Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente

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View of the massive walls of the Caldera

Looking into the Caldera

Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente is a national park on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain, located at [28°43′N 17°52′W]. It contains the enormous expanse of the Caldera de Taburiente, a large crater which dominates the northern part of the island. It was designated as a national park in 1954.

The caldera is 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 on the northern wall, at 2423 m altitude. During the Spanish conquest of the Canary Islands, it was the site of the last stand of the indigenous people of the archipelago, the Guanches. It proved impregnable to the invading Spaniards, and they only defeated the Guanches by luring their leader out on the pretext of holding talks.

The summit is also the site of the Gran Telescopio Canarias observatory.

The Cumbrecita is a low point in the south-eastern part of the caldera's rim. In the south-east the caldera opens to the sea, through a riverbed known as Barranco de las Augustias.

The Cumbre Nueva is a ridge that starts at the caldera and continues to the South.

The main flora of the national park comprises a large forest of Canary Island Pine, with important population of the endangered Canary Islands Juniper also present.

Geological origins

Satellite picture of the Caldera de Taburiente. Barranco de las Augustias is visible in the upper right, the Cumbre Nueva in upper left. (South is above, North below.)

The Caldera de Taburiente is the original caldera, the name having come to apply to any very large volcanic crater. It originated some 2 million years ago, with a massive shield volcano about 20 km in diameter. The caldera was not formed by an explosion of that volcano however, but by erosion starting from the volcano's original crater.

Name

Taburiente is not a Spanish word. It derives from the Guanche language and its meaning has been lost.

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