Cerro Bravo is a stratovolcano

Stratovolcano

A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions...

 located in Tolima Department, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, north of the Nevado del Ruiz

Nevado del Ruiz

The Nevado del Ruiz, also known as La Mesa de Herveo or Kumanday in the language of the local pre-Columbian indigenous people, is a volcano located on the border of the departments of Caldas and Tolima in Colombia, about west of the capital city Bogotá. It is a stratovolcano, composed of many...

 volcano.

Eruptive history

As with many volcanoes in the region, Bravo's eruptions are often characterized by a central vent (caldera) eruption, followed by an explosive eruption and pyroclastic flow

Pyroclastic flow

A pyroclastic flow is a fast-moving current of superheated gas and rock , which reaches speeds moving away from a volcano of up to 700 km/h . The flows normally hug the ground and travel downhill, or spread laterally under gravity...

s. However, it is unique in the fact that its eruption have also produced lava dome

Lava dome

|250px|thumb|right|Image of the [[rhyolitic]] lava dome of [[Chaitén Volcano]] during its 2008–2009 eruption.In volcanology, a lava dome is a roughly circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano...

s in its caldera. Such eruptions occurred in 1720 ± 150 years, 1050 ± 75 years, and 750 AD ± 150 years (through radiocarbon dating

Radiocarbon dating

Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...

). Eruptions consisting of just a central vent eruption and subsequent explosive eruption took place in 1330 ± 75 years, 1310 BC ± 150 years, 1050 BC ± 200 years and 4280 BC ± 150 years.