Tupungato, one of the highest mountains in the Americas, is a massive Andean lava dome dating to Pleistocene times.

Tupungato Department, an important Argentine wine-producing region in Mendoza province, is named for the volcano.

[4] On 2 August 1947, the airliner Star Dust, an Avro Lancastrian carrying six passengers and five crew over the Andes range, crashed into a steep glacier high on the Argentine side of Tupungato.

The plane was quickly buried in the resulting avalanche and heavy snowfall that was taking place at the time.

Shortly thereafter, an Argentine army expedition discovered the scattered debris and wreckage, collecting some of the evidence for investigation.