La Palma


The geologic fame of La Palma is the Caldera de la Taburiente, a huge valley. The first geologists who explored it, explained its existence with the collapse of a huge cavern inside the volcano, after the eruption. First this chamber was filled with magma, but after the eruption it is empty and caves in. Caldera means valley, but as often, this term was used for the geologic situation, and today caldera is found in an encyclopedia. Funny detail: later examinations revealed, that the Caldera de la Taburiente isnot a caldera, but an erosional valley.