Crater
Original title: Cratera
Describes the few recognisable volcanic craters of Madeira, chiefly at Santo da Serra, Porto Moniz and Fanal, and the debate over whether the Curral das Freiras is a crater or an erosion valley.
The few easily recognisable craters in Madeira are not found in the highest parts of the island, where they certainly once existed, but in the middle and lower regions.
The best known of the Madeiran craters is that of Santo da Serra (‘the saint of the uplands’), about 600 metres above sea level, whose highest point stands 60 or 70 metres above the surrounding land. It is shallow, holds water in winter, and some plants typical of waterlogged places grow inside it.
There is also a crater at Porto Moniz, near Terra Chã (‘flat land’), and another at Fanal (‘beacon’), the latter being a double crater. The Porto Moniz crater, like that of Santo António da Serra, has a cone, a feature not found at Fanal.
Near Caniço (‘reed’) there are three cones with imperfect craters, and at Caniçal (‘reed bed’) there is a cone with a crater on one side. On the Pico da Irandaia, west of Funchal and near the church of São Roque (St Roch), traces of craters are also found.
The craters of Santo António da Serra, Porto Moniz and Fanal are known as lagoas (lagoons).
Some geologists regard the Curral das Freiras (‘nuns’ fold’) as a crater, others as an erosion valley. Charles Lyell, who holds the latter view, states in his Elements of Geology that he found no signs of volcanic action in the Curral, and that this locality, like the Ribeira da Janela (‘window stream’) and the Serra de Água, is one of the deep valleys radiating from the most mountainous region of the island.
In this article
Place
Places mentioned · 12
- Caniçal
Machico. Has a cone with a crater on one side.
Isolated fishing parish at the eastern tip of Madeira, at the root of Ponta de São Lourenço. It originated as a Moniz entail and João Teixeira's hunting reserve and became a parish around 1561. It holds a Piedade feast with a boat procession and has a fort built after a pirate raid.
- Caniço
Santa Cruz. Three cones with imperfect craters lie nearby.
Caniço is a parish in the municipality of Santa Cruz, lying on the boundary between the captaincies of Funchal and Machico. Its early settlers included Gaspar Rego, Vasco Fernandes Rego and Álvaro de Ornelas, whose family founded morgados there; its alcaide and judge were appointed by the Funchal senate. The parish includes the Garajau statue, the Jesuits' Socorro residence and the Quinta do Barão da Conceição.
- Church of St Roch
Funchal. Crater traces are found near this church.
Crater traces are found near this church.
- Curral das Freiras
Câmara de Lobos. Debated as either a crater or an erosion valley.
Small inland parish set in a deep valley believed to be an extinct volcanic crater and Madeira's main eruptive focus. The estate was bought for the nuns of Santa Clara, who fled there in 1566 and gave it their name, and it was created a parish in 1790. It was earlier a pasture and a refuge for runaway slaves and criminals, and it became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
- Fanal
Porto Moniz. Site of a double crater without a cone.
Upland site in the hills of Seixal and Ribeira da Janela with a double crater without a cone that becomes a winter lake, great trees and fine views. The best feral pigs are found there, and its forests were damaged by fire in 1919.
- Funchal
Reference point for the Pico da Irandaia.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Pico da Irandaia
Funchal. Shows traces of craters west of Funchal.
Shows traces of craters west of Funchal.
- Porto Moniz
Has a crater with a cone near Terra Chã.
North-western parish and municipality with a quay and a tolerable port that serves as a good landing when southerly winds close the south coast. It has one of the oldest Magdalene chapels in northern Madeira, whose feast falls on 22 July. It was the birthplace of Dr Manuel Gomes Jardim.
- Ribeira da Janela
Porto Moniz. Cited by Lyell as a deep valley radiating from the central mountains.
Ribeira da Janela is a parish on Madeira's north-west coast in the municipality of Porto Moniz. It is named after the island's longest and most abundant stream, which rises on the Paul da Serra and feeds the Rabaçal levadas, and after a window-like islet near its mouth. Its uplands include Fanal, and its forests were damaged by fire in 1919.
- Santo António da Serra
Machico. Site of the best-known Madeiran crater, at about 600 metres.
An upland parish on a plateau above Santa Cruz and Machico, divided between those two municipalities. The Elucidário covers its settlement, church and Protestant troubles, and the short-lived Aldeia da Rainha colony of Porto Santo settlers. It also records its quintas, its lagoon, Burnay's dairy factory and the exile of a bishop there.
- Serra de Água
Ribeira Brava. Cited by Lyell as another deep radiating valley.
Serra de Água is an inland parish of Ribeira Brava whose name recalls former water-powered sawmills; it was created as a vicarage in 1676 and in 1834 formed part of Funchal municipality. It borders Estreito de Câmara de Lobos and the Encumeada pass, where a rest house was built in 1939, is a cherry-growing area, and was the planned site of a hydro-electric power station.
- Terra Chã
Câmara de Lobos. Locality near which the Porto Moniz crater lies.
Terra Chã is recorded as a principal locality of Curral das Freiras parish. It is also noted as the locality near which the Porto Moniz crater lies.
People
People mentioned · 01- Charles Lyell1797–1875
British geologist who, in his Elements of Geology, held that the Curral das Freiras is an erosion valley rather than a crater.