Angra do Herismo on Terceira 38:39N 27:13W

Millybrown
Mark Hillmann
Fri 5 Jun 2009 08:39
We are in Angra where we have been for a week now. Paul and Miles (son &
nephew) and I came across early as more wind was forecast and we had plenty
on the way into Horta. They have flown back, replaced by Lorna and Murrel,
wife and sister.

We have visited fumaroles and volcanic caves, both a magma chamber and the
lava tubes that drain the chambers. These were about 3000 years old, but
there was an undersea eruption just north of the island 20 years ago and
Faial had a large eruption in the 1950s. There are even sea floor areas
with variable depth.

This is not a simple geological area: Santa Maria at one end is limestone
but all the others are volcanic materials. They are on a badly faulted
'micro plate' where the American, European and African tectonic plates meet,
except for Flores and Corvo at the other end which are on the American
plate. Work in the last weeks has revised the age of Pico, making Faial the
youngest island.

The volcanism makes the area very fertile. There is housing all round the
coast with frequent towns and villages. There are few houses inland but
fields until the land becomes too steep or cindery. The rain lets lots of
flowers grow, the miles of hydrangea hedges have been complained of in the
Daily Telegraph. Lorna says: "That does not flower until August at home" as
we see yet another flower we have in the garden.

Yesterday was the first day with moderate winds, so we hope to go across to
another island today.