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Rano Kau is a tall
dormant volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
that forms the southwestern headland of
Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nea ...
, a
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
an island in the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
. It was formed of basaltic lava flows in the
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the '' Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed i ...
with its youngest rocks dated at between 150,000 and 210,000 years ago.


The crater

Rano Kau has a
crater lake Crater Lake (Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills ...
which is one of the island's only three natural bodies of fresh water. The lake is located approximately above sea level, but is more than below the highest of the crater's ridges. The volcanic cone is largely surrounded by water, and much of it has been eroded back to form high sea cliffs which at one point (''te kari kari'') have started to bite into the crater wall. The inside walls of the crater are sloped at an angle of between 65° (steepest, near the crest) and 45° (gentlest, at the lake shore). From the ruins of the ceremonial village of
Orongo Orongo is a stone village and ceremonial center at the southwestern tip of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). It consists of a collection of low, sod-covered, windowless, round-walled buildings with even lower doors positioned on the high south-westerly t ...
the cliff face drops to the southwest at an angle of 50° to the sea shore some below. On its northern side, the volcano slopes down to
Mataveri International Airport Mataveri International Airport or Isla de Pascua Airport is at Hanga Roa on Rapa Nui / (Easter Island) (''Isla de Pascua'' in Spanish). The most remote airport in the world (defined as distance to another airport), it is from Santiago, Chile ( ...
. Rano Kau is in the
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
of
Rapa Nui National Park Rapa Nui National Park ( es, Parque nacional Rapa Nui) is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located on Easter Island, Chile. Rapa Nui is the Polynesian name of Easter Island; its Spanish name is Isla de Pascua. The island is located ...
and gives its name to one of the seven sections of the park. The principal archaeological site on Rano Kau is the ruined ceremonial village of
Orongo Orongo is a stone village and ceremonial center at the southwestern tip of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). It consists of a collection of low, sod-covered, windowless, round-walled buildings with even lower doors positioned on the high south-westerly t ...
which is located at the point where the sea cliff and inner crater wall converge. One ahu with several
moai Moai or moʻai ( ; es, moái; rap, moʻai, , statue) are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Rapa Nui in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but ...
was recorded on the cliffs at Rano Kau in the 1880s, but had fallen to the beach by the time of the Routledge expedition in 1914. As well as
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low- viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron ( mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More tha ...
, it contains several other igneous rocks including
obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements such as sil ...
(for which it was one of the major sources for the island's stoneworkers) and
pumice Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular vo ...
. The crater is almost a mile across and has its own micro climate. Sheltered from the winds that wet most of the rest of the island, figs and vines flourish at Rano Kau. The inner slope was the site of the last
toromiro ''Sophora toromiro'', commonly known as toromiro, is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to Easter Island. History Heavy deforestation had eliminated most of the island's forests by the first half of the ...
tree in the wild until the specimen was chopped down for firewood in 1960.


Geothermal activity

At some point in the early twentieth century, the island's manager took a photograph of steam coming out of the crater wall.Steam crack in Rano Kau
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See also

*
List of volcanoes in Chile The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program lists 105 volcanoes in Chile that have been active during the Holocene.Sirolimus Sirolimus, also known as rapamycin and sold under the brand name Rapamune among others, is a macrolide compound that is used to coat coronary stents, prevent organ transplant rejection, treat a rare lung disease called lymphangioleiomyomatosis ...


References

* *
Katherine Routledge Katherine Maria Routledge (), née Pease (11 August 1866 – 13 December 1935), was an English archaeologist and anthropologist who, in 1914, initiated and carried out much of the first true survey of Easter Island. She was the second child ...
, 1919. ''The Mystery of Easter Island''. * Van Tilburg, Jo Anne. 1994. ''Easter Island: Archaeology, Ecology and Culture''. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.


External links

*
Rapa Nui National Park

Rapa Nui National Park – UNESCO World Heritage Centre
{{World Heritage Sites in Chile Easter Island Extinct volcanoes Pleistocene volcanoes Volcanoes of Easter Island Calderas of Chile Volcanic crater lakes