I recently returned from a trip to the Central Alps in Italy and Switzerland. All things considered, the Alps might be my favorite mountain range to visit. It has the incredible relief of the Andes and Himalaya (almost), accessibility of the Rockies, and food of … Italy! The Alpine mountain chain extends basically along the […]
The last stand of the Neptunists – by Siim Sepp Portrush is a nice little seaside town in Antrim, Northern Ireland which I visited in the early summer of 2012. Portrush is located on top of a dolerite (diabase) sill which forms a promontory and continues off shore in the chain of islands, the […]
The last and current stage of volcanism on Tenerife is the post-caldera rejuvenation stage. This is primarily characterized by the stratovolcano of Mt Teide (12,198 ft) and its lower neighbor Pico-Viejo. These two stratovolcanoes are primarily trachytic and phonolitic in composition and are built upon a common basanitic and basaltic base. The most recent activity […]
Once the Old Basaltic shield-building eruptions found in Anaga and Teno merged into a single massif the shield experienced two to three million years of erosion. The post-erosion phase began with a new volcanic edifice was erupting in the center of the island between 3.2 and 0.17 Ma. This second stage is known as the Cañadas succession. […]
Ocean island or hotspot volcanos generally go through several distinct magmatic phases. The shield stage represents the first stage major episode of magmatism and nearly 95% of the volcano is formed during this stage. The rate of eruption is also maximized during the shield stage and is dominated by tholeiitic basaltic eruptions. Following the shield […]
