Day 5 The Jandia Peninsula

Our guide book - Carracedo and Day's "Canarian Volcanoes" - warned that this could be a long day but it was not such a long drive as we had been led to expect: perhaps the roads have been improved in the last 10 years?
We headed south past Gran Tarajal and Tarajalejo onto the Jandia isthmus where we made our first stop to look at the carbonate sands that cover this area and compare them with those we'd seen at Corralejo which have a similar origin. Looking for somewhere to pull off the road our lead car was perhaps a little hasty - we hit a patch of soft sand and had to be pushed back onto something a tad firmer before we continued! In the excitement I forgot to take any pix :(
We went on to the next recommended stop in Valle de los Canarios: the access is a little convoluted since it involves going past the valley mouth, off the dual carriageway, round a couple of roundabouts, back the way you came and under the main road. By this time we were ready for a coffee and stopped at a filling station. There was a good exposure of the shield basalt lava beside the cafe which was rather fortunate since when we came to drive up the valley we found that the road was barred with a locked gate and the alternate access ended in a farm yard.

The lava flow by the cafe

Subaerial shield basalt in close up: phenocrysts of black pyroxene, white plagioclase feldspar and orange, weathered olivine.

 Continuing SW along the coast we stopped at the mouth of another of the broad valleys that have been eroded into the flanks of the Jandia volcano where we had an opportunity to look around at loose material on the ground as well as at the sections through the volcano that are exposed in the valley sides.

A valley eroded into the SE flank of the Jandia shield volcano

Northern valley wall: there are supposed to be two phases of eruption, separated by an erosional unconformity. We saw some evidence of this around the island

Dykes intruding lava flows in the headwall of the valley. These would have fed later eruptions

 From here we went on to the Degollada de Agua Oveja: a graded track leads up and over the arcuate ridge which is all that remains of the Jandia volcano. Most of it has disappeared NW into the Atlantic - perhaps in one mega flank collapse but more likely in a series of smaller slips. The scar is impressive... provided you can stand upright long enough to admire it! The wind was ferocious!

NW Face of what remains of the Jandia volcano

Jean, Jan A-J (the trip organiser) and Gill braving the wind at the top of the pass

 By now it was lunchtime so we continued west to the little fishing village of El Puertito  where we found a cafe where we were able to sit out of the wind.

The beach at El Puertito is cut by dykes

Faro de Jandia from El Puertito

Beach-comber art at El Puertito

 Finally we made our way to the lighthouse on the headland, though unfortunately as it was a Monday the exhibition wasn't open.

Jandia Faro

Dunes in the lee of bushes Punta da Jandia

A longish drive and, perhaps, less of geological interest than in some other areas but the views, and the topography are stunning! Well worth spending a day there.