Editing Azores (section)

==== Volcanoes ====
The islands' volcanism is associated with the [[rift]]ing along the [[Azores triple junction]]; the spread of the crust along the existing faults and fractures has produced many of the active volcanic and seismic events,<ref name="Ferreira, 2005, p. 4">Ferreira (2005) p 4</ref> while supported by buoyant upwelling in the deeper mantle, some associate with an [[Azores hotspot]].<ref>Ting Yang, ''et al''. (2006) p 20</ref> Most of the volcanic activity has centered, primarily, along the Terceira Rift.<ref name="Carracedo 674–699"/>

From the beginning of the islands' settlement, around the 15th century, there have been 28 registered volcanic eruptions (15 terrestrial and 13 submarine). The last significant volcanic eruption, the [[Capelinhos]] volcano ({{lang|pt|Vulcão dos Capelinhos}}), occurred off the coast of the island of Faial in 1957; the most recent volcanic activity occurred in the seamounts and submarine volcanoes off the coast of Serreta and in the Pico-São Jorge Channel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Erupções vulcânicas históricas |trans-title=Historical Volcanic Eruptions |publisher=Centro de Vulcanologia e Avaliação de Riscos Geológicos (CVARG) |year=2010 |url=http://www.cvarg.azores.gov.pt/Cvarg/CentroVulcanologia/geologiaacores/GA+-+Vulcanismo+Historico.htm |access-date=15 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305153226/http://www.cvarg.azores.gov.pt/Cvarg/CentroVulcanologia/geologiaacores/GA+-+Vulcanismo+Historico.htm |archive-date=5 March 2012}}; Evidence for the submarine eruptions off the coasts of [[Velas, Azores]], [[São Jorge Island]] and Cachorro, [[Santa Luzia (São Roque do Pico)|Santa Luzia]], [[Pico Island]] included primarily from inferences and eyewitness testimonies about sulfuric gases and vapors released from the waters along the coast (15–24&nbsp;February 1964 and 15&nbsp;December 1963, respectively)</ref>

[[File:Algar do Carvao, isla de Terceira, Azores, Portugal, 2020-07-25, DD 53-55 HDR.jpg|left|thumb|[[Algar do Carvão]] volcanic cave on Terceira Island]]
The islands have many examples of volcano-built geomorphology including caves and [[lava tube]]s (such as the [[Gruta das Torres]], [[Algar do Carvão]], [[Gruta do Natal]], Gruta das Cinco Ribeiras), the coastal lava fields (like the coast of [[Feteiras]], Faial, the Mistério of [[Prainha (São Roque do Pico)|Prainha]] or São João on Pico Island) in addition to the inactive cones in central São Miguel Island, the aforementioned Capelinhos on Faial, the volcanic complexes of Terceira or [[Plinian eruption|Plinian]] caldeira of Corvo Island.
The islands of the archipelago were formed through volcanic and seismic activity during the [[Neogene]] Period; the first embryonic surfaces started to appear in the waters of Santa Maria during the [[Miocene|Miocene epoch]] (from circa 8&nbsp;million years ago).

The sequence of the island formation has been generally characterized as: Santa Maria (8.12 Ma), São Miguel (4.1 Ma), Terceira (3.52 Ma), Graciosa (2.5 Ma), Flores (2.16 Ma), Faial (0.7 Ma), São Jorge (0.55 Ma), Corvo (0.7 Ma) and the youngest, Pico (0.27 Ma).<ref name="Carine, 2010, p. 78">Carine, 2010, p. 78</ref> All islands have experienced volcanism during their geological history, with Late Holocene volcanism being recorded from Flores<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Andrade |first1=Mariana |last2=Ramalho |first2=Ricardo S. |last3=Pimentel |first3=Adriano |last4=Hernández |first4=Armand |last5=Kutterolf |first5=Steffen |last6=Sáez |first6=Alberto |last7=Benavente |first7=Mario |last8=Raposeiro |first8=Pedro M. |last9=Giralt |first9=Santiago |date=29 September 2021 |title=Unraveling the Holocene Eruptive History of Flores Island (Azores) Through the Analysis of Lacustrine Sedimentary Records |journal=[[Frontiers in Earth Science]] |volume=9 |page=889 |doi=10.3389/feart.2021.738178 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021FrEaS...9..889A |issn=2296-6463 |hdl=2445/180382 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> and Faial.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Góis-Marques |first1=C.A. |last2=Rubiales |first2=J.M. |last3=de Nascimento |first3=L. |last4=Menezes de Sequeira |first4=M. |last5=Fernández-Palacios |first5=J.M. |last6=Madeira |first6=J. |date=February 2020 |title=Oceanic Island forests buried by Holocene (Meghalayan) explosive eruptions: palaeobiodiversity in pre-anthropic volcanic charcoal from Faial Island (Azores, Portugal) and its palaeoecological implications |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0034666719302386 |journal=[[Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology]] |language=en |volume=273 |pages=104116 |doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2019.104116 |bibcode=2020RPaPa.27304116G |hdl=10451/51565 |access-date=5 May 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|hdl-access=free }}</ref> Within recorded "human settlement" history the islands of Santa Maria, Graciosa, Flores, and Corvo have not experienced any volcanic eruptions; in addition to active fumaroles and hot-springs, the remaining islands have had sporadic eruptions since the 14th century. Apart from the Capelinhos volcano in 1957–1958, the last recorded instance of "island formation" occurred off the coast of São Miguel, when the island of [[Sabrina Island (Azores)|Sabrina]] was briefly formed.