3D panoramic view of Mount Teide, created using
SRTM data (160% elevation).
This image from the summit of Teide shows clouds of
sulfur coming out of the volcano on the lower right hand side.
Mount Teide (Spanish: Pico del Teide, IPA: [ˈpiko ðel ˈteiðe], "Teide Peak") is a volcano on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Its 3,718-metre (12,198 ft)-high summit is the highest point in Spain, the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlantic, and it is the third highest volcano in the world measured from its base on the ocean floor (7.500 metre), after Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa located in Hawaii.[2] For this reason, Tenerife is the tenth highest island worldwide. It remains active, with its most recent eruption occurring in 1909 from the El Chinyero vent on the north western Santiago rift. The United Nations Committee for Disaster Mitigation designated Teide as a Decade Volcano,[3] because of its history of destructive eruptions and its proximity to several large towns, of which the closest are Garachico, Icod de los Vinos and Puerto de la Cruz. Teide together with its neighbour Pico Viejo and Montaña Blanca form the Central Volcanic Complex.
The volcano and its surroundings comprise the Teide National Park. The park has an area of 18,900 hectares (73 sq mi) and was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on June 29, 2007.[4] Is also one of the most visited National Parks in the world, with a total of 2.8 million visitors, according to the Instituto Canario de Estadística (ISTAC).[5][6]
El Pico del Teide (Peak of Teide) is the modern Spanish name attributed to the volcano. Prior to the 1495 Spanish colonization of Tenerife, the native Guanches referred to the volcano as Echeyde, which in the Guanches' legends, meant some sort of powerful figure leaving the volcano that could turn into hell.
Echeyde (Teide) was a sacred mountain to the aboriginal Guanches, so it was considered a mythological mountain, like Mount Olympus was to the ancient Greeks. According to legend, Guayota (the devil) kidnapped Magec (the god of light and the sun), and imprisoned him inside the volcano plunging the world into darkness. The Guanches asked their supreme god Achamán for clemency. So, Achamán fought Guayota, and Magec was freed from the bowels of Echeyde (Teide) and he plugged the crater with Guayota. It is said that since then, Guayota has remained locked inside Teide. When entering Teide during an eruption, it was customary for the Guanches to light bonfires to scare Guayota.
Guayota is often represented as a black dog, accompanied by his host of demons (Tibicenas).
The Guanches also believed that Echeyde (Teide) held up the sky. Many hiding places found in the mountains contain the remains of stone tools and pottery. These have been interpreted as being ritual deposits to counter the influence of evil spirits, similar to the practices of the Berbers of Kabylia. The Guanches believed the mountain to be the place that housed the forces of evil, the most evil figure Guayota.[7]
Satellite image of Tenerife with different volcanic massifs labeled.
Summary diagram for formation of Tenerife through to current Teide volcano.
The stratovolcanoes Teide and Pico Viejo are the most recent centres of activity on the volcanic island of Tenerife, which is the largest (2,058 square kilometres (795 sq mi)) and highest (3,718 m (12,198 ft)) island in the Canaries and which has a complex volcanic history. The formation of the island and development of the current Teide volcano can be summarised into five stages, as shown in the diagram to the right.
