Lake Tarawera is the largest of a series of lakes which surround the volcano

Mount Tarawera Mount Tarawera is a volcano on the North Island of New Zealand within the older but volcanically productive Ōkataina Caldera. Located 24 kilometres southeast of Rotorua, it consists of a series of rhyolitic lava domes that were fissured d ...

in the

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 ...

of New Zealand. Like the mountain, it lies within the Okataina caldera. It is located to the east of

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

, and beneath the peaks of the Tarawera massif i.e. Wahanga, Ruawahia, Tarawera and Koa. The lake's surface area is .

Geography

The lake was substantially affected by the

eruption of Mount Tarawera In 1886, a violent eruption occurred at Mount Tarawera, near the city of Rotorua on New Zealand's North Island. At an estimated Volcanic Explosivity Index of 5, the eruption is the largest and deadliest in New Zealand during the past 500 years ...

on 10 June 1886.Royal Society of New Zealand (1984)
''Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand''
Vol. 14–15 p. 121. ISSN 0303-6758 The lake outlet was blocked for two decades and the lake level increased. The eruption killed over 150 people, and buried the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

village of Te Wairoa on the southwest shore of the lake. Abaconda lake tarawera

Also assumed destroyed were the famed

Pink and White Terraces The Pink and White Terraces ( and ), were natural wonders of New Zealand. They were reportedly the largest silica sinter deposits on earth. Until recently, they were lost and thought destroyed in the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera, while new hy ...

. However, in February 2011 a team mapping the lake floor discovered what appeared to be part of the Pink Terraces. The lowest two tiers of the terraces were reportedly found in their original place at deep (too deep for scuba diving without special gas gear). Subsequently, a portion of the White Terraces was reportedly rediscovered in June 2011. The announcement of the rediscovery of the White Terraces coincided with the 125th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. Tarawera in 1886. It was thought that the rest of the terraces may be buried in sediment rather than having been destroyed. More recent research questions these earlier findings and reports the Pink and White terrace spring sites instead lie on land (along with a lesser-known Black Terrace spring). Tarawera means "Burnt Spear", named by a visiting hunter who left his bird spears in a hut and on returning the following season found both the spears and hut had been burned down completely. The lake is filled primarily by water flowing through the volcanic rocks and ashes, only about 42% being from water flowing in streams, etc. The flows are estimated to be - Lake Tarawera is home to eels and

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

. During the summer it is popular for both fishing and water sports, and also camping as there a number of hot water beaches. The main hot water sources are in the southern section of the lake at the Wairua Stream, Hot Water Beach and Te Puha and Tarawera fumaroles. There is also a small geothermal area at Humphrey's Bay, to the south of Lake Okataina. Water varies between and . Lake Tarawera's outflow is at its north east end, into the

Tarawera River The Tarawera River is in the Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand. It flows from Lake Tarawera, northeastwards across the northern flanks of the active volcano Mount Tarawera, and past the town of Kawerau before turning north, ...

, which flows northeast into the Bay of Plenty.

Lake Tarawera township

The township on the shores of Lake Tarawera is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement, and covers . Lake Tarawere township is part of the larger Kaingaroa-Whakarewarewa statistical area. The township had a population of 267 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 60 people (29.0%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 3 people (−1.1%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 132 households, comprising 132 males and 135 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.98 males per female, with 30 people (11.2%) aged under 15 years, 33 (12.4%) aged 15 to 29, 126 (47.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 78 (29.2%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 91.0% European/ Pākehā, 11.2%

, 2.2% Pacific peoples, 4.5%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 2.2% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 59.6% had no religion, 32.6% were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and 1.1% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 69 (29.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 27 (11.4%) people had no formal qualifications. 66 people (27.8%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 114 (48.1%) people were employed full-time, 42 (17.7%) were part-time, and 3 (1.3%) were unemployed.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarawera, Lake Lakes of the Bay of Plenty Region Okataina Volcanic Centre Volcanic crater lakes 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera