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Old 12-13-2008, 01:14 PM   #3768 (permalink)
BadNick
Riding the Ocean Spray
 
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Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa
tweet tweet...you got me, unc. I am in the Canary Islands.

The Canary Islands, Coordinates: 28°06′N 15°24′W / 28.1, -15.4 are a Spanish archipelago. The archipelago consists of seven major islands, one minor island, and several small islets. They are of volcanic origin and can be found in the North Atlantic Ocean. These islands are located just off the coast of the north-western portion of the African continent/mainland, nearest the political divide of Morocco and Western Sahara. They form the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. The Canary Islands were formed by the Canary hotspot. The status of capital city is shared by the two cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

The city of La Laguna in Tenerife (World Heritage Site) is the third city of the archipelago. Also the Teide is A World Heritage Site.






The islands form the Macaronesia ecoregion with the Azores, Cape Verde, Madeira, and the Savage Isles. The archipelago consists of seven large and several smaller islands, all of which are volcanic in origin. The Teide volcano on Tenerife is the highest mountain in Spain, and the third largest volcano on Earth on a volcanic ocean island. All the islands except La Gomera have been active in the last million years; four of them (Lanzarote, Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro) have historical records of eruptions since European discovery. The islands rise from Jurassic oceanic crust associated with the opening of the Atlantic. Underwater magmatism commenced during the Cretaceous, and reached the ocean's surface during the Miocene. The islands are considered as a distinct physiographic section of the Atlas Mountains province, which in turn is part of the larger African Alpine System division.

According to the position of the islands with respect to the NE trade winds, the climate can be mild and wet or very dry. Several native species form laurisilva forests.
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