La Gomera
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Wed 27 Oct 2010 20:18
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La Gomera retains several thousand hectares of
laurel forest on its high plateau. This 'laurisilva' comprises about twenty
species of evergreen tree including two tree heathers which can reach 30m in
height The forest is usually shrouded in clouds from which it extracts vast
amounts of water - you can see water literally running down the trunks of trees
even though it seldom actually rains. This forest is a relict of similar forests
which used to surround the Mediterranean before the recent glaciations and is
thus of international importance. It is now one of Spain's National Parks. The
two photos were taken in the Park; one is looking across to Mount Teide (rhymes
with 'lady') on Tenereife. This is Spain's highest mountain and clearly shows
its volcanic origin. Note too that the summit lies above the Trade Wind clouds.
The second photo shows one of 'Los Roques' - a large lump of lava about 3-5m
years old forced up under softer rocks which have subsequently eroded away. The
scale is shown by the road in the lower left corner.
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