Análisis del riesgo volcánico asociado al flujo de lavas en Tenerife (Islas Canarias): escenarios previsibles para una futura erupción en la isla

Abstract

The spatial and temporal distribution of volcanic eruptions in the Canarian Archipelago are a consequence of their origin and evolution, in response to hotspot activity. Therefore, the probability that eruptive phenomena will occur is greater in the western islands (Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro), the closest to the hotspot vertex, where hundreds of eruptions have been localized in the last 20.000 years. By contrast, in La Gomera (presently in the volcanic repose stage) and in the easterly islands of Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote (the most distant and oldest, in the post-erosive stage of development), few eruptions, if any, have taken place during this period. Rift structures known as «dorsals» have been defined in the more active westerly islands, where the greater part of the recent volcanic activity has been concentrated. Objective data therefore exist that permit the assessment and zonification of eruptive hazards in the archipelago. In this work the assessment of volcanic hazards in the island of Tenerife is presented, whichare concentrated in the volcanic system formed by the central edifice of Mt. Teide and the Northwest Rift. Numerous radiometric datings (14C and K/Ar) and the preparation of detailed digitalized and georeferenced geological mapping (GIS) have permitted an initia1 analysis and assessment of the volcanic hazards in this island, which presents the greatest risk of eruptions because of the number of recent eruptions and their complexity, in addition to demographic density.