The Fajã Mata Sete (literally, "fajã that kills seven") is a debris field (

fajã (, of unknown etymology) is a Portuguese term of obscure origin used to describe Supralittoral zone, supratidal scree, talus at the foot of coastal cliffs, caused by landslides or lava flows.G. Lameiras et al. (2009), p.827 Although relatively c ...

) formed over time by collapsing cliffs on the northern coast of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Rosais Rosais (literally, archaic Portuguese for "rosaries") is a civil parish in the municipality of Velas in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 743, in an area of 24.23 km². History Although Rosais was first ...

, in the municipality of

Velas Velas may refer to: Places * Velas, Azores, Portugal * Velas, Maharashtra, India * Cabo Velas, Costa Rica People * Sara Velas, American artist {{dab, geo, surname ...

, on the island of São Jorge in the Portuguese archipelago of the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

History

Unlike many other Azorean fajãs, Fajã Mata Sete has never had a permanent human population. However, the area has several small homes and outbuildings supporting seasonal visitors. The fajã's fertility and favorable

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...

allowed cultivation of wine grapes, potatoes, corn, fruit, and

taro Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

in small garden plots. Owners of these plots would descend the cliff-face between the months of March and April to cultivate the land and return in September for the harvest. For efficiency, they pressed the wine grapes in the fajã using rudimentary stone presses: liquid wine in jugs is easier to transport than fragile and perishable grapes. On the fajã is a cave locally called ''Furna'' ("

fumarole A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or another rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

" or "

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

") which was historically used as overnight shelter by fishermen and other visitors to the fajã. It is relatively large, accommodating seven or eight people. It is conceivable the cave's capacity gave Fajã Mata Sete ("fajã that kills seven") its curious name. Several trails within the plateau of Rosais provide access to the fajã and surrounding area near the

lighthouse of Ponta dos Rosais The Ponta dos Rosais Lighthouse () is a beacon and lighthouse located along the 200 m cliffs of Ponta dos Rosais near Rosais in the extreme northwest of the island of São Jorge, in the Archipelago of the Azores, Portugal. It includes the main t ...

. The fajã is visible from the edge of the northern area of the Rosais clifftop, and dotted by a few homes interspersed within thick vegetation.

Geology

The Fajã Mata Sete is a debris field (fajã) formed over time by collapsing cliffs. In the bay that formed from the fajã, alongside the Ponta dos Rosais, is a large volcanic stack called the ''Torrão de Açúcar'' (Tower of Sugar). Its name derives from the stack's geological composition, which includes a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, 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 planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

base surmounted by softer reddish deposits of consolidated pyroclasts. Following a 1 January 1980 earthquake, the debris field began eroding away. After the earthquake access to the fajã was restricted due to its instability, resulting in the temporary closure of the lighthouse of Ponta dos Rosais. By 2012 the fajã was reduced in size so significantly it may be considered to no longer exist.

Biology

The cliffs around the fajã are home to nesting families of

Cory's shearwater Cory's shearwater (''Calonectris borealis'') is a large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It breeds colonially on the archipelago of the Azores in the eastern Atlantic. Outside the breeding season it ranges widely in the Atlantic. ...

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae, subfamily Sterninae, that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated in eleven genera in a subgroup of the family Laridae, which also ...

s, and other marine birds.

History

Geology

Biology

References

See also