Canary Islands: lava from Cumbre Vieja volcano reaches the sea | Fear of the possibility of toxic clouds

Lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma, which erupted over a week ago, reached the sea on the night of this Tuesday, as announced by the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands (Involcan).

“The lava flow reached the sea at Playa Nueva,” Involcan noted on Twitter. ANDThis event raises the concern of specialists because it can generate explosions, waves of boiling water or toxic clouds. According to the regional Canary Islands television, so far only black smoke has occurred in the coastal area.

The darkness of the night makes it impossible to see the columns of water vapor that formed by the thermal shock of the lava with the sea, columns that carry gases that can be toxic to the eyes, lungs and skin. .

Lava fell into the sea from a height of a hundred meters down a cliff near the beach of El Guirre, in Tazacorte.

Possible consequences

The first reaction is thermal. Tons of rocks with temperatures above 1000 degrees will be submerged in water with an average temperature of 23 degrees.

The second reaction, immediate, would be chemical, between the components of the lava at extreme temperatures with the water and the salts of the sea, formed by sodium chloride.

Likewise, in this context, the mortality of marine flora and fauna. “This lava is more fluid than we had, but when it falls into the sea, it is the automatic death by thermal shock of animal and marine species which cannot move quickly”, explained the biologist. Matías Fontes, in an interview with Canary Islands Television.

Material losses

Due to the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano more than 6,000 people had to leave their homes, but there were no injuries or deaths.

So far, lava has devastated 656 buildings – not all of them homes – and covered 268 hectares on the island of 85,000 people who live off banana cultivation and tourism.