From Myth to Science: The Contribution of Mount Teide to the Advancement of Volcanology

Abstract

This chapter outlines the progress of geological research into the origin and evolution of the Teide Volcanic Complex within the framework of Tenerife Island, the Canary Islands, and oceanic volcanism in general. Initially considered to relate to either the entrance to ‘Hell’ or to mythical Atlantis, for von Buch, von Humboldt, Lyell and the other great eighteenth and nineteenth century naturalists Teide eventually helped to shape a new, and at that time revolutionary concept; the origin of volcanic rocks from solidified magma. This school of thought slowly cast aside Neptunism and removed some of the last barriers for the development of modern Geology and Volcanology as the sciences we know today. Despite the volcanic nature of the Canaries having been already recognised by the twentieth century, modern geological understanding of the archipelago progressed most significantly with the advent of plate tectonics. While some authors still maintain a link between the Canaries and the Atlas tectonic regime (see also Chap. 2 ), geological research truly advanced in the Canaries through comparison with hotspot-derived archipelagos, particularly the Hawaiian Islands. This approach, initiated in the 1970s, provided a breakthrough in the understanding of Canary volcanism, demonstrating Tenerife and Teide to be one of the world’s most interesting, complex and to many, one of the most iconic of oceanic volcanoes.