Fajã d'Alem

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Fajã d'Alem
Debris Field (Fajã)
Country  Portugal
Autonomous Region  Azores
Group Central
Island São Jorge
Municipality Calheta
Civil parish Norte Grande
River Ribeira das Queijadas
Biomes Temperate, Mediterranean
Geology Alkali basalt, Tephra, Trachyte, Trachybasalt
Orogeny Volcanism
Period Holocene
Management Secretário Regional do Ambiente e do Mar
 - location Rua Cônsul Dabney - Colónia Alemã, 140, Horta, Faial
 - elevation 28 m (92 ft)
 - coordinates 38°32′2″N 28°37′45″W / 38.53389°N 28.62917°W
Owner Regional Government of the Azores
For public Public
Visitation Accessible by foot, yet restricted during periods of inclimate weather
Easiest access By dirt trail from Fajã de Entre Poios and Fajã do Cerrado das Silvas
Geographic detail from CAOP (2010)[1] produced by Instituto Geográfico Português (IGP)

The Fajã d'Alem is a permanent debris field, known as a fajã, built from the collapsing cliffs on the northern coast of the civil parish of Norte Grande, in the municipality of the same name, island of São Jorge, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores.

Geography

The fajã is situated between Fajã da Ponta Nova and Fajã da Fajanzinha at the mouth of the Ribeira das Queijadas, and can be reached by the E.R.1-2ª regional roadway, between the villages of Santo António and Norte Grande.[1] It is not completely accessible by vehicles, but reachable by a trail beginning in Ermida (Santo António), that extends to the cliff.[1][2] The trails then continues along an long, accented winding route down the escarpment, through stone staircases, to the isolated shoreline.[2]

Normally abandoned throughout the year, the residents of the Fajã d'Além normally return to the fajã in the summer months, resulting in a population of about 40 people.[2] During three months out of the year, is difficult to observe the sun, owing to the very steep slopes of the escarpment.[2]

References

Notes
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 IGP, ed. (2010), Carta Administrativa Oficial de Portugal (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: Instituto Geográfico Português, retrieved 1 July 2011
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 SRAM (2012)
Sources

See also