It is located in the province of Cotopaxi, near the city of Latacunga in Ecuador. It is a stratovolcano (compound volcano).
A stratovolcano is a cone-shaped volcano made of many layers of hardened lava and pyroclastic material emerging from its interior. The cone is made of pyroclastic material (boulders, stones, volcanic bombs, pumice, volcanic ash, dust). The stratovolcano's magma is characterized by relatively high viscosity and high silica content. It does not spread widely; it solidifies quickly, building subsequent layers (strata), hence the name of this type of volcano. Stratovolcanoes are characterized by a large slope angle.
Stratovolcanoes include Cotopaxi in Ecuador, Etna, Vesuvius, and Stromboli in Italy, Teide in Tenerife, Erebus in Antarctica, Hekla in Iceland.
