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Whangaehu River
The Whangaehu River is a large river in central North Island of New Zealand. Its headwaters are the crater lake of Mount Ruapehu on the central plateau, and it flows into the Tasman Sea eight kilometres southeast of Whanganui. Water is diverted from the headwaters for the Tongariro Power Scheme. Length The river flows for southward to the South Taranaki Bight near the settlement of Whangaehu. Notoriety The sudden collapse of part of the Ruapehu crater wall on 24 December 1953 led to New Zealand's worst railway accident, the Tangiwai disaster. A lahar – a sudden surge of mud-laden water – swept down the river, significantly weakening the structure of a railway bridge at the small settlement of Tangiwai. The overnight express train between Wellington and Auckland passed over the bridge minutes later, causing it to collapse into the turbulent waters. Of the 285 people on the train, 151 were killed. Timeline * 13 December 1859: The bridge was washed away. * In February 1862 J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Taranaki Bight
The South Taranaki Bight is a large bay on the west coast of New Zealand, south of Taranaki, west of the Manawatu, north and west of the western entrance of Cook Strait and north of the South Island. The name is sometimes used for a much smaller bay in South Taranaki, between the mouth of the Kaupokonui Stream directly south of Mount Taranaki and the mouth of the Pātea River. Approximately 18,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum when sea levels were over 100 metres lower than present day levels, the South Taranaki Bight was a coastal plain which connected the North and South Islands, featuring rivers which drained into the Cook Strait (then a harbour) to the south-east. Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, eventually separating the islands and connecting the Cook Strait to the Tasman Sea. The bight was once a calving ground for southern right whales in winter and spring and early Europeans in New Zealand called it Mothering Bay after the large number of cow-calf p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded on August 10, 1846, it operates as a trust instrumentality and is not formally a part of any of the three branches of the federal government. The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson. It was originally organized as the United States National Museum, but that name ceased to exist administratively in 1967. Called "the nation's attic" for its eclectic holdings of 154 million items, the institution's 19 museums, 21 libraries, nine research centers, and zoo include historical and architectural landmarks, mostly located in the District of Columbia. Additional facilities are located in Maryland, New York, and Virginia. More than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states,States without Smithsonian ... [...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] |
ERLAWS
The Eastern Ruapehu Lahar Alarm and Warning System (ERLAWS) is a lahar warning system that was installed on Mount Ruapehu, New Zealand following volcanic eruptions in 1995–1996. The system successfully detected and warned of an imminent lahar in March 2007. The system is being expanded to detect the wider range of lahar threats now expected on Ruapehu. Introduction The 1995–1996 eruptions of Ruapehu in the North Island of New Zealand left a 7-metre high dam of tephra, consisting of volcanic ash and rock, around the rim of the crater lake. It was realised that as the lake refilled and rose above the level of its normal outlet, the tephra dam would eventually collapse, causing a large lahar. Such a lahar resulted in the 1953 Tangiwai disaster when 151 people died as the lahar swept a railway bridge away, causing a passenger train to plunge into the Whangaehu River. In 2000 the government decided to plan, design and implement ERLAWS – a complex system of sensors and pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ministry For Culture And Heritage
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on such. History The Ministry of Cultural Affairs had been created in 1991; prior to this, the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) had provided oversight and support for arts and culture functions. MCH was founded in 1999 with the merger of the former Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the history and heritage functions of the DIA, as well as some functions from the Department of Conservation and Ministry of Commerce. The purpose of the merger of functions and departments was to create a coherent, non-fragmented overview of the cultural and heritage sector, rather than spreading services and functions across several departments. Minister for Cultural Affairs Marie Hasler oversaw the transition of functions into the new agency. Opposition La ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Te Ara - The Encyclopedia Of New Zealand
''Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'' is an online encyclopedia established in 2001 by the New Zealand Government's Ministry for Culture and Heritage. The web-based content was developed in stages over the next several years; the first sections were published in 2005, and the last in 2014 marking its completion. ''Te Ara'' means "the pathway" in the Māori language, and contains over three million words in articles from over 450 authors. Over 30,000 images and video clips are included from thousands of contributors. History New Zealand's first recognisable encyclopedia was ''The Cyclopedia of New Zealand'', a commercial venture compiled and published between 1897 and 1908 in which businesses or people usually paid to be covered. In 1966 the New Zealand Government published ''An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'', its first official encyclopedia, in three volumes. Although now superseded by ''Te Ara'', its historical importance led to its inclusion as a separate digital reso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coutts Crawford
James Coutts Crawford (19 January 1817 – 8 April 1889), known as Coutts Crawford, was a Naval officer, farmer, scientist, explorer and public servant in New Zealand. He was born in Strathaven, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, the son of naval officer James Coutts Crawford, and his second wife, Jane. He came to New Zealand in 1839. He settled in Wellington and called his land holding Kilbirnie after the town in Scotland; the name is still in use as a Wellington suburb. Crawford was active in local affairs. He served on the New Zealand Legislative Council from 1859 to 1867. He died in London in 1889. It is likely that Mount Crawford (South Australia) Mount Crawford is a hill in the locality also named Mount Crawford in South Australia approximately north of Birdwood in the Mount Lofty Ranges. History The Indigenous name for Mount Crawford was ''Teetáka''. The mount was given its present ... is named after him. Personal life He was educated at the Royal Naval College, Por ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wanganui Herald
''The Wanganui Herald'', originally published as ''The Evening Herald'', was a daily newspaper in Wanganui published from 1867 to 1986 when it was replaced by a community newspaper of the same name. John Ballance arrived in Wanganui in August 1866; he was to become New Zealand's prime minister in 1891. Ballance aimed for a career in journalism, had strong political views, and occasionally wrote for the ''Wanganui Times''. The established newspaper at the time was the ''Wanganui Chronicle'' founded in 1856. On 3 June 1867, Ballance published the first issue of ''The Evening Herald'' after having purchased a printing press. The last edition of ''The Evening Herald'' was published on Thursday, 23 March 1876 (volume X, issue 2737) and with issue 2738, the newspaper continued under the new title ''The Wanganui Herald''. On the occasion of commissioning a new printing press that enabled an "enlarged paper", the title was changed with the following rationale: A slight modification of th ... [...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] |
Tangiwai Disaster
The Tangiwai disaster occurred at 10:21 p.m. on 24 December 1953 when a railway bridge over the Whangaehu River collapsed beneath an express passenger train at Tangiwai, North Island, New Zealand. The locomotive and the first six carriages derailed into the river, killing 151 people. The subsequent board of inquiry found that the accident was caused by the collapse of the tephra dam holding back nearby Mount Ruapehu's crater lake, creating a rapid mudflow (lahar) in the Whangaehu River, which destroyed one of the bridge piers at Tangiwai only minutes before the train reached the bridge. The volcano itself was not otherwise erupting at the time. The disaster remains New Zealand's worst rail accident. Bridge collapse On 24 December 1953, the 3 p.m. express train from Wellington to Auckland consisted of a KA class steam locomotive hauling eleven carriages: five second class, four first-class, a guard's van and a postal van. With 285 passengers and crew, the train was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whangaehu
Whangaehu is a settlement in the Rangitikei District and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. Whangaehu is located near the mouth of the Whangaehu River, a large river flowing from for the crater lake of Mount Ruapehu on the central plateau, southward to the South Taranaki Bight in the Tasman Sea. Water is diverted from the headwaters for the Tongariro Power Scheme. History Whangaehu was the site of a Māori settlement when Europeans began settling the nearby Whanganui River mouth at Whanganui in mid-19th century. Nicholas Chevalier depicted the settlement in a sketch in December 1868, which is now in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Mount Ruapehu has erupted multiple times, causing sludge to flow down the river. In February 1862 James Coutts Crawford was given several old songs and various accounts of the taniwha in the river. Flooding was recorded following the 1889 and 1895 eruptions. The sudden collapse of part of the Ruapehu crater wal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
