Tongariro
Mount Tongariro (; ) is a compound volcano in the Taupō Volcanic Zone of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the southwest of Lake Taupō, and is the northernmost of the three active volcanoes that dominate the landscape of the central North Island. Geology Mount Tongariro is part of the Tongariro volcanic centre, which consists of four massifs made of andesite: Tongariro, Kakaramea-Tihia Massif, Pihanga, and Ruapehu at the southern end of the North Island Volcanic Plateau. The andesitic eruptions formed Tongariro, a steep stratovolcano, reaching a height of . Tongariro is composed of layers of both lava and tephra and the eruptions that built the current stratovolcano commenced about 275,000 years ago. Tongariro consists of at least 12 cones. Ngāuruhoe, while often regarded as a separate mountain, is geologically a cone of Tongariro. It is also the most active vent, having erupted more than 70 times since 1839, the last episode in 1973 to 1975. Activity ha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tongariro National Park
Tongariro National Park (; ) is the oldest national park in New Zealand,Department of Conservation"Tongariro National Park: Features", retrieved 21 April 2013 located in the central North Island. It has been acknowledged by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site of mixed cultural and natural values. Tongariro National Park was the sixth national park established in the world. The active volcanic mountains Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, and Tongariro are located in the centre of the park. There are a number of Māori religious sites within the park, and many of the park's summits, including Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, are '' tapu'', or sacred. The park includes many towns around its boundary including Ohakune, Waiouru, Horopito, Pokaka, Erua, National Park Village, Whakapapa skifield and Tūrangi. The Tongariro National Park is home to the famed Tongariro Alpine Crossing, widely regarded as one of the world's best one-day hikes. Geography Location Tongariro National Park covers 786 k ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Taupō Volcanic Zone
The Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ) is a volcanic area in the North Island of New Zealand that has been active for the past two million years and is still highly active. Mount Ruapehu marks its south-western end and the zone runs north-eastward through the Taupō and Rotorua areas and offshore into the Bay of Plenty. It is part of the larger Central Volcanic Region that extends further westward through the western Bay of Plenty to the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula and has been active for four million years. At Taupō the rift volcanic zone is widening east–west at the rate of about 8 mm per year while at Mount Ruapehu it is only 2–4 mm per year but this increases at the north eastern end at the Bay of Plenty coast to 10–15 mm per year. It is named after Lake Taupō, the flooded caldera of the largest volcano in the zone, the Taupō Volcano and contains a large central volcanic plateau as well as other landforms associated with its containing tectonic i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tongariro Alpine Crossing
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing in Tongariro National Park is a tramping track in New Zealand, and is among the most popular day hikes in the country. The Tongariro National Park is a World Heritage site which has the distinction of dual status, as it has been acknowledged for both its natural and cultural significance. The crossing passes over the volcanic terrain of the multi-cratered active volcano Mount Tongariro, passing the eastern base of Mount Ngauruhoe. The full distance of the track is usually . Walk details The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is usually walked from Mangatepopo in the Ruapehu region to Ketetahi Hot Springs, due to the Mangatepopo end being higher in altitude () than the Ketetahi Hot Springs end (), therefore requiring less climbing. The crossing takes about seven hours of steady walking to complete in good weather, taking longer in winter or if walked from the Ketetahi end. The crossing is a linear journey, starting on the west side of Mount Tongariro and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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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]   |
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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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Waihi Fault Zone
The Waihi Fault Zone is a seismically active area of the central North Island of New Zealand whose earthquakes have been associated with significant loss of life. Geology The intra-rift Waihi Fault Zone extends at least from Little Waihi at Lake Taupō towards Mount Ruapehu on the west side of the mountain. It has two segments known as the Waihi North fault and the Waihi South fault and 19 fault strands (three of which were previously known as the Taurewa Fault). Together they make up the south western intra-rift faults of the Tongariro Graben in the Taupō Rift. The northern part of the Waihi South fault which is about long is just to the west of the recently active vents of Mount Tongariro Mount Tongariro (; ) is a compound volcano in the Taupō Volcanic Zone of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the southwest of Lake Taupō, and is the northernmost of the three active volcanoes that dominate the landscape of th ... so there is the potential for both ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pihanga
