The CENIEH collaborates on studying the volcanic activity on La Palma

The Geochronology and Geology Program Coordinator, Josep M. Parés, has been invited by the Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología (IPNA-CSIC) to see the eruption of Cumbre Vieja at first hand and assess the research possibilities on the ground

Josep M. Parés, Coordinator of the Geochronology and Geology Program at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), is on the island of La Palma this week as the guest of Vicente Soler, a volcanology researcher at the Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología (IPNA-CSIC) in Canary Islands (Spain) to see at first hand the development of the volcanic activity of Cumbre Vieja in the zone of Cabeza de Vaca, and to assess the research possibilities on the ground, with a view to future collaborations.

The Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología (IPNA-CSIC) is part of the team tracking the eruption at Cabeza de Vaca interested in conducting a research project, because the volcanic products being generated, which are lava and ashes, but also xenoliths, offer a unique chance to understand the formation and development of new oceanic crust.

A genuine marvel, a natural phenomenon reminding us that Earth is a dynamic planet with its own internal energy!

Moreover, this eruption offers an ideal setting, on both land and sea, for understanding, in real time, the processes controlling the acquisition and stability of remanent magnetism in rocks, and the geologist Josep M. Parés, a specialist in Paleomagnetism, could collaborate on studying this fundamental geophysical property.

The live monitoring of the volcanic activity at Cumbre Vieja, in combination with the formation of rocks itself, make the event an authentic natural laboratory for improved comprehension of geological processes which are normally only preserved in the fossil record.

 “A genuine marvel, a natural phenomenon reminding us that Earth is a dynamic planet with its own internal energy, that the processes that form new crust remain alive and will continue sculpting the surface for millions of years more!", comments the CENIEH geologist at the foot of the volcano.