Mis fotos

      Once again, we can read a news about the volcano, which erupted, in the island of El Hierro, the last month of November 2011.

Image of the volcano in El Hierro, by satellite

La Restinga (El Hierro) and the volcanic underwater eruption, more light blue

        Yes, the geological origin of the Canary Islands is close to the model of Hawaii (USA), as the Canaries is not located in an area, where the plates collide; but in half of the African plate.

      This was revealed by a study by scientists, at centres in Sweden, Spain and Portugal, published in Scientific Reports, of the Nature group. It has studied the volcanic materials, that emerged to the surface of the sea, after the submarine volcanic eruption, on the island of El Hierro, in October 2011.

      And it is that nannofossils (microscopic fossils), which they contain, confirm that the islands were formed, from east to west. It is an enlightening data, on the origin and life cycle of oceanic islands, which has been discussed, since the beginning of geology, as Sync reports.

      "Our study confirms, at the first time, that underwater activity, that begins construction on the islands, follows the pattern of known age progression of subaerial volcanism --emerged part of the islands--, with older ages, in the east of the archipelago, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote; and younger, in the west, Hierro and La Palma”, said Vicente Soler, a researcher at Canary Volcanological Station (CSIC).

      "In the Canary Islands, a chain of islands was formed, as the oceanic plate was moved, over a deep magmatic fixed focus, as opposed to the theory, that attributes the origin of the archipelago to the regional tectonic, responsible, among other things, the formation of neighboring Atlas mountains of northern Morocco", said the scientist.

      Soler explains that these floating volcanic materials are colloquially known as restingolitas, while, in the scientific literature, they were baptized with the confusing name xenopumitas.

      "There is a scientific controversy about what the restingolitas are and their origin. The materials of interest, for this study, were collected, floating at sea, in the early days of the eruption and one week, after arrival at the coast", he adds.

      For small fossils they contain, they are attributed to the Cretaceous period, in full formation of the Atlantic ocean with America, which are separated from Europe and Africa, today.

      In the opinion of the researchers involved in this work, among which is also Valentin R. Troll, University of Uppsala, and Juan Carlos Carracedo, University of Las Palmas, these fragments would be bits of sediment preisland encompassed and 'reworked' by the magma column on its way to the surface, where the eruption occurred.

      "Furthermore, by its silica content, it seems to be a rhyolite rock, related to a type of potentially dangerous volcanic activity. But the existence of Nannofossils, within the restingolitas, is a strong argument, in favor of the first hypothesis", says Soler.

      In July 2011, on the island of El Hierro, the first signs of a possible volcanic eruption, in the form of low-intensity earthquakes, were perceived, but unusually numerous. The seismicity became increasingly intense, until October 10, 2011 ended with the beginning of the submarine eruption about 2 miles south of the town of La Restinga.

      Well, I hope that you have liked this post and you can come to our Canary Islands.

      Until my next post, kind regards,

Luis.

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