The dome has been uplifting for the past 400,000 years and features three recent volcanoes, Lastarria, Cordón del Azufre and Cerro Bayo Complex.

The Lazufre uplift is in the Western Cordillera[2] of the southern central Andes,[3] on the border between Argentina (Catamarca Province[4]) and Chile[5] at about 4,300 metres (14,100 ft) elevation.

[9] Cerro Bayo,[10] Lastarria and Cordón del Azufre are complex volcanoes consisting of craters, lava flows and individual cones.

Cordón del Azufre has produced young-looking lava flows,[5] Lastarria is one of the most fumarolically active volcanoes in the region[11] and a steam explosion was observed at Cerro Bayo in 2007.

[9] The uplifting area coincides with a 70-kilometre (43 mi) long and 500-metre (1,600 ft) high raised dome with a central depression,[12] surrounded by a ring of Quaternary volcanoes[13] that may share a common magma reservoir[14] and were fed through a network of radial and circumferential lineaments.

[15] Among these are the Corrida de Cori-Cerro Escorial, Rio Grande northeast, Chuta southwest, Atalaya and Azufre west and Pirámide northwest of the centre of the uplift.

[18] Off the coast of South America, the Nazca Plate subducts at a rate of 7 centimetres per year (2.8 in/year) into the Peru-Chile Trench.

[29] About 120 cubic kilometres (29 cu mi) of volcanic rocks have been emplaced there since the Pliocene,[30] with activity migrating northwest to the Lazufre area over time.

[36] The environment at Lazufre is characterized by an arid climate,[37] large temperature differences between day-night and summer-winter, high insolation, dry air and intense winds.

[41][42] The uplifting area is centered approximately between Lastarria and Cordón del Azufre,[30] with rates decreasing with distance from the centre.

[23] Between March 2003 and June 2005, the total uplift reached 57 ± 3 millimetres (2.24 ± 0.12 in),[45] implying a volume change of about 0.0139 ± 0.0003 cubic kilometres per year (0.0001057 ± 2.3×10−6 cu mi/Ms) during that time.

[51] Viewed from above, the source of the uplift has an elliptical shape,[52] striking north with a dip to the east,[42] and lies at 7–15 kilometres (4.3–9.3 mi) depth.

[54] Atmospheric and topographic effects can modify the appearance of the uplifted area to satellites and need to be corrected for when evaluating its shape and extent.

[18] Lastarria may constitute a "pressure valve" of the Lazufre system,[30] or be affected by changes in tectonic stress caused by the deeper source.

[67] A change in the gas composition at Lastarria between 2009 and 2012 may indicate that the fumaroles are increasingly influenced by magma[68] at shallow depths.

[70] The ongoing uplift has drawn scientific attention to the Lazufre volcanoes,[58] and may herald renewed volcanic activity.