Tunupa volcano, Dormant volcano in Potosí Department, Bolivia.

Tunupa is a dormant stratovolcano in the Potosí Department of southwestern Bolivia, forming a peninsula in the Salar de Uyuni, which surrounds it on the south. It rises about 1.8 km above the surrounding terrain to 5,321 m, and its eroded summit crater holds crags that are remnants of the old lava conduit. Most of the edifice was built by lava flows erupted 1.36–1.56 million years ago, with lava domes later emplaced on the eastern flank.

Tunupa is a dormant stratovolcano whose main edifice was built by lava flows erupted between about 1.56 and 1.36 million years ago; later lava domes were emplaced on its eastern flank. Argon-argon dating also yielded younger ages of 440,000 ± 40,000 years. During the Pleistocene, glaciers descended to 3,650–3,700 m, and the southern slopes preserve shorelines of former lakes Minchin and Tauca, when Tunupa was an island in Lake Tauca.

Tunupa takes its name from the Andean deity of thunder and lightning, and the mountain itself is regarded as an altar of that deity. The villages of Ayque, Coquesa and Jirira lie on its southern slopes, and a cave about halfway up holds several mummies.

The volcano is usually reached from small villages on its southern slopes, where dirt tracks end and the terrain gets steeper. The high altitude means that even fit visitors can feel the effects quickly, so extra layers and time to acclimatize are worth planning for.

Tunupa's summit is heavily hydrothermally altered, and its crater is degraded by erosion, leaving crags that are remnants of the old lava conduit. The southern slopes also preserve shorelines of former lakes such as Lake Minchin and Lake Tauca, with algal crusts, stromatolites and river deltas at these old lake levels.