A recent study showed that in the future there will be violent eruptions at Teide also revealed that it has a structure similar to that of Vesuvius and Etna.[8]
Similar to the other Canary Islands, and volcanic ocean islands in general, the island of Tenerife was built by accretion of three large shield volcanoes, which developed in a relatively short period of time.[9] This early shield stage volcanism formed the bulk of the emerged part of Tenerife. The shield volcanoes date back to the Miocene and early Pliocene[10] and are preserved in three isolated and deeply eroded massifs: Anaga (to the northeast), Teno (to the northwest) and Roque del Conde (to the south).[11] Each individual shield was apparently constructed in less than three million years and the entire island in about eight million years.[12]
The initial juvenile stage was followed by a period of 2-3 million years of eruptive quiescence and erosion. This cessation of activity is typical of the Canaries; for example, La Gomera is currently in this erosional stage.[13] After this period of quiescence the volcanic activity became concentrated within two large edifices; the central volcano of Las Cañadas and the Anaga massif. The Las Cañadas volcano developed over the Miocene shield volcanoes and may have reached 40 km (25 mi) in diameter and a height of 4,500 m (14,800 ft).[14]
Around 160-220 thousand years ago the summit of the Las Cañadas I volcano collapsed, creating the Las Cañadas (Ucanca) caldera.[12] Later a fresh stratovolcano - Las Cañadas II - re-formed and underwent catastrophic collapse. Detailed mapping indicates that the site of this volcano was in the vicinity of Guajara. The Las Cañadas III volcano formed in the Diego Hernandez sector of the caldera. Detailed mapping indicates that all the Las Cañadas volcanoes attained a maximum altitude similar to that of Teide - which is also referred to as the Las Cañadas IV volcano
Two theories on the formation of the 16 × 9 km (9.9 × 5.6 mi) caldera exist.[15]
The first theory states that the depression is the result of a vertical collapse of the volcano. The collapse being triggered by the emptying of shallow (at or about sea level) magma chambers under the Las Cañadas volcano after large-volume explosive eruptions.[12][16][17]
The second theory is that the caldera was formed by a series of lateral gravitational collapses, similar to those described in Hawaii.[18] Evidence for the later theory has been found in both onshore observations[19][20][21] and marine geology studies.[12][22]
Teide is currently dormant; the last eruption occurred in 1909 from the El Chinyero vent. Historical volcanic activity on the island is associated with vents on the Santiago or northwest rift (Boca Cangrejo 1492, Montañas Negras 1706, Narices del Teide or Chahorra 1798 and El Chinyero 1909) and the Cordillera Dorsal or northeast rift (Fasnia in 1704, Siete Fuentes and Arafo and 1705). The 1706 eruption from the Montañas Negras vent on the Santiago rift destroyed the town and principal port of Garachico, plus several smaller villages.
Historical activity associated with the Montaña Teide - Pico Viejo stratovolcanoes occurred in 1798 from the Narices del Teide on the western flank of Pico Viejo. Eruptive material from Pico Viejo-Montaña Teide-Montaña Blanca partially fills the Las Cañadas caldera.[11] The last explosive eruption involving the central volcanic centre was from Montaña Blanca ~2000 BP. The last eruption within the Las Cañadas caldera occurred in 1798 from the Narices del Teide or Chahorra (Teides Nostrils) on the western flank of Pico Viejo (Old Peak - which is actually younger than Teide). The eruption was predominantly strombolian in style and mostly ʻAʻā lava was erupted. These lavas are visible alongside the Vilaflor - Chio road.
The explorer Christopher Columbus reported seeing "... A great fire in the Orotava Valley...," as he sailed past Tenerife on his voyage to discover the New World in 1492. This was interpreted as indicating that he had witnessed an eruption in the Orotava Valley. Radiometric dating of possible lavas has shown that no eruption occurred in the Orotava Valley, but indicates that an eruption did occur in 1492 from the Boca Cangrejo vent.[12]
Panorama viewed from Roques de García.
About 150,000 years ago, a much larger explosive eruption occurred, probably of Volcanic Explosivity Index 5. This eruption created the Las Cañadas caldera, a large caldera, at about 2,000 m above sea level. The caldera is ~16 km (9.9 mi) across east-west and ~9 km (5.6 mi) north-south. At Guajara, on the south side of the structure, the internal walls rise as almost sheer cliffs from 2,100 m (6,900 ft) to 2,715 m (8,907 ft). The 3,718 m (12,198 ft) summit of Teide itself, and its sister stratovolcano, Pico Viejo (3,134 m (10,282 ft)), are both situated in the northern half of the caldera, and are derived from eruptions subsequent to this prehistoric explosion.
