Cueva del Viento

Cueva del Viento-Sobrado ("Wind Cave") underground complex is the largest lava tube in the European Union[1] and the fifth largest in the world, behind a series of lava tubes in Hawaii.[2] It was created by lava flows from Pico Viejo, next to Mount Teide. The cave is located in the town of Icod de los Vinos in the north of the island of Tenerife, Spain.

It extends more than 17 kilometres (11 mi) and contains three different levels of passageways, each full of geomorphological phenomena such as lava pits and terraces.

The cave is rich in fossils of the "Canarian megafauna". Bones of Lacerta goliath and Canariomys bravoi, respectively an extinct giant lizard and rat, have been found. Archaeological remains of the Guanches, the ancient inhabitants of Tenerife, were found in several entries to the tube system.

References

  1. ↑ Cueva del Viento, Official Website
  2. ↑ Worlds longest lava tubes

External links

Coordinates: 28°20′48″N 16°43′20″W / 28.34667°N 16.72222°W / 28.34667; -16.72222

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