Jotabeche is located at the southern end of the Maricunga belt, which was active starting from the Oligocene until the Pliocene. The formation of this volcanic belt was influenced by the changes in the subduction of the Nazca plate, which included the shallowing of the subducting plate and the formation of the Puna plateau. Jotabeche, belonging to the fourth stage of Maricunga belt activity after the third stage of Copiapo, is the youngest eruption of the Maricunga belt, whose activity ended with the Jotabeche caldera forming eruption. Volcanism afterwards shifted eastwards. Jotabeche is one of the largest volcanoes in the Maricunga belt. Volcanic activity at Jotabeche is coeval with the last mineralization phase of the Vallecito system in the El Indio belt.