Future eruptions may include pyroclastic flows and surges similar to those that occurred at Mount Pelée, Merapi, Mount Vesuvius, Etna, Soufrière Hills, Mount Unzen, etc. During 2003, there was an increase in seismic activity at the volcano. Such activity may be indicative of magma rising into the edifice, but is not always a precursor to an eruption.
Teide is considered to be unstable and has a distinctive bulge on its northern flank. This bulge is not believed to be associated with an influx of magma, but the result of a slow northwards collapse of the edifice. Seismic evidence suggests that Teide may be constructed over the headwall scarp of the infilled Icod Valley, a massive landslide valley formed by edifice failure in a similar manner to that of the Güímar and Orotava Valleys. The summit of the volcano has a number of small active fumaroles emitting sulfur dioxide and other gases including low levels of hydrogen sulfide.
The first known ascent of Mount Teide by a European was in 1646 or 1650 by the Englishmen Philips Ward, John Webber, John Cowling, Thomas Bridges, George Cove and a friend named Clappham. In 1715 the English traveler J. Edens and his party made the ascent and reported their observations in the journal of the Royal Society in London.[23]
After the Enlightenment, most of the expeditions that went to East Africa and the Pacific had Teide as one of the most rewarding targets. The expedition of Lord George Macartney, George Staunton and John Barrow in 1792 was about to end in tragedy, as a major snowstorm and rain swept over them, could not reach the peak of the mountain, not really reached beyond Montaña Blanca (Mountain White).[23][clarification needed]
With Romanticism, Teide exhibited a set of natural beauty so unique that it became a hot spot for centuries above.[23][clarification needed]
The German adventurer Hans Heinrich Joseph Meyer visited Teide in 1894, during an expedition to Kilimanjaro to observe ice conditions of the volcano. After the climb to Teide, Meyer compared with it to Kilimanjaro, calling them "two kings, one rising in the ocean and the other in the desert and steppes".[23]
Between June and July 2008, the Guatemalan climber Jaime Viñals in a special issue "bonded" Mount Ararat (Turkey) with the Teide, in an ascent to each of these two peaks in a span of less than a month. Conquering the first summit of Ararat on June 24 and immediately after coming to Tenerife to climb Mount Teide crowning on 8 July. With the conquest of these summits, peaks was 21 achieved the international list of "50 most prominent summits in the world".[24][25][clarification needed]
Southern Tenerife Lizard (Gallotia galloti galloti).
The lava flows on the flanks of Teide weather to a very thin, but nutrient and mineral rich soil that supports a diverse number of plant species. Vascular flora consists of 168 plant species, 33 of which are endemic to Tenerife.[26]
Forests of Canary Island Pine (Pinus canariensis) occur from 1,000–2,100 metres (3,300–6,900 ft), covering the middle slopes of the volcano, and having an alpine timberline 1,000 m (3,300 ft) lower than that of continental mountains of similar latitude.[clarification needed][27] At higher altitudes, the Las Cañadas caldera provides sufficient shelter for more fragile species such as the Canary Island cedar (Juniperus cedrus), and the Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis)[clarification needed] to grow.[28]
The Teide National Park has several endemic plant species including the Teide white broom (Spartocytisus supranubius) (Fabaceae), which has white flowers; a shrubby crucifer Descurainia bourgaeana with yellow flowers, the Canary Island wallflower (Erysimum scoparium) (Brassicaceae), which has violet flowers; and the Teide bugloss (Echium wildpretii) (Boraginaceae), whose red flowers form a pyramid up to 3 m (9.8 ft) in height.[29] The Teide Daisy (Argyranthemum teneriffae) can be found at altitudes close to 3,600 m (11,800 ft) above sea level. The Teide Violet (Viola cheiranthifolia) can be found right up to the summit of the volcano, making it the highest flowering plant in Spain.[30]
