Hauhungatahi is an eroded
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Ear ...
at the southern end of the
Taupo Volcanic Zone in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, located about WNW of
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 Tongari ...
. Although relatively little-known, at Hauhungatahi is one of the highest volcanoes in New Zealand, exceeded in
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...
by only Ruapehu,
Taranaki/Egmont (including Fanthams Peak), and the
Tongariro massif (including
Ngauruhoe). The volcano is constructed atop an upfaulted block of
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...
marine sediments
Marine sediment, or ocean sediment, or seafloor sediment, are deposits of insoluble particles that have accumulated on the seafloor. These particles have their origins in soil and rocks and have been transported from the land to the sea, mainly ...
. The age of the erupted
andesite
Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predo ...
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
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 H ...
. 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
A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round.
Etymology
Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English ''t ...
from the west side starting near Erua, following remnants of an old
track in places, and bush-bashing through several overgrown and
boggy areas to reach the
bush line near on the summit plateau.
Slightly easier travel continues eastward to the true summit, which provides panoramic views of neighboring peaks throughout the park including
Ruapehu,
Ngauruhoe, and
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 ...
.
See also
*
List of volcanoes in New Zealand
This is a partial list of active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes in New Zealand.
Kermadec Arc and Havre Trough
North Island
Taupō Volcanic Zone
Elsewhere
Mangakino Culdera
South Island
Other
Ross Dependency
New Zealand a ...
*
List of mountains of New Zealand by height
The following are lists of mountains in New Zealand ordered by height. Names, heights, topographic prominence and isolation, and coordinates were extracted from the official Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) Topo50 topographic maps at thin ...
*
Volcanism in New Zealand
The volcanism of New Zealand has been responsible for many of the country's geographical features, especially in the North Island and the country's outlying islands.
While the land's volcanism dates back to before the Zealandia microcontinent ...
References
Tongariro Volcanic Centre
Volcanoes of Manawatū-Whanganui
{{ManawatuWanganui-geo-stub