Abstract

El Hierro, the youngest island of the Canary Islands, emerged from the ocean floor only 1.2 Ma ago and it is still in its youngest stage (shield volcanism). During its growth, the island passed from the submarine stage to the subaerial activity, constructing an island that had been modified by at least six large destructive flank collapses or giant landslides, a common feature in the development of the basaltic oceanic islands. Throughout the period of its evolution, it showed different eruptive styles, developing two main edifices. The last 160 kyrs the activity has been characterized by the rift volcanism, resulting in a three-arms rift construction. This chapter provides with a comprehensive picture of the evolution of the island and generate a baseline of knowledge that will encourage a further study on volcanic processes related to the hot spot volcanism. In this work, we describe, not only the geological evolution of the island, but also review the existed petrological, geochemical and geochronological data. Furthermore, we use this data to generate the probable future eruptive scenarios. We conclude with an updated and synthesized review of the recent 2011–2012 submarine eruption.