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El Hierro

Hierro

Shield volcano · Spain · 1500m

The massive El Hierro shield volcano is truncated by a large NW-facing escarpment, seen here, which formed as a result of gravitational collapse of the volcano. The steep-sided 1,500-m-high scarp towers above a low lava platform bordering 14-km-wide El Golfo Bay, which is barely visible at the extreme left. Holocene cones and flows are found both on the outer flanks and in the El Golfo depression. The latest subaerial eruption, during the 18th century, produced a lava flow from a cinder cone on the northwest side of El Golfo. A submarine eruption occurred in 2011-12 near the southern flank.
The massive El Hierro shield volcano is truncated by a large NW-facing escarpment, seen here, which formed as a result of gravitational collapse of the volcano. The steep-sided 1,500-m-high scarp towers above a low lava platform bordering 14-km-wide El Golfo Bay, which is barely visible at the extreme left. Holocene cones and flows are found both on the outer flanks and in the El Golfo depression. The latest subaerial eruption, during the 18th century, produced a lava flow from a cinder cone on the northwest side of El Golfo. A submarine eruption occurred in 2011-12 near the southern flank. · Photo: Photo by Yasuo Miyabuchi, 1997 (Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Kyushu). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Shield volcano
Country
Spain
Region
Northern Africa Volcanic Regions / Canary Volcanic Province
Elevation
1500m
Coordinates
27.730, -18.030
Last eruption
2012
Tectonic setting
Intraplate / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Landform
Shield
Major rock type
Trachybasalt / Tephrite Basanite
Geological summary

The triangular island of Hierro is the SW-most and least studied of the Canary Islands. The massive shield volcano is truncated by a large NW-facing escarpment formed as a result of gravitational collapse of El Golfo volcano about 130,000 years ago. The steep-sided scarp towers above a low lava platform bordering 12-km-wide El Golfo Bay, and three other large submarine landslide deposits occur to the SW and SE. Three prominent rifts oriented NW, NE, and S form prominent topographic ridges. The subaerial portion of the volcano consists of flat-lying Quaternary basaltic and trachybasaltic lava flows and tuffs capped by numerous young cinder cones and lava flows. Holocene cones and flows are found both on the outer flanks and in the El Golfo depression. Hierro contains the greatest concentration of young vents in the Canary Islands. Uncertainty surrounds the report of an eruption in 1793. A submarine eruption took place about 2 km SSW off the southern point of the island during 2011-12.

From Wikipedia

El Hierro, nicknamed Isla del Meridiano, is the southernmost and westernmost of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, with a population of 11,659 (2023). Its capital is Valverde. At 268.51 square kilometres (103.67 sq mi), it is the second-smallest of the eight inhabited islands of the Canaries, with La Graciosa being the smallest.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
4790 BCE~4563 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1163 BCE~936 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?709 BCE~483 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1558~1784 · 2 eruptions · max VEI ?1784~2011 · 2 eruptions · max VEI 24790 BCE3203 BCE1389 BCE1971784

Detailed timeline

  1. 2011VEI 2Observed
    2011-10-10 – 2012-03-05
    Submarine S flank, Tagaro cone
  2. 1793VEI 0Geological estimate
    1793-05 – 1793-06
    NW rift (Volcán de Lomo Negro)?
  3. 1692VEI ?Geological estimate
    1692 – Ongoing
  4. 1677VEI ?Geological estimate
    1677 – Ongoing
  5. 550 BCE (±75 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 550 – Ongoing
    Montañas Chamuscada-Entremontañas
  6. 950 BCE (±150 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 950 – Ongoing
    East flank (Soliman)
  7. 4790 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 4790 – Ongoing

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.