Abstract
Volcanic oceanic islands are large buildings that grow from the ocean floor up to their highest peaks above sea level. It is estimated that only a small part of the volcanic edifices emerge above sea level, leaving almost 90% of the volcanic structure submerged. The geology of this submerged area is mainly known from indirect geophysical studies, general and detail mapping, bathymetry, and some drill holes and different types of dredges and humanned–unhumanned submersibles. However, this information is quite poor for geoheritage studies since it does not allow a geological classification of the environment, their genesis and geoheritage value. Hence, direct observation in inner platform and coastal zones has become essential to identify submerged geological structures, rocks, sediments, pyroclastic deposits and morphologies that could be considered as part of a geoheritage inventory. In fact, underwater there are unique and representative geological elements, which in many cases are visited by divers who do not know their significance and value, since their main objective is to observe the fauna and submarine scenery. Therefore, the identification and enhancement of underwater shallow geological heritage is crucial for the development of one of the emerging resources, underwater and diving geotourism. This study contributes to the knowledge of the shallow submarine geology of Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands UNESCO Global Geopark and highlights the existence of fifteen geosites suitable for the implementation of sustainable submarine geotourism.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Acosta J (2003) Cartografía Submarina. El Programa Estudio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Zona Económica Exclusiva Española
Acosta J, Uchupi E, Muñoz A, Herranz P, Palomo C, Ballesteros M, ZEE Working Group (2003) Geologic evolution of the Canarian Islands of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and La Gomera and comparison of landslide at these islands with those at Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro. Mar Geophys Res 24:1–40
Azores UNESCO Global Geopark. http://dive.visitazores.com/en/divespots/baixa-da-vila-nova
Banda E, Dañobeitia JJ, Suriñach E, Ansorge J (1981) Features of crustal structure under the Canary Islands. Earth Planet Sci Lett 55:11–24
Boyra A, Fernández-Gil C, Suárez C (2011). Lanzarote ideal. Guía de inmersiones. Oceanográfica, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Cabildo de Lanzarote-Centro de datos (2018) Turismo de Buceo en Lanzarote 2017, p 15
Carracedo JC, Singer B, Jicha B, Guillou H, Badiola ER, Meco J, Láinez A (2003) La erupción y el tubo volcánico del Volcán Corona (Lanzarote, Islas Canarias). Estud Geol 59(5–6):277–302
Corfield RM (2003) The silent landscape: the scientific voyage of HMS Challenger. Joseph Henry Press, Washington, DC, USA
Cuñarro D, Mangas J, Acosta J, Rivera J, García L (2014) Geomorphology of the giant submarine landslides, submarine canyons, volcanic cones and salt diapirs that appear in the seabed surrounding the islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote (Canary Islands). Master Thesis in oceanography, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, p 29
Galindo I, Romero C, Llorente M, Rubio JC, Vegas J, Sánchez N, Díaz GA (2017) Resultados preliminares del inventario de lugares de interés geológico submarinos del Geoparque Mundial UNESCO de Lanzarote y Archipiélago Chinijo Investigando el mar. Viaje al planeta agua. In Actas XII Semana Científica Telesforo Bravo, Instituto de Estudios Hispánicos de Canarias, Santa Cruz de La Palma, pp 15–40
Galindo I, Romero C, Sánchez N, Morales JM (2016) Quantitative volcanic susceptibility analysis of Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands based on kernel density estimation via a linear diffusion process. Sci Rep 6:27381. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep27381
IGME (2004) Cueto Pascual LA, Balcells Herrera R, Gómez Sainz de Aja JA, Barrera Morate JL, Ruiz García MT, Brändle JL and Hoyos M. Mapa geológico de España Escala 1:25.000. Hoja y Memoria n. º 1.082 IV, Teguise, p 83
Lima EA, Machado M, Nunes JC (2013) Geotourism development in the Azores archipelago (Portugal) as an environmental awareness tool. Czech J Tourism 2(2):126–142
Maritime Terrestrial Natural Park of Cabo de Gata-Níjar (2018). http://guiadelparque.com/rutas/ruta-submarina/
Martín Serrano A (2005) Mapa Geomorfológico de España y del Margen Continental, E 1:1.000.000, IGME, Madrid, p 232
Martín C, Martín M, Galindo I (2014) Estudio geomorfológico y geológico de los flancos submarinos de Lanzarote. Trabajo fin de máster, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, p 346
Martín C, Martín M, Galindo I, Romero C, Llorente M (2015) Geological and geomorphological analysis of Las Bajas undersea volcano (Lanzarote, Canary Islands). In: 2nd VOLCANDPARK conference, Lanzarote, Canary Islands (Spain). VOLCANDPARK2 abstracts book, pp 26–27
Martínez A, Gonzalez BC, Nuñez J, Wilkens H, Oromí P, Iliffe TM, Worsaae K (2016) Guía interpretativa de los ecosistemas anquialinos de Los Jameos del Agua y Túnel de la Atlántida, Cabildo de Lanzarote, p 306
Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación (2003) 2. Paisajes submarinos de la Isla Graciosa y de los islotes del Norte de Lanzarote. Guías divulgativas de la reserva marina de la isla Graciosa y de los islotes del Norte de Lanzarote, Madrid
Orrú P, Panizza V, Ulzega A (2005) Submerged geomorphosites in the marine protected areas of Sardinia (Italy): assessment and improvement. Il Quaternario. Ital J Quat Sci 18:167–174
Pinto de la Rosa JM (1996) Apuntes para la historia de las antiguas fortificaciones de Canarias, Museo Militar Regional de Canarias, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, p 758
Acknowledgements
This study has been carried out within the framework of a Specific Agreement between Cabildo de Lanzarote and the Spanish Geological Survey. One of the authors, G. A. Díaz, enjoys a MINECO grant for hiring by the National Youth Guarantee System, which is co-financed by the ESF and the YEI (PEJ-2014-p-00980). The authors thank the Hydrographical Institute of the Navy and the Repository of Marine Data of the Canary Islands (REDMIC) for the transfer of the bathymetries for this work. We would also like to highlight the collaboration of the staff of Cabildo de Lanzarote and the Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales. We especially appreciate the work of the divers, Íñigo Labarga, Rafa Mesa and Hugo Pérez, who have contributed their knowledge of the area and the logistics of the dives.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Galindo, I. et al. (2019). Geoheritage in the Shallow Submarine Slopes of an Oceanic Volcanic Edifice: A New Option for Diving Geotourism. In: Mateo, E., Martínez-Frías, J., Vegas, J. (eds) Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands Geopark: From Earth to Space. Geoheritage, Geoparks and Geotourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13130-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13130-2_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-13129-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-13130-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)