Pihanga is a andesitic volcanic peak in the North Island Volcanic Plateau, located to the north of Mount Tongariro, between Tongariro and Lake Taupo. Lake Rotoaira lies to the south-west of Pihanga, and the smaller Lake Rotopounamu is situated on the south-western flank of the volcano, near Te Ponanga Saddle. Across the saddle to the west is the volcanic peak of Tihia. Pihanga and Lake Rotopounamu are part of the 5,129ha Pihanga Scenic Reserve, which in 1975 was added to the Tongariro National Park. Pihanga appears to have a large crater, but this is in fact the result of erosion, and the "crater" quickly narrows into a steep gorge. Geology Eruptions from Pihanga last occurred more than 20,000 years ago. The more recent eruptions are consistent with the north-north-east to south-south-west alignment of the present southern Taupo Volcanic Zone rifting. Just to the east is the Poutu Fault Zone. Biology Its slopes are covered in native bush and currently part of a major nature c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hauhungatahi
Hauhungatahi is an eroded volcano at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand, located about WNW of Mount Ruapehu. Although relatively little-known, at Hauhungatahi is one of the highest volcanoes in New Zealand, exceeded in elevation by only Ruapehu, Taranaki/Egmont (including Fanthams Peak), and the Tongariro massif (including Ngauruhoe). The volcano is constructed atop an upfaulted block of Mesozoic marine sediments. The age of the erupted andesite lava is about 900,000 years, making Hauhungatahi more than three times as old as the neighboring Ruapehu. The volcano is located in the western part of Tongariro National Park. The terrain surrounding Hauhungatahi and covering an area of has been managed as a Wilderness Area since 1966, one of two such officially designated areas within the park. The standard ascent route on Hauhungatahi is a tramp from the west side starting near Erua, following remnants of an old track in places, and bush-bashing throug ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kakaramea-Tihia Massif
The Kakaramea-Tihia Massif is an andesitic volcano in the central North Island of New Zealand. It extends from the peak of Kakaramea at in the west to the peak of Tinui at . The term Kakaramea means many colours in Maori and relates to rock/soil colour on parts of the massif so is a common place name in New Zealand. The massif is located in the North Island Volcanic Plateau, to the south of Lake Taupo. Lake Rotoaira lies to the south-east as does further away Mount Tongariro and to the east is Pihanga on the other side of the Te Ponanga Saddle from Tihia. Geology Eruptions from the Kakaramea-Tihia Massif last occurred more than 20,000 years ago and the most recent appears to be from a vent west-south-west of Tihia. The older formations were from vents aligned north-west to south-east but the more recent eruptions are consistent with the north-north-east to south-south-west alignment of the present southern Taupo Volcanic Zone rifting. It is adjacent to the Waihi Fault Zone which ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lake Taupō
Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; mi, Taupō-nui-a-Tia or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of the Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's northeastern shore. With a surface area of , it is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand, and the second largest freshwater lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania after Lake Murray in Papua New Guinea. Motutaiko Island lies in the southeastern area of the lake. Lake Taupō has a perimeter of approximately and a maximum depth of . It is drained by the Waikato River (New Zealand's longest river), and its main tributaries are the Waitahanui River, the Tongariro River, and the Tauranga Taupō River. It is a noted trout fishery with stocks of introduced brown and rainbow trout. The level of the lake is controlled by Mercury Energy, the owner of the eight hydroelectric dams on the Waikato River downstream of Lake Taupō, usin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest island. The world's 28th-most-populous island, Te Ika-a-Māui has a population of accounting for approximately % of the total residents of New Zealand. Twelve main urban areas (half of them officially cities) are in the North Island. From north to south, they are Whangārei, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Gisborne, New Plymouth, Napier, Hastings, Whanganui, Palmerston North, and New Zealand's capital city Wellington, which is located at the south-west tip of the island. Naming and usage Although the island has been known as the North Island for many years, in 2009 the New Zealand Geographic Board found that, along with the South Island, the North Island had no official name. After a public consultation, the board officially ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |