Black lava beach, El Golfo, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain Sep 24, 2026

Black lava beach, El Golfo, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

On Lanzarote, part of Spain"s Canary Islands, geology got carried away. Dark sand meets the Atlantic beneath cliffs streaked with ochre and rust, the handiwork of volcanic activity spanning millions of years. One chapter of this story arrived remarkably recently: between 1730 and 1736, numerous vents opened across Lanzarote, sending lava over dozens of square kilometres and burying roads, villages and farmland.

© Westend61/Adobe Stock

palette

Today in History

Starry, starry night
Sep. 24, 2023World Rivers Day
Sep. 24, 2024Skaftafell, Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland
Sep. 24, 2025Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming, United States

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Feb. 11, 2026Death Valley National Park, California, United States
Nov. 24, 2025Gwalior Fort, Madhya Pradesh, India
Jan. 31, 2024International Zebra Day
Bridging the gap two ways
Sports where you least expect it
Oct 6, 2026International Geodiversity Day
International Archaeology Day
Sep. 7, 2024Annas hummingbird
Masterpiece of acoustic science
A modern recreation
Jul 12, 2026Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Maine, USA
Sep. 10, 2024Vasco da Gama Bridge, Lisbon, Portugal
Look up, incoming…
Sep. 21, 2023International Day of Peace
For Mother’s Day, we salute these marsupial moms
Oct. 4, 2025Nuit Blanche Toronto
Mar. 2, 2024Modica, Sicily, Italy
As curious about you as you are about them
Aug 2, 2026Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
Aug. 23, 2025St. Barbaras Cathedral, Kutná Hora, Czechia
Feb. 23, 2024Haghartsin Monastery, Armenia
Nov. 11, 2024Banff National Park, Alberta
The road less taken?
Today, a nation was born
Nov. 8, 2023West Indian manatees, Crystal River
Sep. 21, 2025Sea Otter Awareness Week
Sep. 1, 2024River Thames, London, England
Aug. 6, 2025Ring-tailed lemur
Oct 5, 2026World Teachers Day
Nov. 19, 2024Tasmans Arch, Tasman National Park, Tasmania, Australia