Tejeda

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Tejeda
Gran Canaria, Caldera de Tejeda.jpg
Mist over the caldera of Tejeda
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Escudo de Tejeda (Las Palmas).svg
Gran Canaria municipio Tejeda.svg
Municipal location in Gran Canaria
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Tejeda
Location in the province of Las Palmas
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Tejeda
Tejeda (Canary Islands)
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Tejeda
Tejeda (Spain, Canary Islands)
Coordinates: 27°59′40″N15°36′50″W / 27.99444°N 15.61389°W / 27.99444; -15.61389
Country Spain
Autonomous Region Canary Islands
Province Las Palmas
Island Gran Canaria
Area
[1]
  Total103.30 km2 (39.88 sq mi)
Elevation
1,050 m (3,440 ft)
Population
 (2018) [2]
  Total1,921
  Density19/km2 (48/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+0 (GMT)

Tejeda is a village and a municipality in the mountainous central part of the island of Gran Canaria in the province of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.

Contents

Location

The village of Tejeda is situated 6 km (4 mi) north-west of the Pico de las Nieves and 23 km (14 mi) south-west of the island capital Las Palmas.

Tejeda with Roque Nublo and Roque Bentayga Tejeda - Gran Canaria.jpg
Tejeda with Roque Nublo and Roque Bentayga

Geography

The municipality's area is 103.3 km2 (39.9 sq mi), [1] 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, Pico de las Nieves ("Snows Peak") - 1,949 m (6,394 ft). Other remarkable summits in the municipality are Roque Nublo ("Cloud Rock") 813 m (2,667 ft) and Roque Bentayga ("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 village with granaries; and 2 km further west the antique cave house village of Acusa Seca. [3] All these sites are listed Spanish Heritage as Properties of cultural interest ("Bien de Interés Cultural"). [4]

Geology : caldera de Tejeda

The caldera, drawing by Victor Grau-Bassas Caldera de Tejeda--Grau-Bassas1.png
The caldera, drawing by Víctor Grau-Bassas

The village of Tejeda sits on the eastern edge [5] of a volcanic basin or crater that bears its name (caldera de Tejeda). [6] [note 1] [note 2]

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 ) [7] near Artenara, to Verde Andén ("Green Platform") in the west, [8] Veneguera [9] and the head of Mogán ravine (barranco de Mogán) [10] up to Arguineguín's ravine (barranco de Arguineguin). [11] 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. [12]

The caldera was produced in probably less than two hours, by the explosion of the residual magma chambers [note 3] During the collapse of the caldera de Tejera ignimbrite rock was produced, with a pink matrix dotted with white crystals. It exists because the explosive eruption 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. [12]

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 island has some smaller ones. [12]

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. [13] [note 4]

"El espectáculo es imponente. Todas aquellas negras murallas de la gran caldera, con sus crestas, que parecen almenas, con sus roques enhiestos, ofrecen el aspecto de una visión dantesca. No otra cosa pueden ser las calderas del Infierno que visitó el florentino. Es una tremenda conmoción de las entrañas de la tierra; parece todo una tempestad petrificada, pero una tempestad de fuego, de lava, más que de agua."
("The spectacle is impressive. All those black walls of the great caldera, with its crests, which look like battlements, with its erect rocks, offer a Dantesque vision. The cauldrons of Hell that the Florentine visited can be no different. It is a tremendous commotion of the entrails of the earth; it looks quite like a petrified storm, but a storm of fire, of lava, more than of water.")

Miguel de Unamuno, quoted in artenara.es.

Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Socorro

Population

Its population was 2,028 in 2013. [14]

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1991 2,361    
1996 2,552+8.1%
2001 2,400−6.0%
2002 2,402+0.1%
YearPop.±%
2003 2,351−2.1%
2004 2,347−0.2%
2013 2,028−13.6%

Neighbouring municipalities

Villages

Roque Nublo Roque nublo.jpg
Roque Nublo

See also

Notes and references

Notes

    1. Video (0.28') of the Caldera de Tejeda seen from the Degollada de la Becerra.
    2. (in Spanish) 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.
    3. Residual 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. 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.
    4. 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.

