Pico do Fogo
Pico do Fogo ("Fire peak") is the highest peak of Cape Verde, rising to 2,829 m (9,281 ft) above sea level. It is an active stratovolcano lying on the island of Fogo. The last eruption of the main volcanic cone was in 1675 and all the people living in the island had to leave.
 View of the peak. | |
| Elevation | 2,829 m (9,281 ft)[1] |
|---|---|
| Prominence | 2,829 m (9,281 ft) |
| Listing | Country high point |
| Location | |
| Location | Fogo, Cape Verde |
| Geology | |
| Type | Stratovolcano |
| Last eruption | 1995 |
A lateral vent (the opening of a volcano from which lava flows) erupted in 1995. The only deadly eruption was in 1847 when earthquakes produced in all the island claimed several lives. Volcanic lava has reached the eastern coast of the island in historical times.
Its most spectacular feature is a volcanic crater (or caldera, caldeira in Portuguese) that is about 9 km (6 mi) wide, with a border (bordeira in Portuguese) that is about 1 km (1 mi) high. The crater has a slit in its eastern wall, and a large peak like a volcanic cone rises in its center that. The central cone is the highest point of the island (2829 m) and its peak is about 100 m higher than the bordeira that surrounds the crater.[1]
The lowest elevation of the floor of the caldeira, known as Chã das Caldeiras ("Plain of the Calderas") is 1,625 m (5,331 ft). There are, within the caldeira, two villages which were evacuated during the last eruption. Traditionally, grapes are grown on the inner slopes of the bordeira and there is some subsistence agriculture on the caldeira floor.[2]
The mountain's slopes are used to grow coffee, while its lava is used as building material.
The Fea's petrel (Pterodroma feae), a Near Threatened species of bird, breeds in this mountain.[2]
The endemic plants Echium vulcanorum and Erysimum caboverdeanum are only known to occur on the outer rim of the volcano.[2]
Pico Do Fogo Media
The volcano’s most distinctive feature, its nine-kilometre wide caldera, Cha Caldera, is shown in this image. The crater wall in the west towers one kilometre above the crater floor. The eastern half of the crater wall is gone, erased in a massive collapse deep in its ancient history. Evidence of the volcano’s more recent eruptive history is written on the surface of the crater as well.
Chã das Caldeiras and main ash cone, Fogo, 2009
Pico do Fogo along with Henrique Teixeira da Sousa in a Capeverdean $200 escudo note
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Error: no vnum specified when using {{cite gvp}}
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Volcano area, Ilha do Fogo". Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs). BirdLife International. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
Other websites
- Fogo, Cape Verde Islands at NASA Earth Observatory
- Observatório Vulcanológico de Cabo Verde (OVCV) Archived 2013-06-13 at the Wayback Machine