标签 加那利群岛 下的文章

鸟瞰兰萨罗特岛的La Geria葡萄园，西班牙加那利群岛 Aerial view of La Geria vineyards, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain (© Orbon Alija/Getty Images)

Volcanic vineyards

What you can see today in our picture is a bird view of La Geria vineyards, in the Canary island of Lanzarote. They have been there since 18th century and are cultivated following a very special technique, because the vines are planted under the volcanic lapilli, a blanket of ash about two and a half meters thick that covers the land since Timanfaya volcano erupted in 1730 transforming the landscape forever.

To reach the fertile soil, farmers first dig a cone-shaped hole and then build a small stone wall to protect the vines from the trade winds. And since the volcanic ash on the surface prevents rainwater evaporation and captures environmental moisture, plants do not even need added watering.

The variety the most cultivated in this place is volcanic Malvasia, a very special and also very delicate white grape allowing both dry and sweet wines. Due to its unique characteristics, La Geria has also been a protected area since 1987, just as the neighbour Timanfaya National Park, where you can see up to 25 volcanoes concentrated in 51 square kilometers.

鸟瞰戈梅拉岛上管风琴形状的玄武岩，西班牙加那利群岛 (© Martin Siepmann/Image BROKER/Offset by Shutterstock)

大西洋和特内里费山脉上空的流云，西班牙加那利群岛 Flowing clouds over the Atlantic Ocean and Tenerife mountains, Canary Islands, Spain (© MikeMareen/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Sea of clouds

What you can see in our photo is a sea of clouds over the island of Tenerife, in Spain, a very common atmospheric phenomenon in the Canary archipelago. It is formed when the Trade winds arriving full of humidity from the ocean cannot rise due to a temperature inversion experimented above, so they form stracocumulus between 500 and 1,500 meters high.

Stratocumulus are large round shaped clouds formed in low altitude that cannot develop vertically because the dry and stable atmosphere above prevents them from rising. In addition to this, in north Tenerife they usually get stucked in the skirts of the mountains. That is why this place is one of the best to watch these flowing clouds. Its colour is usually dark, but at certain moments, such as at dawn showed in our image, the clouds acquire a bluish hue similar to the sea.

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