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Northland Temperate Forests
The North Island temperate forests, also known as the Northland temperate forests, is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion on New Zealand’s North Island. Geography The ecoregion has an area of , which covers most of the North Island. The ecoregion extends from sea level to high volcanic peaks. The northern portion of the island, including the Northland Peninsula, Coromandel Peninsula, and the lowland region around Hamilton, are part of the separate Northland temperate kauri forests ecoregion. The North Island Volcanic Plateau occupies the center of the island. Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake, sits in a volcanic caldera formed during a violent eruption 2000 years ago. The volcanic peaks of Mount Tongariro (1,978 m), Mount Ngauruhoe (2,291 m), and Mount Ruapehu (2,797 m) lie south of Lake Taupō. Much of the plateau is covered lava fields, volcanic mudflows (lahars), and deposits of volcanic ash. Mount Taranaki (2,518 m) is an active volcano, which lies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egmont National Park
Egmont National Park () is located south of New Plymouth, close to the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The park covers Mount Taranaki and its slopes. The park was first created in 1881 as a forest reserve and went on to become New Zealand’s second national park in 1900. The forest reserve was created within a 6-mile (9.6-kilometre) radius around the cone of the dormant volcano. Areas encompassing the older volcanic remnants of Pouakai and Kaitake were later added to the reserve at the northwest side. The forest is surrounded on all sides by pasture, giving it a distinctly circular shape. Ecology The park receives massive annual rainfall. Moist westerlies from the Tasman Sea form Orographic precipitation when they reach Mount Taranaki and the adjacent Pouakai and Kaitake ranges. Since the area has high annual rainfall and a mild coastal climate there is a lush rainforest covering the foothills, a forest that is nationally significant for the total absence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Island Volcanic Plateau
The North Island Volcanic Plateau (often called the Central Plateau and occasionally the Waimarino Plateau) is a volcanic plateau covering much of central North Island of New Zealand with volcanoes, lava plateaus, and crater lakes. It contains the Taupō caldera complex, Okataina caldera complex and Tongariro Volcanic Centre being currently the most frequently active and productive area of silicic volcanism on Earth. New Zealand is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Location and description The plateau is approximately east–west and the north–south distance is about . Extensive ignimbrite sheets spread east and west from the Central Taupō Volcanic Zone, centred on the huge active supervolcanic caldera of Lake Taupō, now the largest lake in New Zealand. This last erupted less than 2000 years ago. The volcanic area includes the three active peaks of Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngāuruhoe, and Mount Ruapehu in the south, and extends beyond Rotorua in the north reaching ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Igneous Rock
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main The three types of rocks, rock types, the others being Sedimentary rock, sedimentary and metamorphic rock, metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from Partial melting, partial melts of existing rocks in either a Terrestrial planet, planet's mantle (geology), mantle or crust (geology), crust. Typically, the melting is caused by one or more of three processes: an increase in temperature, a decrease in pressure, or a change in composition. Solidification into rock occurs either below the surface as intrusive rocks or on the surface as extrusive (geology), extrusive rocks. Igneous rock may form with crystallization to form granular, crystalline rocks, or without crystallization to form Volcanic glass, natural glasses. Igneous rocks occur in a wide range of geological settings: shields, platforms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greywacke
Greywacke or graywacke (German ''grauwacke'', signifying a grey, earthy rock) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found in Paleozoic strata. The larger grains can be sand- to gravel-sized, and matrix materials generally constitute more than 15% of the rock by volume. The term "greywacke" can be confusing, since it can refer to either the immature (rock fragment) aspect of the rock or its fine-grained (clay) component. The origin of greywacke was unknown until turbidity currents and turbidites were understood, since, according to the normal laws of sedimentation, gravel, sand and mud should not be laid down together. Geologists now attribute its formation to submarine avalanches or strong turbidity currents. These actions churn sediment and cause mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Cape
East Cape is the easternmost point of the main islands of New Zealand. It is located at the northern end of the Gisborne District of New Zealand's North Island. It can also refer to the broader Gisborne cape. East Cape was originally named "Cape East" by British explorer James Cook during his 1769–1779 voyage. It is one of four Cardinal Capes, alongside North Cape, West Cape and South Cape. Maritime New Zealand operates the East Cape Lighthouse is located at the cape's easternmost point.East Cape Lighthouse , . Retrieved 1 December 2009. The small |
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metro area, and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the world's southernmost capital of a sovereign state. Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average wind speed. Legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the region in about the 10th century, with initial settlement by Māori iwi such as Rangitāne and Muaūpoko. The disruptions of the Musket Wars led to them being overwhelmed by northern iwi such as Te Āti Awa by the early 19th century. Wellington's current form was originally designed by Captain William Mein Smith, the first Surveyor General for Edward Wakefield's New Zealand Company, in 1840. The Wellington urban area, which only includes urbanised ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaimanawa Range
