The Volcanological Station (Spanish Research Council) and the Department of Geology (University of La Laguna, Tenerife) reached an agreement to combine human and technical resources for the study and monitoring of volcanic activity. This agreement implies working as a team in the event of an eruptive crisis in the Archipelago. Space Shuttle photo STS059-0093-0072. Looking north along the axis of Fuerteventura.
A hazard map has been prepared for Lanzarote. The main volcanic hazards at present in the Archipelago seem to be related to active, structural rift-type zones (SRTZs), locally called "dorsales" ("ridges"). The study and geological and hazard mapping of the most active SRTZs in recent times in the Archipelago, the Cumbre Vieja ridge of La Palma, is in course.
In Tenerife, 5 seismic stations monitor Teide volcano. In the island of La Palma, a seismic station is located at the center of the North-South active rift (Cumbre Vieja ridge). Additional stations are located on the islands of Gran Canaria,
El Hierro and Lanzarote. Superficial temperatures are periodically measured at fixed points at thermal anomaly fields (Timanfaya, Lanzarote), fumaroles (crater of Teide, Tenerife). Underground temperatures are also periodically measured at accessible water galleries under Teide complex. A tiltmeter at the bottom of this bore-hole is used to measure deformation at the base of Teide. Periodic monitoring of temporal changes in the total geomagnetic field at fixed points is carried out using a magnetometer. The chemical and isotopic signatures of the volcanic gases from Canarian volcanoes are also measured.
Tenerife, La Palma and Lanzarote are the most volcanically active islands of the Canarian Archipelago, with 16 "historical" eruptions since the 15th century, the last in 1971. This basaltic fissure volcanism is closely related to active rift-type volcanic structures. In Tenerife, one of the most densely populated islands (over 600.000 inhabitants and more than two million visitors per year), a central salic volcanic complex (Teide-Pico Viejo) is also present, the last eruptive episode of which took place in the 15th century.
Pico del Teide is a Decade Volcano under a project which began as part of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR).
Contact information:
Volcanological Station of the Canary Islands Spanish Research Council P.O. Box 195 38206 La Laguna Tenerife (Canary Islands) Spain Telephone: (34)256847-48 Telefax: (34)260164 E-mail: evc@iac.es Scientist in charge: Juan Carlos Carracedo
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