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Lanzarote

Photo of this volcano
  • Spain
  • Fissure vent(s)
  • 1824 CE
  •  
  • Country
  • Primary Volcano Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  •  
  • 29.03°N
  • 13.63°W

  • 670 m
    2198 ft

  • 383060
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports for Lanzarote.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Lanzarote.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Lanzarote.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 4 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

1824 Jul 31 - 1824 Oct 24 Confirmed Eruption Max VEI: 2

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Tao, Nuevo del Fuego, Tinguatón
1824 Jul 31 - 1824 Oct 24 Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 8 Events for Episode 1 at Tao, Nuevo del Fuego, Tinguatón

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow Entered water.
   - - - -    - - - - Lapilli
   - - - -    - - - - Scoria
1824 Jul 31    - - - - VEI (Explosivity Index)
1824 Sep 29    - - - - VEI (Explosivity Index)
1824 Oct 16    - - - - VEI (Explosivity Index)

1730 Sep 1 - 1736 Apr 16 Confirmed Eruption Max VEI: 3

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Montañas del Fuego
1730 Sep 1 - 1736 Apr 16 Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 13 Events for Episode 1 at Montañas del Fuego

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow Entered water.
   - - - -    - - - - Cinder Cone
   - - - -    - - - - Lapilli
   - - - -    - - - - Bombs
   - - - -    - - - - Earthquakes (undefined)
   - - - -    - - - - Edifice Destroyed Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Fauna Kill Aquatic.
   - - - -    - - - - Property Damage
   - - - -    - - - - Evacuations
1730    - - - - Fatalities Uncertain
1730 Sep 1    - - - - VEI (Explosivity Index)

0700 ± 50 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Mazo, Santa Catalina, Corazoncillo
0700 ± 50 years - Unknown Evidence from Correlation: Magnetism

List of 3 Events for Episode 1 at Mazo, Santa Catalina, Corazoncillo

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow
   - - - -    - - - - Cinder Cone

0500 ± 50 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Montaña de Juan Perdomo
0500 ± 50 years - Unknown Evidence from Correlation: Magnetism

List of 3 Events for Episode 1 at Montaña de Juan Perdomo

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow
   - - - -    - - - - Cinder Cone
Deformation History

There is data available for 2 deformation periods. Expand each entry for additional details.


Deformation during 1992 - 2000 [Subsidence; Observed by InSAR]

Start Date: 1992 Stop Date: 2000 Direction: Subsidence Method: InSAR
Magnitude: Unknown Spatial Extent: 3.00 km Latitude: 30.000 Longitude: -14.000

Remarks: Located in the Timanfaya eruption area, possibly related to presence of a partly molten magma chamber

Figure (see Caption)

(a) Estimated descending linear deformation rate between 2 September 1992 to 8 January 2000. The black rectangle shows the location of Figure 9, as well the figure inset, which is a zoom into the Montan?as del Fuego area (Timanfaya eruptive centers)). (b?i) Time series of displacements and associated estimated errors of 8 selected points. See text for details.

From: Gonzalez and Fernandez 2011.


Reference List: Gonzalez and Fernandez 2011.

Full References:

Gonzalez P J, Fernandez J, 2011. Error estimation in multitemporal InSAR deformation time series, with application to Lanzarote, Canary Islands. J. Geophys. Res., 116, B10404. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JB008412

Deformation during 1992 - 2000 [Subsidence; Observed by InSAR]

Start Date: 1992 Stop Date: 2000 Direction: Subsidence Method: InSAR
Magnitude: Unknown Spatial Extent: Unknown Latitude: Unknown Longitude: Unknown

Remarks: Located on the northwestern coast

Figure (see Caption)

(a) Estimated descending linear deformation rate between 2 September 1992 to 8 January 2000. The black rectangle shows the location of Figure 9, as well the figure inset, which is a zoom into the Montan?as del Fuego area (Timanfaya eruptive centers)). (b?i) Time series of displacements and associated estimated errors of 8 selected points. See text for details.

From: Gonzalez and Fernandez 2011.


Reference List: Gonzalez and Fernandez 2011.

Full References:

Gonzalez P J, Fernandez J, 2011. Error estimation in multitemporal InSAR deformation time series, with application to Lanzarote, Canary Islands. J. Geophys. Res., 116, B10404. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JB008412

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Lanzarote.

