Tajogaite or Tajogaite Volcano is a monogenetic volcano located in the municipality of El Paso on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands. Although its official name is "Tajogaite", before its officialization some authors have called it Jedey or Cabeza de Vaca, among other names. It originated in the eruption that began on September 19, 2021, the most recent on the island and in the national terrestrial geography. It stopped on December 13, 2021, after 85 days of activity, being the longest historical eruption recorded on the island and third in the archipelago.[4][5]
Name
Tajogaite is the name given to an area of the island of La Palma belonging to the municipality of El Paso and located south of Los Romanciaderos, close to Montaña Rajada. The toponym appears frequently from the 18th century on in local records linked to land ownership,[6] however its use dates back to times when the Benahoarites inhabited the island.[6][7]
Characteristics
The volcano is 1,120 metres (3,670 ft) above sea level, with the cone of the volcano being approximately 200 metres (660 ft) high.[8][9] The main crater is 172 metres (564 ft) long and 106 metres (348 ft) wide, and is one of seven vents.[10] The Tajogaite eruption was associated with a magma-gas decoupled system, which resulted in 7-16% of the total erupted volume being made up of tephra.[11]
Lava tubes
The eruption of Tajogaite created an extensive system of lava tubes.[12] The tubes, which were spotted in the midst of the 2021 eruption, were first explored in June 2022 after work crews rebuilding roads over the hardened lava. The system, which extends between 65 feet (20 m) to 200 feet (61 m) under the hardened lava flow, is made up of three distinct levels and may be the longest in Europe. Despite the tubes reaching temperatures of 140 °F (60 °C), Pseudomonadota and Bacteroidota bacteria have been found colonizing the walls of the tubes.[13]
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