The Las Caٌadas caldera (Tenerife, Canary Islands): an overlapping collapse caldera generated by magma-chamber migration

The Las Cañadas caldera is one of the most important geological structures of Tenerife. Stratigraphic, structural, volcanological, petrological, geochronological, and geophysical data suggest that the Las Cañadas caldera resulted from multiple vertical collapse episodes that occurred during the construction of the Las Cañadas edifice Upper Group. Three long-term (≥200 ka) cycles of phonolitic explosive activity, each culminating with a caldera collapse, have been identified in the Upper Group. During the construction of the Upper Group, the focus of felsic volcanism migrated from west to east. Using the results of field observations, experimental analogue models and numerical studies, we propose that the formation of the overlapping Las Cañadas collapse caldera is related to the migration of the associated magma chamber. Our model implies that each collapse of this overlapping caldera partly, or completely, destroyed the feeding magma chamber. This destruction led to changes in the local stress field that favoured the formation of a new chamber at one side of the previous one, resulting in magma-chamber migration. The proposed model accounts for the formation of the Las Cañadas caldera. In particular, it explains the geometrical relationships, stratigraphy and chronology of the caldera wall deposits. Comparison with other overlapping collapse calderas suggests that our model may apply to other overlapping calderas.