    Related Research Articles

    A caldera is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the structural integrity of such a chamber, greatly diminishing its capacity to support its own roof, and any substrate or rock resting above. The ground surface then collapses into the emptied or partially emptied magma chamber, leaving a large depression at the surface. Although sometimes described as a crater, the feature is actually a type of sinkhole, as it is formed through subsidence and collapse rather than an explosion or impact. Compared to the thousands of volcanic eruptions that occur over the course of a century, the formation of a caldera is a rare event, occurring only a few times within a given window of 100 years. Only eight caldera-forming collapses are known to have occurred between 1911 and 2018, with a caldera collapse at Kīlauea, Hawaii in 2018. Volcanoes that have formed a caldera are sometimes described as "caldera volcanoes".

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gran Canaria</span> Spanish island in the North Atlantic

    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 and is part of Spain. As of 2023 the island had a population of 862,893 that constitutes approximately 40% of the population of the archipelago. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the capital of the island, is the biggest city of the Canary Islands and the ninth of Spain.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">La Palma</span> Canary Island

    La Palma, also known as La isla bonita and historically San Miguel de La Palma, is the most northwesterly island of the Canary Islands, Spain, which is a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in Macaronesia in the North Atlantic Ocean. La Palma has an area of 708.32 square kilometres (273.48 sq mi) making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The total population at the start of 2023 was 84,338, of which 15,522 lived in the capital, Santa Cruz de La Palma and 20,375 in Los Llanos de Aridane. Its highest mountain is the Roque de los Muchachos, at 2,426 metres (7,959 ft), being second among the peaks of the Canaries after the Teide massif on Tenerife.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Mogán</span> Municipality in Canary Islands, Spain

    Mogán is a town and a Spanish municipality in the southwestern part of the island of Gran Canaria, which is one of the three main islands making up the Province of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, Spain. Its population is 21,782 (2013), and the area is 172.44 km2.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Teide</span> Volcano in Tenerife

    Teide, or Mount Teide, is a volcano on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Spain. Its summit is the highest point in Spain and the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlantic. If measured from the ocean floor, its height of 7,500 m (24,600 ft) makes Teide the third-highest volcano in the world, UNESCO and NASA rank it as Earth's third-tallest volcanic structure. Teide's elevation above sea level makes Tenerife the tenth highest island in the world.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumbre Vieja</span> Volcano in La Palma, Spain

    The Cumbre Vieja is an active volcanic ridge on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The spine of Cumbre Vieja trends in an approximate north–south direction, comprising the southern half of La Palma, with both summit ridge and flanks pockmarked by dozens of craters and cones. The latest eruption began on 19 September 2021 in a forested area of Las Manchas locality known as Cabeza de Vaca. Voluminous lava flows quickly reached populated areas downslope, fanning out across settlements and banana plantations, destroying thousands of buildings and ultimately pouring over steep cliffs into the ocean to enlarge the island at several locations. The volcano went quiet on 13 December 2021, and on 25 December 2021, the local government declared the eruption to be over.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Agaete</span> Municipality in Canary Islands, Spain

    Agaete is a municipality of Las Palmas province, on the Canary Islands, Spain.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Roque Nublo</span> Volcanic rock on Gran Canaria

    Roque Nublo is a volcanic rock on the island of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. It is 80 m (262 ft) tall, and its top is 1,813 m (5,948 ft) above sea level. The Roque Nublo is the third highest point on the island of Gran Canaria, after the Morro de la Agujereada at 1,956 m (6,417 ft), and the Pico de las Nieves at 1,949 m (6,394 ft).

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Autopista GC-1</span>

    The GC-1 is a superhighway on the island of Gran Canaria. It links the capital Las Palmas in the north with Puerto de Mogán in the south. It is the fastest route from the north of the island to the south and vice versa with a top speed limit of 120 km/h (75 mph). It is approximately 75 km in length, and runs along the eastern and the southern coasts of this circular island and is also the second longest superhighway in the Canary Islands. The road provides easy access from the airport to the major cities and resorts. The resorts include Maspalomas and Playa del Inglés. The increase in tourism over the years has seen the GC1 route slowly being upgraded and widened to cope with extra traffic.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto de Mogán</span> Marina in Mogán, Gran Canaria

