Tejeda is a village and a municipality in the mountainous central part of the island of

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that ...

in the

province of Las Palmas The Province of Las Palmas (, ; es, Provincia de Las Palmas) is a province of Spain, consisting of the eastern part of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, capital city of this province and of the isla ...

in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...

Location

The village of Tejeda is situated north-west of the

Pico de las Nieves Pico de las Nieves is the second highest peak on the island of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. Its height is above sea level. It is of volcanic origin (stratovolcano). On its slopes, Canary Islands Pine was reintroduced in the 1950s. T ...

and south-west of the island capital

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auto ...

Geography

The municipality's area is , spreading near the centre of the island, on the latter's west side. The south-eastern part of its territory includes the second highest point of Gran Canaria island, ''

'' ("Snows Peak") - . Other remarkable summits in the municipality are ''

Roque Nublo Roque Nublo (''Clouded Rock'', ''Rock in the Clouds'') is a volcanic rock on the island of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. It is tall, and its top is above sea level. The Roque Nublo is the third altitude of the island of Gran Canaria, aft ...

'' ("Cloud Rock") and ''

Roque Bentayga Roque Bentayga is a rock formation on the island of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). It is located within the volcanic caldera of Tejeda, in the municipality of the same name, in the heart of the island. Roque Bentayga is considered an archa ...

'' (" Bentayga Rock") with its ritual place (''almogarén'') and other features. Close by are the '' cuevas del Rey'' ("the King's caves", 1 km to the west of Rock Bentayga), an antique

cave house Underground living refers to living below the ground's surface, whether in natural or manmade caves or structures. Underground dwellings are an alternative to above-ground dwellings for some home seekers, including those who are looking to mini ...

village with granaries; and 2 km further west the antique

village of ''Acusa Seca''.Acusa Seca - Declaration as "''Bien de Interés Cultural''"
(

Property of cultural interest Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

), March 11, 2010. Published in B.O.C. (''Boletín Oficial de Canarias'') nr. 61 on March 26, 2010. All these sites are listed Spanish Heritage as Properties of cultural interest ("''Bien de Interés Cultural''").Interactive map of Heritage sites on Grand Canary island
On ''estodotuyo.com'', site on Heritage assets by the council of Grand Canary.

Geology : ''caldera de Tejeda''

The village of Tejeda sits on the eastern edgeTopographic map of Grand Canary island
on ''en-us.topographic-map.com''. of a volcanic basin or crater that bears its name (''caldera de Tejeda'').Rock Bentayga
on ''googlemaps.com''.Video (0.28') of the Caldera de Tejeda seen from the ''Degollada de la Becerra''
''Gran Canaria - Origen y formación''
("Grand Canary: origin and formation") on ''gevic.net''. This page includes an evolutive diagram showing the main stages of formation and evolution of Gran Canaria island, with the resultant collapsed Tejeda crater. The ''caldera''’s dimensions are 28 km x 18 km, with a surface that extends from the head of Agaete's ravine (''barranco de

Agaete Agaete is a municipality of Las Palmas province, on the Canary Islands, Spain. Geography It is in the north-west of Gran Canaria island, and is enclosed by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Gáldar to the north-east, and Artenara to the south. ...

