Читать книгу Walking on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. Including sections of the GR131 long-distance trail онлайн

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Lanzarote and Fuerteventura were the first Canary Islands to form, and were subsequently pulled eastwards. The next time a rift opened, the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife were formed, and these were in turn pulled eastwards. A further oceanic rift led to the formation of La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro. Looking forward in geological time more islands will appear as the rift is torn open in the future.

Many recent lava flows display a ‘ropey’ surface, showing exactly how the molten rock solidified

The forces at work deep within the Earth can scarcely be imagined. Every single piece of rock throughout the Canary Islands once existed in a molten state. Consider the energy needed to melt one small stone, and multiply that to imagine the energy required to melt everything in the island chain, as well as the immense amount of rock beneath the sea that supports them all!

Over time huge amounts of volcanic material were piled high, but erosion has led to great instability. During recent geological time, vast chunks of the islands collapsed into the sea, creating features such as El Golfo on El Hierro, the Caldera de Taburiente on La Palma, and the Orotava valley on Tenerife. With each catastrophic collapse, tsunamis devastated places around the Atlantic Ocean. Geologists predict that similar collapses could occur in the future on the Cumbre Nueva on La Palma, or the north face of El Teide on Tenerife.