Under Volcano is a project carried out on the island of La Palma between the months of October and November 2021 during the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano.
The Cumbre Vieja volcano, which the Palmeros had once baptized as " Teneguia ", erupted three hundred years after the previous time. This 1971 was the last that occurred on the surface of the earth in Spain.
The Cumbre Vieja Natural Park is located on the island of La Palma, in the Canary archipelago, Spain. It covers the entire south-central part of the island, spreading through 6 municipalities. After more than 25.000 small earthquakes shook the island for eight days, at 3:10 pm {local time} in September 19, 2021, the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano began. The eruption initially had two fissures separated by 200 meters, and eights vents.
There was only the regret of the death of one person during the 85 days that the volcanic eruption lasted. However, there were numerous material damages to infrastructure, buildings, vehicles, the agricultural sector, and the environment: 73,8 km of roads were buried by lava, and it also swept away hydraulic and electrical supply networks. 2988 buildings were destroyed, and 1219 hectares were devastated. Around 300 agricultural and livestock farms were devastated.
The lava rivers were the most visible danger and destruction, but also very harmful and dangerous both for people and for the environment was the emission into the atmosphere of sulfur dioxide {SO2}, estimated to be between 6,140 and 11.500 tons per day. Likewise, the expulsion of ash and dust, reaching heights of 6.000 meters, created a cloud that moved towards the southwest, falling as fine black sand, causing temporary closures of several airports on the islands, among other problems.
With the arrival of the lava to the sea on September 29, a cloud of toxic gases was produced, mainly formed by sulfuric acid {H2SO4}, hydrochloric acid {HC1}, and hydrofluoric acid {HF}. There were even two episodes of acid rain on the island, a phenomenon that had occurred previously in the Canary Islands.
In the area, a large part of the volcanic cones, product of the fissure activity of the last million years, including most of the historical eruptions of the island, are located. All these eruptive processes are aligned along the central axis of the Cumbre Vieja with lavas that flowed down the slopes, reaching the sea at times and eventually gaining ground from the sea. The Northernmost sector of the park belongs to much older geological unit called Paleopalma.
The island of La Palma is very young in geological terms, barely two million years old, although it began to form under the sea four million years ago. But the island has two very clearly differentiated parts: the north, older and more solid, compared to the south, younger and still in formation. The magma continues to expand the island in the southern part. In fact, all the last volcanoes that have arisen in the last centuries have occurred in that area, such as San Juan in 1949, or Teneguia, half a century ago.
