La Palma – initial images of the “mega-landslide”

I have spent the last three days on the island of La Palma, principally to represent the University of Sheffield at the inauguration of the new GOTO telescope, yesterday.  I was able to take a couple of days over the weekend to visit the site of the famous “mega-landslide” that, some people have suggested, could create a damaging Atlantic tsunami (noting of course that I am, like many others, a real skeptic of this theory).  I have written about this slide – and the rather extreme interpretation that is needed to generate the sort of tsunami that has hit the headlines – previously, but this was the first time I have visited.  In the post I will provide some photos of the site; I will then examine the hypothesis in more detail in a subsequent post.

The first thing to note is that La Palma is gorgeous, it has been a pleasure to visit.  The geology is remarkable too.  The hypothesis is that “mega-landslide” would involve a huge mass on the southern end of the island slipping to the west.  This is a slide on the flank of the Cumbre Vieja volcano – which is fact an elongated volcanic ridge consisting of multiple volcanic cones, some of which date from the 1970s.  This is a view along the ridge from the north:-

A view looking south along the Cumbre Vieja ridge (in the distance). The “mega-landslide” would involve sliding of the mass to to the west (the right on this photography)

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This is a view of the Cumbre Vieja ridge from the south:

The west flank of the Cumbre Vieja ridge.

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A hike along the ridge gives a good sense of the nature of the volcanic peaks that are supposedly being pulled apart by the potential landslide:-

A volcanic peak along the Cumbre Vieja ridge.

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Of course it would be remiss of me not to mention the telescopes that I was there to visit.  This is sunset at the observatory:

Sunset at the astronomical observatory in La Palma.

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Sometimes its not so hard to be a University Vice-President.   I will post some more about the “mega-landslide” in the coming days,