Costa del Fuego
Coast of fire. The Teide volcano of Tenerife reaches a height of 3700 m and can be seen from the Roque del Nublo of the neighboring island of Gran Canaria. 20 million years ago, the Canary Islands raised from the sea-floor as several distinct groups of volcanoes. Like the island chain of Hawaii, the Canary Islands formed from a Hot Spot Volcanism. Here, the ocean is up to 6500 m deep, giving the Teide volcano a total height of about 10.000 m. Hot Spot Volcanism develops, when convective streamers of magma punctually melts through the intra-plate oceanic crust. Due to the plate drift velocity up to 10 cm per year over the stationary Hot Spot, island chains develop during active phases of the intra plate volcanism. This is a still enduring process.
November 2003
Pentax K2, Pentax 24mm, f/11, 3sec, Kodak Ektachrome E6, ISO 100, polarization filter, tripod