'')Head of Agaete's ravine (''barranco de Agaete''), coordinates: . near Artenara, to ''Verde Andén'' ("Green Platform") in the west,Anden Verde mirador
on ''grancanaria.com''. Anden Verde is along Grand Canary west coast, on the GC-200 road, between Tamadaba nature park to the north-east and El Lomo to the south-west. . VenegueraVeneguera, coordinates: . and the head of Mogán ravine (''barranco de Mogán'')Head of Mogan's ravine (''barranco de Mogán''), coordinates: . up to Arguineguín's ravine (''barranco de Arguineguin'').Head of Arguineguin's ravine (''barranco de Arguineguin''), coordinates: . Only half of its perimeter remains standing; on what is left of it are found a few green-bluish peaks (such as ''"azulejos" de Veneguera'' - "Veneguera's tiles") and below these are the oldest basalts of the island, primitive substrate of Grand Canary. Ana Santana (2015)
''Una violenta erupción creó una gigantesca caldera de colapso en Gran Canaria - Tejeda, un claro ejemplo a nivel planetario de una caldera de colapso''
("A violent eruption creates a gigantic collapsed crater in Grand Canary - Tejeda, a clear example on a planetary level of a collapse crater"). Santa Cruz de Tenerife, March 26, 2015. On ''efeverde.com''. The ''caldera'' was produced in probably less than two hours, by the explosion of the residual magma chambersResidual magma chambers are the cavities that hold the magma that is not projected outside during an eruption. They usually lay 2 to 3 km underground. After an eruption the magma in the chamber slowly cools down, at the same time as heavy particles that it may contain, such as iron, fall at the bottom of the chamber – thus capping the hole by which magma comes out from the Earth’s

mantle A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that. Mantle may refer to: *Mantle (clothing), a cloak-like garment worn mainly by women as fashionable outerwear **Mantle (vesture), an Eastern Orthodox ve ...

. When more magma is injected outwards from the mantle, that cap bursts under the pressure and the magma within the chamber violently erupts outward. The outer surface above the chamber then collapses. During the collapse of the ''caldera de Tejera''

ignimbrite Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surro ...

rock was produced, with a pink matrix dotted with white crystals. It exists because the

explosive eruption In volcanology, an explosive eruption is a volcanic eruption of the most violent type. A notable example is the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Such eruptions result when sufficient gas has dissolved under pressure within a viscous magma su ...

by which the ''caldera'' collapsed was so powerful that the magma was pulverized in a very fine spray and created almost microscopic structures in the matrix rock. ''Ignimbrita'' is found on the outside of the periphery of the ''caldera''.
The ''caldera'' also bears traces of a 2 million year period of evolution. This is especially notable at the heads of the Agaete ravine (''barranco de Agaete'') and Mogan ravine (''barranco de Mogan''), where we can see horizontal basaltic lavas in their lower parts and, above, thicker material in sloping layers. Another rare feature of the caldera is its system of conical dykes in its center, that were damaged by the eruptions and determined the structure of the island by their own structure. The lava passed through these dykes during some eruptions, in particular basaltic eruptions ; this created a crack in the surrounding channels where the lava was injected, and from them the volcano arose. In Grand Canary these conical dykes were centered on a focal point located roughly 2 km under sea level, at what was in the past the center of the island. New magma would then tend to also take the same conical shape. Conical dykes of this size are not found in other islands; Vallehermoso on

La Gomera La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third smallest of the eight main islands of this archipelago. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Tene ...

island has some smaller ones. Biologist Juan Sergio Socorro considers this crater to be one of the few clear examples in the world of a very large collapsed volcanic crater, particularly in comparison to the ''Cañadas del Teide'' for which several theories are held regarding its formation.Juan Sergio Socorro, March 27, 2015. Cited in articl
''Una violenta erupción creó una gigantesca caldera de colapso en Gran Canaria...''
by Ana Santana, March 26, 2015.Formation of the ''Cañadas del Teide'': the main alternative theory about their formation is that of a gravitational slide, which seems to be the most probable in regard of the scientific evidences.

Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Socorro

File:Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Socorro - Tejeda.jpg, View from south File:Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Socorro - Tejeda - facade.jpg, Facade File:Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Socorro - Tejeda - Interior.jpg, Interior File:Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Socorro - Tejeda - left side altar.jpg, Left side altar File:Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Socorro - Tejeda - right side altar.jpg, Right side altar File:Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Socorro - Tejeda - Virgen del Socorro.jpg, Virgen del Socorro

Location

Geography

Geology : ''caldera de Tejeda''

Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Socorro

Population

Neighbouring municipalities

Villages

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links