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Capelinhos
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Capelinhos

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Also known as Capelinhos Volcano, Capelinhos Mountain, Volcano of Capelinhos

The Capelinhos (from diminutive, which literally means "little cape") is a monogenetic volcano located on the western coast of Faial Island in the Azores. It is part of the larger volcanic complex of Capelo, which includes 20 scoria cones and lava fields that are aligned west-northwest to east-southeast from the Caldeira Volcano caldera. Although the name "Capelinhos" is associated with the volcano, it technically refers to the western cape of the parish of Capelo. It can be considered the westernmost point of Europe; there are more westerly islands in the Azores archipelago but they lie on th

Key facts

Mountain.name
Capelinhos
Mountain.photo
Vulcao dos Capelinhos.jpg
Mountain.elevation_m
501
Mountain.location
Faial Island, Azores
Mountain.range
Capelo Volcanic Complex
Mountain.type
Surtseyan (from 27 September 1957 to 13 May 1958) Strombolian (from 14 May 1958 to 24 October 1958)
Mountain.age
between and
Mountain.last_eruption
1957 to 1958

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Elevation
143
Image
CapelinhosFaialAzores1.jpg
Show 1 more fact
Commons category
Capelinhos
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~10 min read

Article

8 sections
Contents
  • Geography and ecology
  • IUGS geological heritage site
  • History
  • Tourism
  • References
  • Notes
  • Sources
  • External links

The Capelinhos (from diminutive, which literally means "little cape") is a monogenetic volcano located on the western coast of Faial Island in the Azores. It is part of the larger volcanic complex of Capelo, which includes 20 scoria cones and lava fields that are aligned west-northwest to east-southeast from the Caldeira Volcano caldera. Although the name "Capelinhos" is associated with the volcano, it technically refers to the western cape of the parish of Capelo. It can be considered the westernmost point of Europe; there are more westerly islands in the Azores archipelago but they lie on the North American Plate.

A volcanic eruption lasted for 13 months, from September 27, 1957 until October 24, 1958, which may have been two overlapping volcanic eruptions. While enlarging the land by 2.4 km2, it spawned 300 seismic events, hurled ash 1 km, destroyed 300 houses in the parishes of Capelo and Praia do Norte and caused the evacuation of 2,000 people (emigration to the US and Canada). On October 25, the volcano entered a period of dormancy. It is a part of an active fissural volcanic complex which creates multiple seismic and volcanic events.

Gallery (4)

On the map

3 mapped locations

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