These plants are adapted to the tough environmental conditions on the volcano such as high altitude, intense sunlight, extreme temperature variations, and lack of moisture. Adaptations include acquiring semi-spherical forms, acquiring a downy or waxy cover, reducing the exposed leaf area, and having a high flower production.[28][31] Flowering takes place in the late spring or early summer, in the months of May and June.[26]
Teide National Park contains a huge range of invertebrate fauna, over 40% of which are endemic species, with 70 species only being found in the National Park. The invertebrate fauna include spiders, beetles, dipterans, hemipterans, and hymenopterae.[32]
In contrast, Teide National Park has only a limited variety of vertebrate fauna.[33] Ten species of bird nest in the park. These include the blue chaffinch (Fringilla teydea teydea); Berthelot’s pipit (Anthus berthelotii berthelotii); the wild canary (Serinus canaria); and a subspecies of kestrel (Falco tinnunculus canariensis).[34][35]
Three endemic reptile species are also found in the park – the Canary Island lizard (Gallotia galloti galloti), the Canary Island wall gecko (Tarentola delalandii), and the Canary Island skink (Chalcides viridanus viridanus).[33][36] The only mammals native to the park are bats, the most common species of which is Leisler’s bat (Nycatalus leisleri). Other mammals such as the mouflon, the rabbit, the house mouse, the black rat, the feral cat, and the Algerian Hedgehog have all been introduced to the park.[37]
The similarity between environmental conditions and geological Teide National Park and the planet Mars make it a volcanic reference point for studies related to the red planet.[38][clarification needed]
The analogies between the red planet and parts of Tenerife make the island the ideal place for testing instruments that will travel to Mars and reveal past or present life on Mars. In 2010 a research team tested the Raman instrument at Las Cañadas del Teide, which will be sent in the next expedition to Mars ESA-NASA ExoMars in 2016-2018.[38]
In 2011 a team of United Kingdom researchers visited the park in June to test a method for finding life on Mars and finding places to test new robotic vehicles in 2012.[39]
The volcano and its surroundings, including the whole of the Las Cañadas caldera, are protected in a national park, the Parque Nacional del Teide. Access is by a public road running across the caldera from northeast to southwest. The public bus service TITSA runs a once per day return service to Teide from both Puerto de la Cruz and Playa de las Americas. A parador (hotel) is also within the National Park along with a small chapel. The Teleférico cable car goes from the roadside at 2,356 m (7,730 ft) most of the way to the summit, reaching 3,555 m (11,663 ft). Each car carries 38 passengers (34 in high wind) and takes 8 minutes to reach the summit. In peak season, queues can exceed two hours. Access to the summit itself is restricted; a free permit (obtainable from the Park office in Santa Cruz, Calle Emilio Calzadilla, 5 - 4th floor) is required to climb the last 200 m (660 ft). Numbers are normally restricted to 150 per day.
Due to the altitude, oxygen levels are lower than at sea level. This can cause people with heart or pulmonary conditions to become light headed, dizzy, develop mountain sickness and in extreme cases unconsciousness. The only treatment is to return to lower altitudes and acclimatise.
Coat of arms of the island of Tenerife, the Teide in the center.
Teide is the main symbol of the island of Tenerife and the most emblematic natural monument of the Canary Islands. The image of Teide appears in the middle coat of arms of the island of Tenerife spitting fire on the volcano appears St. Michael (patron saint of Tenerife).[clarification needed] Moreover, its image has been widely represented throughout history, from the earliest engravings made by European conquerors, even in typical Canarian crafts objects, on the back of the notes of one thousand Spanish pesetas, current oil paintings and postcards.
