Lava en el Entorno de la Cueva de Los Vientos

Cueva del Viento ("Wind Cave") is the largest

lava tube A lava tube, or pyroduct, is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava from a volcanic vent that moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. If lava in the tube empties, it will leave a cave. Formation A lava tube is a type of lava ca ...

system in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and the sixth largest in the world, behind a series of lava tubes in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. It is also considered the most complex volcanic tube in the world, due to its morphology of several levels and passages. It was created by lava flows from

Pico Viejo Pico Viejo is a volcano located on the island of Tenerife in Canary Islands, Spain. It is the second highest peak of Tenerife and the Canary Islands (after the Teide), with a height of 3,135 m above sea level, and a huge crater approximately 720 m ...

, next to Mount

Teide Teide, or Mount Teide, ( es, El Teide, Pico del Teide, , "Peak of Teide") is a volcano on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Spain. Its summit (at ) is the highest point in Spain and the highest point above sea level in the List of islands in th ...

. The cave is located in the town of

Icod de los Vinos Icod de los Vinos is a municipality in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands (Spain), located in the northwestern part of the island. Inhabitants of Icod are known in Spanish as ''"icodenses"''. ...

in the north of the island of

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It extends more than and contains three different levels of passageways, each full of geomorphological phenomena such as lava pits and terraces. The cave is rich in

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s of the " Canarian megafauna". Bones of ''

Gallotia goliath ''Gallotia goliath'' (the Tenerife giant lizard or goliath Tenerife lizard) is an extinct giant lizard species from the island of Tenerife of the Canary Islands, Spain. This reptile lived before the arrival of humans and is believed to have g ...

'' and ''

Canariomys bravoi The Tenerife giant rat (''Canariomys bravoi'') is an extinct species of rodent endemic to the island of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, Spain. Many remains have been found during archeological digs. Most remains are from the Pleistoc ...

'', an extinct giant lizard and rat, respectively, have been discovered here. Archaeological remains belonging to the

Guanches The Guanches were the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean some west of Africa. It is believed that they may have arrived on the archipelago some time in the first millennium BCE. The Guanches were the only nativ ...

, the ancient Berber native inhabitants of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, were found in several entries to the tube system. At present, the Cueva del Viento is a tourist attraction of the island.

References

External links

Cueva del Viento, Official Website
{{Coord, 28, 20, 48, N, 16, 43, 20, W, region:ES-TF_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Show caves in Spain Viento Lava tubes Geography of Tenerife Tourist attractions in Tenerife Viento Volcanism of the Canary Islands

See also

References

External links