    Puerto de Mogán is a picturesque fishing village and popular marina in the municipality of Mogán, set at the mouth of a steep-sided valley on the south-west coast of the island of Gran Canaria.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Bandama Caldera</span>

    The Bandama Natural Monument is part of the Tafira Protected Landscape on the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, Spain. It is considered a point of geological interest, because of the Caldera de Bandama. This volcanic crater, which is geologically a maar rather than a caldera, reaches 569 m (1,867 ft) above sea level at the highest point on its rim, Pico de Bandama, and is about 1,000 m (3,300 ft) wide and 200 m (700 ft) deep. The crater was developed during the last heavy eruptions 2000 years ago. It is recorded as the most recent volcanic activity on Gran Canaria.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria</span> Hospital in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

    The Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria is a teaching hospital of general scope in Gran Canaria. Located in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, it was founded 13 February 1971 and consists in February 2021 of 503 beds. The first patient was hospitalized 20 September 1971.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Caves of Valeron</span> Cave and archaeological site on Grand Canary, Spain

    Valerón's "monastery" is an archaeological site on the Spanish island of Grand Canary, in the municipality of Santa Maria de Guia, on Valerón's cliff. It is the largest pre-Hispanic collective granary built before Roman times and used by the island's inhabitants until the conquest of the island at the end of the 15th century.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Guayadeque ravine</span>

    The Guayadeque ravine, in Spanish Barranco de Guayadeque, is a ravine-type valley located on the Spanish municipalities of Ingenio and Agüimes, in the province of Las Palmas on Grand Canary island, off the coast of Morocco.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Four Doors cave site, Telde</span> Cave

    The Four Doors site, also known as Montaña Bermeja, 'Vermillion Mountain', is a complex of caves in the south of the municipality of Telde, Gran Canaria.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">El Maipés Necropolis</span> Cultural property in Agaete, Spain

    The El Maipés necropolis is an ancient burial site near Agaete on the Spanish island of Grand Canary, province of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands of the west coast of Africa.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of the Canary Islands</span>

    The geology of the Canary Islands is dominated by volcanoes and volcanic rock. The Canary Islands are a 450 km-long (280 mi), east-west aligned archipelago of volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, 100–500 km (60–310 mi) off the coast of Northwest Africa. The islands are located on the African tectonic plate. The Canary Islands are an example of intraplate volcanism because they are located far from the edges of the African Plate.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Roque Bentayga</span>

    Roque Bentayga is a rock formation on the island of Gran Canaria. 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 archaeological monument because it contains an "almogarén".

    References

    1. 1 2 Instituto Canario de Estadística, area
    2. Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
    3. (in Spanish) Acusa Seca - Declaration as "Bien de Interés Cultural" (Property of cultural interest), March 11, 2010. Published in B.O.C. (Boletín Oficial de Canarias) nr. 61 on March 26, 2010.
    4. Interactive map of Heritage sites on Grand Canary island. On estodotuyo.com, site on Heritage assets by the council of Grand Canary.
    5. Topographic map of Grand Canary island on en-us.topographic-map.com.
    6. Rock Bentayga on googlemaps.com.
    7. Head of Agaete's ravine (barranco de Agaete), coordinates: 28°01′44″N15°40′43″W / 28.028995°N 15.678545°W .
    8. 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. 28°01′10″N15°47′07″W / 28.019496°N 15.785340°W .
    9. Veneguera, coordinates: 27°54′17″N15°43′59″W / 27.904850°N 15.733106°W .
    10. Head of Mogan's ravine (barranco de Mogán), coordinates: 27°56′35″N15°42′21″W / 27.943108°N 15.705794°W .
    11. Head of Arguineguin's ravine (barranco de Arguineguin), coordinates: 27°57′33″N15°36′56″W / 27.959280°N 15.615597°W .
    12. 1 2 3 (in Spanish) 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.
    13. Juan Sergio Socorro, March 27, 2015. Cited in article Una violenta erupción creó una gigantesca caldera de colapso en Gran Canaria... by Ana Santana, March 26, 2015.
    14. Instituto Canario de Estadística Archived 2014-04-22 at archive.today , population