The Kaimanawa Range of mountains (often known as the ''Kaimanawas'') is located in the central North Island of New Zealand. They extend for 50 kilometres in a northeast/southwest direction through largely uninhabited country to the south of Lake Taupō, east of the "Desert Road". Their slopes form part of the North Island Volcanic Plateau. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "breath for food" for ''Kaimanawa''. The lands around the mountains are scrubby. To the west, where the Rangipo Desert is located, the soils are poor quality. To the east, the soils are more fertile, but the land is very rough. A feral horse, the Kaimanawa horse. roams free on the ranges. Unlike the majority of mountain ranges in New Zealand, the Kaimanawa Range is divided into private land. Considerable areas of the Rangipo Desert are used by the New Zealand Army for training. Demographics Kaimanawa covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population den ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tararua Range
The Tararua Range, often referred to as the Tararua Ranges or Tararua, is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand. The Tararua Range runs northeast–southwest for from near Palmerston North to the upper reaches of the Hutt Valley, where the northern tip of the Remutaka Range begins. It is separated in the north from the southern end of the Ruahine Range by the Manawatu Gorge. Most of the Range is wilderness, protected as the Tararua Forest Park. The highest peak in the Tararua Range is Pukeamoamo / Mitre (not to be confused with Mitre Peak) at . Other prominent peaks include Mount Bannister at and Mount Hector at , which is named after the scientist Sir James Hector. Its Māori name is Pukemoumou, or 'hill of desolation'. Geography The Tararua Range is divided into two distinct northern and southern regions. Each of these is dominated by a central mountain peak: Arete in the north and Hector in the south. A total of ten rivers rise on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Taranaki
Mount Taranaki (), also known as Mount Egmont, is a dormant stratovolcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is the second highest point in the North Island, after Mount Ruapehu. The mountain has a secondary cone, Fanthams Peak ( mi, Panitahi), , on its south side. Name The name ''Taranaki'' comes from the Māori language. The Māori word means mountain peak, and is thought to come from , meaning "shining", a reference to the snow-clad winter nature of the upper slopes. It was also named and by iwi who lived in the region in "ancient times". Captain Cook named it Mount Egmont on 11 January 1770 after John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont, a former First Lord of the Admiralty who had supported the concept of an oceanic search for ''Terra Australis Incognita''. Cook described it as "of a prodigious height and its top cover'd with everlasting snow," surrounded by a "flat country ... which afforded a very good aspect, being clothed with wood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lahar
A lahar (, from jv, ꦮ꧀ꦭꦲꦂ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley. Lahars are extremely destructive: they can flow tens of metres per second, they have been known to be up to deep, and large flows tend to destroy any structures in their path. Notable lahars include those at Mount Pinatubo and Nevado del Ruiz, the latter of which killed thousands of people in the town of Armero. Etymology The word ''lahar'' is of Javanese origin. Berend George Escher introduced it as a geological term in 1922. Description The word ''lahar'' is a general term for a flowing mixture of water and pyroclastic debris. It does not refer to a particular rheology or sediment concentration. Lahars can occur as normal stream flows (sediment concentration of less than 30%), hyper-concentrated stream flows (sediment concentration between 30 and 60% ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Ruapehu
Mount Ruapehu (; ) is an active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Taupō Volcanic Zone and North Island volcanic plateau in New Zealand. It is northeast of Ohakune and southwest of the southern shore of Lake Taupō, within the Tongariro National Park. The North Island's major ski resorts and only glaciers are on its slopes. Ruapehu, the largest active volcano in New Zealand, has the highest point in the North Island and has three major peaks: Tahurangi (2,797 m), Te Heuheu (2,755 m) and Paretetaitonga (2,751 m). The deep, active volcanic crater, crater is between the peaks and fills with water between major eruptions, being known as Crater Lake ( mi, Te Wai ā-moe). The name ''Ruapehu'' means "pit of noise" or "exploding pit" in Māori language, Māori. Geography Ruapehu is located in the center of the North Island of New Zealand, northeast of Ohakune, New Zealand and southwest of the southern shore of Lake Taupō, within Tongariro National Park. Rua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Ngauruhoe
Mount Ngāuruhoe (also spelled Ngauruhoe; Māori: ''Ngāuruhoe'') is a volcanic cone in New Zealand. It is the youngest vent in the Tongariro stratovolcano complex on the Central Plateau of the North Island and first erupted about 2,500 years ago. Although often regarded as a separate mountain, geologically, it is a secondary cone of Mount Tongariro. The volcano lies between the active volcanoes of Mount Tongariro to the north and Mount Ruapehu to the south, to the west of the Rangipo Desert and 25 kilometres to the south of the southern shore of Lake Taupō. Etymology The local Māori traditions state that the volcano was named by Ngātoro-i-rangi, an ancestor of the local Māori iwi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Ngātoro-i-rangi called volcanic fire from his homeland Hawaiki, which eventually emerged at Ngāuruhoe. The name given by Ngātoro-i-rangi (Ngāuruhoe) either commemorates his slave, who had died from the cold before the fire arrived, or refers to the insertions ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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