Malpaís de Güímar
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Malpaís de Güímar or Badlands of Guimar consist of a
volcanic cone Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and ...
, subsidiary cones, and several
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
ic
lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
flows in the Güímar municipality on 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 ...
, in the Canary Islands,
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 ...
. They total in area about 290 hectares. The lava flows are quite recent, with the typical aā type less than 10,000 years old. The large cone is called ''Montaña Grande'' (''Big Mountain'') and reaches a height of .


Geography

The Malpaís de Güímar were formed by a series of volcanic eruptions, the most recent and most evident occurring from fissures in the side of the Montaña Grande cone less than 10,000 years ago. Two peaks from former eruptions stand above the lava plain, ''Montaña de la Mar'' ("Mountain of the Sea") and ''Las Morras del Corcho'' ("Cork Bluff"). In addition to aa lava flows, there have been pyroclastic eruptions of ash and
volcanic bomb A volcanic bomb or lava bomb is a mass of partially molten rock (tephra) larger than 64 mm (2.5 inches) in diameter, formed when a volcano ejects viscous fragments of lava during an eruption. Because volcanic bombs cool after they l ...
s that formed the various cones. The crater of Montaña Grande is about 300 meters in diameter and about 50 meters deep. It has a certain asymmetry, being wider towards leeward due to the action of the wind during its period of formation. The shore line has eroded since the last eruptions, and beaches have formed in a few areas. In places lava tubes have been exposed. Notable is ''Cueva Honda'' ("Deep Cave"), which was formed by a large gas bubble within a lava tube.


Climate

There is little rainfall, and what does fall is quickly transported away from the surface by the volcanic soil. The area is washed by the
tradewinds The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisph ...
, and temperatures vary between a 17 °C average in January and 23 °C in August. In addition the area has a very high rate of days of sunshine, upwards of 2,500 hours per year. The relative humidity hovers around 70%.


Nature Reserve

In 1987, part of the Malpaís de Güímar was set aside as a protected park called the Reserva Natural del Malpaís de Güímar."Dictamen 219/2004" ''Consejo Consultivo de Canarias''
in Spanish In 1994, a new law reclassified the protected natural space of the Malpaís de Güímar as a Special Natural Reserve and established an Area of Ecological Sensitivity. In 2006, the rest of the undeveloped Malpaís de Güímar were included with the Reserve.


See also

* Malpaís


Notes


External links


Otazo, Pilar Lite and Castro, Enrique Coello. (13 August 2005) "Breve descripción de 'Espacio Natural Malpais de Güimar' "
Canarias website, Indymedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Malpais De Guimar Tenerife Mountains of the Canary Islands Protected areas of Tenerife Volcanic fields Malpaíses (landform) Volcanism of the Canary Islands Holocene volcanism