, making it one of the planet’s highest geothermal areas. It contains geysers, fumaroles, hot springs, mud pots, steaming ground, and mineral-rich silica deposits. The name is often interpreted as meaning “oven” or “grandfather,” though its exact origin is debated.
El Tatio is the largest geyser field in the Southern Hemisphere and is commonly described as the world’s highest-altitude geyser field. Nearby Sol de Mañana in Bolivia is sometimes mentioned alongside it because the two geothermal areas lie in the same high Andean region, but Sol de Mañana is a separate field. El Tatio is also not the world’s largest geyser field by size: Yellowstone in the United States and Dolina Geizerov in Russia are larger.
The field is especially famous for its early-morning steam columns, when the cold air makes the geothermal activity most visible. Its hot waters eventually feed the Río Salado, a tributary of Chile’s Río Loa.