Caldera de Taburiente National Park () is a national park on the island of

La Palma La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and historically San Miguel de La Palma, is the most northwesterly island of the Canary Islands, a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in Macaronesia in the North Atlantic Ocean. La Pa ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It contains the Caldera de Taburiente, which dominates the northern part of the island, and was designated as a national park in 1954. The telescopes of the

Roque de los Muchachos Observatory Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (, ORM) is an astronomical observatory located in the municipality of Garafía on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The observatory site is operated by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Can ...

are situated very close to the summit.

Toponym

The word ''

caldera 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 str ...

'' means cauldron in Spanish. ''Taburiente'' is not a Spanish word but derives from the

Guanche language Guanche is an extinct language or dialect continuum that was spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century. It died out after the conquest of the Canary Islands as the Guanche ethnic group was assimilated into the d ...

and means "plain, level".

Geography

The Caldera de Taburiente is a topographic depression about 10 km across, and in places the walls tower 2000 m over the caldera floor. The highest point is the

Roque de los Muchachos Roque de los Muchachos (English: "Rock of the Boys") is a rocky mound at the highest point on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The rocks are found at an elevation of above sea level, not far from the Observatorio del Roque d ...

on the northern wall, at 2426 m altitude, which can be reached by road. The ''Cumbrecita'' is at a lower point in the south-eastern part of the caldera's rim. In the south-west, the caldera opens to the sea, through a river-floored valley called the Barranco de las Angustias. (The river is the only permanent stream in the Canary Islands). The Cumbre Nueva is a ridge that starts at the caldera and continues to the south.

Geology

The Caldera de Taburiente is an ''erosion'' caldera that has been formed by a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

followed by

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

, without volcanic eruption; therefore, it is not a ''collapse''

formed by withdrawal of

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...

from under a

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

during a volcanic eruption with subsequent collapse of the unsupported mountain summit. Starting about 4 million years ago, a set of three successive, overlapping

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...

es gradually formed in what is now north La Palma. Together, they formed the "Northern Shield", a volcanic mountain that was about 20 km across and 3,000 m high. The southwest flank of the Northern Shield became unstable, about 525,000 years ago, and the mountain's flank collapsed laterally in a debris avalanche landslide that moved the collapsed flank rocks downslope towards the coast and even onto the ocean floor. The valley created by the landslide was then enlarged by erosion.

IUGS geological heritage site

In respect of its importance in the development of

volcanology Volcanology (also spelled vulcanology) is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma and related geology, geological, geophysical and geochemistry, geochemical phenomena (volcanism). The term ''volcanology'' is derived from the Latin language, Latin ...

, 'Taburiente volcanic Caldera' was included by the

International Union of Geological Sciences The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) is an international non-governmental organization devoted to global cooperation in the field of geology. As of 2023, it represents more than 1 million geoscientists around the world. About Fo ...

(IUGS) in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organisation defines an 'IUGS Geological Heritage Site' as 'a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history.'

Wildlife

The main

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of the national park comprises a large forest of Canary Island Pine, with a population of the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Canary Islands Juniper also present. The park has been recognised as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports populations of laurel pigeons, red-billed choughs and Atlantic canaries.

Human history

During the Spanish conquest of the Canary Islands in the 15th century, the caldera was the site of the last stand of the indigenous people of the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

, a branch of the

Guanches The Guanche were the Indigenous peoples, indigenous inhabitants of the Spain, Spanish Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean some to the west of modern Morocco and the North African coast. The islanders spoke the Guanche language, which i ...

known as Benahoaritas. It proved impregnable to the invading Spaniards, and they only defeated the Benahoarita by luring their leader out on the pretext of holding talks. In 1815, German geologist

Christian Leopold von Buch Christian Leopold von Buch (26 April 1774 – 4 March 1853), usually cited as Leopold von Buch, was a German geologist and paleontologist born in Stolpe an der Oder (now a part of Angermünde, Brandenburg) and is remembered as one of the mos ...

visited the Canary Islands, during which he visited the island of

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

where he was taken to the Caldera de las Cañadas. He visited La Palma after he had been to Tenerife, and in his journal he makes it clear that he was able to distinguish between a caldera of volcanic origin and the erosional origins for the caldera Taburiente. Following his return to Germany he published his journal and he introduced the term ''caldera'' to the geological vocabulary. In the 1830s, the caldera provided inspiration for some art that combined a study of geology with botany, such as the work of Sabin Berthelot and Felix-Achille St. Aulaire.Met Museum New York, "A Memory of Caldera" by Felix-Achille St. Aulaire, online at http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/356782

References

{{Authority control National parks of Spain La Palma Protected areas established in 1954 Protected areas of the Canary Islands Natura 2000 in Spain Volcanoes of the Canary Islands Important Bird Areas of the Canary Islands First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites