A new study, recently published in Journal of Maps, describes the geological evolution of the northern sector of the island of Lanzarote (Canary Islands, Spain), highlighting the presence of the lava tube of La Corona.

The article provides a geological map of the region at a scale of 1:25,000 that was produced through extensive surveys and remote sensing using satellite images.

The Canary Islands are an interesting archipelago formed by the slow transit of the African plate above a hotspot. Lanzarote is the eastern-most island, and it is also one of the oldest of the Canarian archipelago. Lanzarote is characterized by recurrent reactivation events during which ancient volcanoes are reactivated several times throughout the island's history. The first activity recorded on the island of Lanzarote is dated 15.5 Ma, while the most recent one took place just 200 years ago.

The northern sector of the island, the subject of this study, is characterized by the presence of one of the largest lava tubes in the world, known as the La Corona lava tube system, which formed during the last glacial maximum (LGM), ca. 21,000 years ago.

“Combining field works and remote sensing we were able to create a geological map that is scaled 1: 25,000. Furthermore we also created two geological sections: one North to South and the other one East to West. This offers a major detail of the evolution of the area”, explains Ilaria Tomasi, PhD student of the Department of Geosciences of the University of Padova and main author of the study.

This work was possible thanks to the collaboration with the Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands UNESCO Global Geopark and the Cabildo Insular de Lanzarote. The survey campaign was carried out by the Department of Geosciences of the University of Padua in collaboration with the Centrum Badań Kosmicznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk (CBK PAN), Warszawa, Poland.