As with other major natural monuments (such as Uluru in Australia), Teide, due to its composition, (when there is no snow) changes its color and appearance depending on the angle of sunlight.[40] Highlights the deep red sunset and different shades that acquired during the day (beige, gray and even blue among others).[clarification needed]
The Lunar mountain, Mons Pico, part of the Montes Teneriffe lunar mountain range, situated in the inner ring of the lunar mare Imbrium, was named after this 18th-century version of the name by Johann Schröter.[7][41][clarification needed]
-
Teide from Llano de Ucanca
-
-
Teide from Llano de Ucanca
-
The snow-capped summit of Teide in December 2004
-
Snow-capped Teide from the north, March 2006
-
-
The small church at the foot of the Mountain
-
-
Teide from Cañada de los Guancheros at 2050 msnm
-
- ^ a b c "Europe: Atlantic Islands - Ultra Pominences" on peaklist.org as "Pico de Teide". Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- ^ Parque Nacional del Teide en todo sobre España
- ^ http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/DecadeVolcanoes/ Decade Volcanoes - USGS
- ^ "Teide National Park". World Heritage List. UNESCO. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1258. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
- ^ El Teide (Tenerife) es el parque nacional más visitado de Canarias con 2,8 millones de visitantes en 2008
- ^ Official Website of Tenerife Tourism Corporation
- ^ a b Sheehan, William & Baum, Richard, Observation and inference: Johann Hieronymous Schroeter, 1745–1816, JBAA 105 (1995), 171
- ^ Un estudio prevé que el Teide sufriría erupciones violentas (La Opinión.es)
- ^ Guillou, H., Carracedo, J. C., Paris R. and Pérez Torrado, F.J., 2004a. K/Ar ages and magnetic stratigraphy of the Miocene-Pliocene shield volcanoes of Tenerife, Canary Islands: Implications for the early evolution of Tenerife and the Canarian Hotspot age progression. Earth & Planet. Sci. Letts., 222, 599-614.
- ^ Fúster, J.M., Araña, V., Brandle, J.L., Navarro, J.M., Alonso, U., Aparicio, A., 1968. Geology and volcanology of the Canary Islands: Tenerife. Instituto Lucas Mallada, CSIC, Madrid, 218 pp
- ^ a b Carracedo, Juan Carlos; Day, Simon (2002). Canary Islands (Classic Geology in Europe 4). Terra Publishing, 208 pp. ISBN 1-903544-07-6
- ^ a b c d e Carracedo, J. C., Rodríguez Badioloa, E., Guillou, H., Paterne, M., Scaillet, S., Pérez Torrado, F. J., Paris, R., Fra-Paleo, U., Hansen, A., 2007. "Eruptive and structural history of Teide Volcano and rift zones of Tenerife, Canary Islands." Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 119(9-10). 1027-1051
- ^ Paris, R, Guillou, H., Carracedo, JC and Perez Torrado, F.J., Volcanic and morphological evolution of La Gomera (Canary Islands), based on new K-Ar ages and magnetic stratigraphy:implications for oceanic island evolution, Journal of the Geological Society, May 2005, v.162; no.3; p.501-512
- ^ Carracedo, J.C., Pérez Torrado, F.J., Ancochea, E., Meco, J., Hernán, F., Cubas, C.R., Casillas, R., Rodríguez Badiola, E. and Ahijado, A., 2002. In: Cenozoic Volcanism II: the Canary Islands. The Geology of Spain (W. Gibbons and T. Moreno, eds), pp. 439–472. Geological Society, London
- ^ "Tenerife". Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution. http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1803-03-. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
- ^ Martí, J., Mitjavila, J., Araña, V., 1994. Stratigraphy, structure and geochronology of the Las Cañadas Caldera (Tenerife, Canary Islands). Geol. Mag. 131: 715-727
- ^ Martí. J. and Gudmudsson, A., 2000. The Las Cañadas caldera (Tenerife, Canary Islands): an overlapping collapse caldera generated by magma-chamber migration. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 103: 167-173
- ^ Moore, J. G., 1964. Giant submarine landslides on the Hawaiian Ridge. U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap., 501-D, D95-D98
- ^ Carracedo, J.C., 1994. The Canary Islands: an example of structural control on the growth of large oceanic island volcanoes. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 60: 225-242
- ^ Guillou, H., Carracedo, J.C., Pérez Torrado, F. and Rodríguez Badiola, E., 1996. K-Ar ages and magnetic stratigraphy of a hotspot-induced, fast grown oceanic island : El Hierro, Canary Islands. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 73: 141-155
- ^ Stillman, C.J., 1999. Giant Miocene Landslides and the evolution of Fuerteventura, Canary Islands J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 94, pp. 89–104
- ^ Masson, D.G., Watts, A.B., Gee, M.J.R., Urgelés, R., Mitchell, N.C., Le Bas, T.P., Canals, M., 2002. Slope failures on the flanks of the western Canaested in the embayment itself.
