Caldera de Taburiente National Park

Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente is a national park on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain, located at coord|28|43|N|17|52|W|type:mountain_scale:200000|display=inline,title. 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, which can be reached by road. The telescopes of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory are situated very close to the summit.

During the Spanish conquest of the Canary Islands in the 15th century, the caldera 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 "Cumbrecita" is at a lower point in the south-eastern part of the caldera's rim, giving a good view into the Caldera. In the south-west 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

The caldera 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.Fact|date=October 2007

Name

The word "caldera" means "cauldron" in Spanish. Its use for very large volcanic craters originated with the Caldera de Taburiente.

"Taburiente" is not a Spanish word but derives from the Guanche language and means "plain, level". [Carmen Díaz Alayón (1987): Materiales toponímicos de La Palma, Excmo. Cabildo Insular de La Palma, págs. 142-145]

References