the island of La Palma is enlarged by the eruption

The Spanish island of La Palma is developing following the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano. Lava began to accumulate on the ocean floor, gaining ground over the sea and forming a delta about 500 meters wide.

It is a new formation which in the islands of Macaronesia has a name that defines it perfectly: “fajana”.In all the Macaronesia archipelagos (Madeira, Azores or the Canary Islands) the term “fajana” is very widespread and it is used to describe the places where lava flows have reached the sea and formed very characteristic volcanic landscapes.

The new delta or “fajana” that is forming on La Palma is already half a kilometer wide, and some researchers, meteorologists and broadcasters are already starting to use this word to refer to the new landscape as the eruption of Cumbre Vieja.

Natural pools

Many islands in the Atlantic archipelagos, most of which share a volcanic origin, use this term to refer to these deltas, and precisely in La Palma, one of the most popular and attractive places is the natural pools of “La Fajana”, in the north of the island.

In front of the new fajana that forms as a result of the eruption is the ship “Ramón Margalef” from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, which joined research in the region on Saturday, with time to test the sea before he was hit by lava and determine exactly all the variations that occurred afterwards.

The thermal shock of the incandescent lava with the salt water generates fumes and clouds which are currently dispersing rapidly and without causing problems in the population thanks to the trade winds which blow in the region and which should continue during the coming days.

From the Margalef, the scientists on board check in real time the anomalies which records the ocean, such as the formation of this large band or the discoloration of the water in a much larger perimeter.

Images of the new delta, captured by some of the scientists and institutions working in the field, they are already flooding social networks and allowing to contemplate live, through the “windows” opened by some of these research and dissemination centers, how the island of La Palma is growing.

On board the ship, the oceanographer Eugenio Fraile, responsible for the campaign conducted in the region by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, reported this Thursday on social networks the new “bathymetries” (depth study) that researchers are doing to determine the growth of the lava delta in the ocean.

“The island of La Palma is growing” tweeted the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), showing an image of the platform half a kilometer wide, which was captured by the sea, and which was captured by scientist Manuel Nogales, of the Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology of CSIC, a center specializing in chemical science and technology , agricultural sciences, biodiversity and volcanology.

The satellites of the European “Copernicus” space program also monitor and provide a lot of information and images of what is happening in La Palma, both of the destructive path that lava has followed over the last ten days and of the space that ‘she has already conquered. on the Atlantic.

The Canary Islands Volcanic Institute (INVOLCAN) also posted aerial images, which went viral on social media and used by many media outlets, showing the new delta, or fajana, which formed in La Palma.

By Raúl Casado, EFE

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