Selvagens
The Selvagens Archipelago is a set of two islands 15 km apart from each other, and numerous islets. It occurs between latitudes 30°01’ and 30°10’ N and longitudes 16°03’ and 15°50’W, 280 km south of Madeira Island and 165 km north of the Canary Islands.
The oldest subaerial ages of the islands vary from 29.5 Ma (Selvagem Pequena) to 25.7 Ma (Selvagem Grande; Geldmacher et al., 2001), and are interpreted as the emerged portion of two deeply eroded shield volcanoes.
Reports on the presence of Miocene and Pleistocene marine sedimentary deposits are known for Selvagem Grande (Zbyszewski et al., 1979) but for Selvagem Pequena only Last Interglacial marine sedimentary deposits are reported (García-Talavera & Sánchez-Pinto, 2001).
Bibliography
GARCÍA-TALAVERA, F. & L. SÁNCHEZ-PINTO, 2001. Moluscos marinos fósiles de Selvagem Pequenha e Ilheu de Fora (Islas Salvajes). Descripción de uma nueva especie de neogasterópodo. Revista de la Academia Canaria de Ciencias, 13 (4): 9–21.
GELDMACHER, J., K. HOERNLE, P. VAN DEN BOGAARD, G. ZANKL & D. GARBE-SCHÖNBERG, 2001. Earlier history of the C70-Ma-old Canary hotspot based on the temporal and geochemical evolution of the Selvagens archipelago and neighboring seamounts in the eastern north Atlantic. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 111: 55–87.
ZBYSZEWSKI, G., O. da VEIGA FERREIRA, L. AIRES-BARROS, M.J. MATIAS, T. BRAVO & J. COELLO, 1979. Notícia Explicativa da Folha das Ilhas Selvagens. Serviços Geológicos de Portugal, Lisboa.
How to cite:
MPDb (2023). Selvagens. Macaronesian Palaeobiodiversity Database. https://macpaleo.uac.pt/