Geological field work, including detailed cartography and strict stratigraphic control together with radicarbon ages, have confirmed the historical date of the volcanic eruption that Christopher Columbus observed in the summits of the island of Tenerife in 1492. The last eruption of the Teide stratovolcano, known as the “Black Lavas” and repeatedly associated to this historical reference, has been definitively discarded in favour of Boca Cangrejo (Crab’s Mouth) volcano, located in the NW rift of the island, and which can thus be considered to be the fifth historical eruption of Tenerife, confirming the annotation written in the ship’s log of Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to America.

El presente trabajo ha sido parcialmente financiado por la Caja General de Ahorros de Canarias (Caja Canarias) y por el proyecto CGL2005-00239/BTE de la CICYT.

Peer reviewed