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In the center of the island is a huge volcanic crater - Las Cañadas. Las Cañadas, together with El Teide, was declared a national park in 1954. Mount Teide is the highest peak in Spain, standing at almost 12,200 feet and formed around a million years ago. Pico de Teide (28.3N, 16.6W), a large stratovolcano volcano with a summit caldera, is the highest elevation in all the Atlantic Ocean and the third largest volcano on Earth. Like Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea (the first and second largest volcanoes), Pico de Teide is a shield volcano. Elevation at the summit of the volcano is 12,188.3 feet (3,718 m). The age of the main subaerial shield phase for Tenerife is about 5 million years. The Las Cañadas depression formed by a combination of explosive emptying of a high-level magma chamber and collapse and lateral movement of the summit. The most recent eruption was on the northwest flank of the volcano in 1909. It lasted only ten days, producing lava flows that caused some damage.
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Western Europe