Photo Gallery

The 60-km-long island of Lanzarote at the NE end of the Canary Islands contains the largest concentration of youthful volcanism in the Canaries. Cinder cones and lava flows erupted along NE-SW-trending fissures in the Pleistocene and Holocene are found throughout the low-altitude arid island. The largest historical eruption of the Canary Islands took place during 1730-36, when long-term fissure-fed eruptions formed the Montañas del Fuego group of cinder cones and produced voluminous lava flows that covered about 200 km2.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1977.
Volcanologist Maurice Krafft observes a lava tube on Lanzarote Island. Lava tubes provide an efficient means of transporting molten lava through subsurface channels that are thermally insulated from the surface. Many spectacular examples of lava tubes are found on Lanzarote, including the Ceuva de los Verdes lava-tube system, which extends more than 5 km from Volcán la Corona cinder cone to the Atlantic coast.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1977.
Caldera del Corazoncillo (center), also known as Caldera de Fuencaliente, was active during a two-week period in September 1730, which initiated the 1730-36 Montañas del Fuego eruption on Lanzarote. The NE-SW-trending eruptive fissures were located slightly west of the low crest of the island, and most of the extensive lava flows reached the coast along a broad 20-km-wide front on the western side of the island. Only one lava flow reached the eastern coast.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1977.
The largest historical eruption of the Canary Islands took place from 1730 to 1736, when a NE-SW-trending fissure formed the Montañas del Fuego ("Mountains of Fire"). Voluminous lava flows covering 200 km2 reached the western coast, seen in the distance, along a broad, 20-km-wide front. The villages of Maretas and Santa Catalina were destroyed, along with the most fertile valleys and estates of the island, which was entirely evacuated. Numerous cinder cones such as these dot the lava field, much of which lies within Timanfaya National Park.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1977.
This geothermal drilling platform was part of an exploration program during the 1970's in Lanzarote's "Mountains of Fire." Residual heat from the 18th-century eruptions remains. Temperatures of 100 degrees centigrade were reached only a few cm below the surface, and a maximum temperature of 312 degrees was measured at a depth of 12 m.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1977.
The circular stone-lined rings in the foreground of this Lanzarote cinder cone are the product of an innovative agricultural technique to enable crop growth on this arid, wind-swept island. Low stone walls constructed around small craterform depressions provide shelter from strong winds, permitting the growth of grape vines and fig trees.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1977.
This geometric pattern in 18th-century ashfall deposits at Lanzarote is a human adaptation to permit agricultural use of this barren, wind-swept terrain. Grape vines and fig trees planted in shallow depressions excavated in the extensive pyroclastic-fall deposits are surrounded by low circular walls of volcanic blocks and bombs. This concentrates moisture in the finer-grained center of the pits and partially shelters the plants from the severe winds that sweep across the volcanic plain.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1977.
These unusual-looking lava stalagmites were formed when molten lava dripped from the ceiling of an active lava tube on Lanzarote Island. Corresponding lava stalactites hang from the ceiling of the lava tubes. The scale of these stalagmites is not stated, but may be a few tens of centimeters. Lava tubes are prominent features in the 1730-36 lava fields of Lanzarote.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1977.
Circular Caldera del Corazoncillo (center) on Lanzarote, also known as Caldera de Fuencaliente, was active during a two-week period in September 1730, at the beginning of the 1730-36 Montañas del Fuego eruption. Lava flows effused from NE-SW-trending fissures and numerous cones (background), and reached the western side of the island over a 20-km-wide front, covering an area of about 250 km2.

Photo by Nicolau Wallenstein (Center of Volcanology, Azores University).
The Caldera de los Cuervos (left center) was formed during the initial stage of the eruption during 1730 to 1736. Eruptions from a 13-15 km long NE-SW trending fissure formed more than 30 cones and produced voluminous lava flows that covered about 250 km2, reaching the western coast. A third of the farmland and numerous villages were buried in ash during this six-year long eruption.

Photo by Raphaël Paris, 2001 (CNRS, Clermont-Ferrand).
GVP Map Holdings

The Global Volcanism Program has no maps available for Lanzarote.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

The following 1 samples associated with this volcano can be found in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences collections, and may be availble for research (contact the Rock and Ore Collections Manager). Catalog number links will open a window with more information.

Catalog Number Sample Description Lava Source Collection Date
NMNH 116691-12 Lava -- --
External Sites