Teide national park
Transcript of Teide national park
• Where is it?: El Teide is a giant volcano, that occupies the island of Tenerife, whose coasts are bathed by the Atlantic Ocean. It is in the Canary Islands, off the northwest coast of Africa. It´s situated inside the limits of several municipalities of the island: La Orotava, Santiago del Teide, Guía de Isora, Vilaflor de Chasna, Fasnia and Icod de los Vinos.
• Definition: El Teide is a stratovolcano. A stratovolcano is a type of conical volcano of a great height, composed by multiple layers of hard lava and volcanic ashes.
• Why does it receive this name?: El Teide was considered sacred by the aboriginal gouanches and was given the name of Echeyde, that means hell, because of the heat that comes from inside its crater. • Characteristics: It is a stratovolcano of vesubian type that is still active.
El Teide is a volcano with an altitude of 3718 meters over the sea level, which means that it is the highest mountain of Spain, the highest of any land emerged from the Atlantic Ocean and the third major volcano on Earth.
The island of Tenerife has a triangular shape, and in its heart you can find El Teide and its slopes.
Its walls present a varied series of layers that reveal the geological history of the complex.
According to the degree of erosion they show different colours as white, black, yellow, red and even green.
The altitude of El Teide makes the island of Tenerife the tenth highest island in the whole world.
Last eruption was in 1909.
• Protection level: The degree of protection of El Teide is that of a National Park. El Teide, the volcano, forms part of Teide National Park, declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO, on June 28th, 2007 in Christchurch (New Zealand). It is also a natural space protected in the category of Natural Monument.
• Logo:
• Competent administration:
La Orotava Council.
• The cable car of El Teide : There is a cable car at Teide National Park, the highest cable car in Spain.
It is located only 163 meters from the summit of the volcano, saving a drop of 1,199 m. The route of 2,482 meters lasts eight to ten minutes at a maximum speed of 8 m / s. The cabins sleep up to 35 people.
The cable car facilities and visitor flow generated, unfavorably interfere in the conservation of certain natural resources and landscape values of the park, so from this point of view it would be advisable its disappearance.
• Network of Trails: At Teide National Park there is an extensive network of paths that allows people to reach different places of interest.
One of the most representative path is Siete Cañadas (Seven Ravines). Siete Cañadas is a
great opportunity to learn the secrets of time. Apart from the great value of its landscape and its geological and
biological wealth, with a great biodiversity of flora and fauna, of which a large proportion are endemic, we must add the archaeological importance of the area. The route of Siete Cañadas is one of the 21
trails of the Main Network of Trails at Teide National Park. It was part of the old road used by the gouanches to cross the island and transport
their livestock, we can still see remnants of pastoral shelters. It is a smooth path that always goes with the walls of the Circus of Las Cañadas on the left and the silhouette of El Teide on the right. A singular path, where the inner fire of the Earth has poured over its surface capricious natural monuments of coladas, volcanic structures, rocks of various shapes and colours.
El Teide and the whole national park is one of the most important natural places in the world for its amazing geological and landscape composition, and for the great quantity of endemic species of flora and fauna that it has. Over 2.500 meters of altitude, only certain species resist the climatic conditions.
The most important are:
A strange flower, the Violet of El Teide, which you can only find in this park. Its colour gives its name. Also it is very typical to see in El Teide the Red Tajinaste.