Week 4 - Volcanoes - Taylor Mills

Despite my fear of being swept away by lava, my boyfriend and I decided to take a vacation to the Canary Islands in Spain.  During our trip, we chose to explore Mount Teide located on the island of Tenerife.  Upon arrival, I explained to my boyfriend that Mt. Teide, as shown in Figure 1, is a stratovolcano, or composite volcano, that was formed by successive eruptions that piled up various layers of viscous lava flows and rock fragments.  During our exploration, a local informed us that Mt. Teide is capped by the Las Cañadas caldera which was caused by the collapse of the former volcano edifice.  Built upon a base of basalt and basanite igneous rocks, Mt. Teide is located on the Canary Islands and was developed by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago.  While its formation is widely debated, the local stated that it is widely assumed that the islands originated from residual old plume material in the upper mantle and was induced by the motion of the African tectonic plate.  Luckily, the local told us even more and said that her grandmother witnessed its last eruption in 1909!  Mt. Teide apparently produced a lava flow that caused some damage to her town of Santiago del Teide as well as to neighboring villages.  Lava flowed for ten days as she feared for her life, but from the way the local described it, it seems as if the eruption could be characterized as quiescent, or effusive, as the fluid lava simply poured out of the volcano.  And, though Mt. Teide's possibility for eruption is highly debated, the belief that it will most likely violently erupt in the future seems to be a worry for the local since the "when" is unknown.  Though, I reassured her that because of its volcanic origin and past, Tenerife is continuously monitored and currently described as a quiescent, or inactive/dormant, volcano because of its quiet seismic period.  Once the local left, I decided to explain to my boyfriend the kinds of volcanic hazards that would be associated with Mt. Teide.  I told him that it is assumed by researchers that the volcano would emit a future explosive basaltic eruption as well as a pyroclastic flow.  Because of this, a volcanic hazard would be the emission of volcanic gases and its effects on the respiratory health of its inhabitants and tourists.  Evident by the number of people also exploring, Mt. Teide is one of the most popular volcanoes in the world, so a loss of life might be inescapable.  While I really enjoyed my boyfriend and I's exploration, I fear for the dear local we met.  May she never experience an eruption like her sweet grandmother...

Figure 1: Mount Teide (McGrath, 2018).