Laguna del Maule (volcano) 2017. The Chilean National Geology and Mining Service monitors the volcano. Laguna del Maule (volcano) Laguna del Maule is a volcanic field in the Andes mountain range of Chile, close to, and partly overlapping, the Chile-Argentina frontier. The bulk of the volcanic field is in the Talca province of Chile's Maule Region. It is a segment of the Southern Volcanic Zone, part of the Andean Volcanic Belt. Many of the volcanic centres in the Laguna del Maule volcanic field formed during postglacial times, after glaciers had retreated from the area. This activity has generated cones, lava domes, lava coulees and
Laguna del Maule (volcano) form the so-called Mariposa geothermal system discovered in 2009, whose temperature has been estimated on the basis of gas chemistry to be . One estimate puts the potential productivity of Laguna del Maule as an energy source at . Subduction of the eastern part of Nazca plate beneath the western margin of the South America Plate occurs at a rate of about , a process which is responsible for events such as the 1960 Valdivia earthquake and the 2010 Chile earthquake. This subduction process is responsible for the growth of the Chilean Andes and the volcanic and geothermal manifestations therein.