Sairecabur is part of the Andean Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ). A number of stratovolcanoes can be found in the area, many of which were affected by explosive eruptions that have destroyed parts of their edifices. Effusion of large amounts of lava took place from several cones. Many volcanoes are extinct and only a few have documented activity. The geologist Juan Brüggen in 1950 estimated that there were about 800 volcanoes in northern Chile, about 37 of them east of the Salar de Atacama. Also part of the volcanism are large ignimbrites, which are usually thought to be of Miocene age. Those in the area of Sairecabur often originated in the neighbourhood to the conical volcanoes. The volcanoes formed over crust with thicknesses reaching , thus the erupted magmas are heavily influenced by the crust. A number of the highest stratovolcanoes in the world are in the CVZ. Historical activity has been low in comparison to the volcanic zones of southern Chile and Colombia/Ecuador. In Chile, much of the area of the CVZ is desertic and thus difficult to research.