- ^ a b c d El Parque Nacional del Teide: Patrimonio Mundial de la Unesco
- ^ Exitosa expedición en Turquía y España, en la página web oficial de Jaime Viñals
- ^ Jaime Viñals escala Monte Ararat y Pico Teide
- ^ a b Dupont, Yoko L., Dennis M., Olesen, Jens M., Structure of a plant-flower-visitor network in the high altitude sub-alpine desert of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Ecography. 26(3), 2003, pp. 301–310.
- ^ Gieger, Thomas and Leuschner, Christoph, Altitudinal change in needle water relations of the Canary pine (Pinus Canariensis) and possible evidence of a drought-induced alpine timberline on Mt. Teide, Tenerife, Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants, 199(2), 2004, Pages 100-109y
- ^ a b J.M. Fernandez-Palacios, Climatic response of plant species on Tenerife, the Canary islands, J. Veg. Sci. 3, 1992, pp. 595–602
- ^ "Tenerife National Park - Flora". Tenerife Tourism Corporation. http://www.webtenerife.com/PortalTenerife/Home/Disfruta+sin+perderte+nada/Mas+sobre+Tenerife/Naturaleza/Espacios+naturales/Parque+Nacional+de+El+Teide/Flora+del+Teide.htm?Lang=en. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
- ^ J.M. Fernandez-Palacios and J.P de Nicolas, Altitudinal pattern of vegetation variation on Tenerife, J. Veg. Sci. 6, 1995, pp. 183–190
- ^ C. Leuschner, Timberline and alpine vegetation on the tropical and warm-temperate oceanic islands of the world: elevation, structure and floristics, Vegetatio 123, 1996, pp. 193–206.
- ^ "Tenerife National Park - Fauna". Tenerife Tourism Corporation. http://www.webtenerife.com/PortalTenerife/Home/Disfruta+sin+perderte+nada/Mas+sobre+Tenerife/Naturaleza/Espacios+naturales/Parque+Nacional+de+El+Teide/Fauna+del+Teide.htm?Lang=en. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
- ^ a b Thorpe, R.S., McGregor, D.P., Cumming, A.M., and Jordan, W.C., DNA evolution and colonisation sequence of island lizards in relation to geological history: MTDNA RFLP, cytochrome B, cytochrome oxidase, 123 RRNA sequence, and nuclear RAPD analysis, evolution, 48(2), 1994, pp. 230-240
- ^ Lack, D., and H.N. Southern. 1949. Birds of Tenerife. Ibis, 91:607-626
- ^ P.R. Grant, "Ecological compatibility of bird species on islands", Amer. Nat., 100(914) , 1966, pp. 451–462.
- ^ Lever, Christopher (2003). Naturalized Reptiles and Amphibians of the World (First ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-850771-0. .
- ^ Nogales, M., Rodríguez-Luengo, J.L. & Marrero, P. (2006) "Ecological effects and distribution of invasive non-native mammals on the Canary Islands" Mammal Review, 36, 49–65
- ^ a b Tenerife se convierte en un laboratorio marciano
- ^ Buscando "marcianos" en el Teide
- ^ Canarias, paredes y pirámides
- ^ Schroeter, Johann Hieronymous, Selenotopographische Fragmente sur genauern Kenntniss der Mondfläche [vol. 1]. -- Lilienthal: auf Kosten des Verfassers, 1791
.jpg)
.jpg)
