Mount Tarawera is a

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 ...

on 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 ...

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 ...

within the older but volcanically productive

Ōkataina Caldera Ōkataina Caldera (Ōkataina Volcanic Centre, also spelled Okataina) is a massive, recently active volcanic caldera and its associated volcanoes located in Taupō Volcanic Zone of New Zealand's North Island. It is just east of the smaller Rotoru ...

. Located 24 kilometres southeast 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 ...

, it consists of a series of

rhyolitic Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions on ...

s that were fissured down the middle by an explosive

basaltic 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 than 90% of a ...

eruption in 1886. This eruption was one of New Zealand's largest historical eruptions, and killed an estimated 120 people. The fissures run for about northeast-southwest. The volcano's component domes include Ruawahia Dome (the highest at 1,111 metres), Tarawera Dome and Wahanga Dome. It is surrounded by several lakes, most of which were created or drastically altered by the 1886 eruption. These lakes include Lakes Tarawera,

Rotomahana Lake Rotomahana is an lake in northern New Zealand, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Rotorua. It is immediately south-west of the dormant volcano Mount Tarawera, and its geography was substantially altered by a major 1886 eruption of M ...

, Rerewhakaaitu, Ōkataina, Ōkareka, Tikitapu / Blue and Rotokākahi / Green. 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, ...

runs northeastwards across the northern flank of the mountain from Lake Tarawera. In 2000, the mountain was ceded to the

Ngāti Rangitihi Ngāti Rangitihi is a Māori iwi of New Zealand, located in the Bay of Plenty. The tribe is part of the greater Te Arawa confederation of tribes. Nga pumanawa e waru o Te Arawa, the 8 beating hearts of Te Arawa derives from the 8 children of th ...

sub-tribe of

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka'').

History

Ōkareka eruption

The Ōkareka Tephra generating eruption has been has now been dated to 21,900 years before the present with a tephra volume of about but may be less, generated in days or weeks at the most. The associated eruption mountain building appears to have been at both ends of the complex and includes present features at the eastern end such as the Rotomahana Dome () and Patiti Island (peak is high) which is in the middle of

Lake Rotomahana Lake Rotomahana is an lake in northern New Zealand, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Rotorua. It is immediately south-west of the dormant volcano Mount Tarawera, and its geography was substantially altered by a major 1886 eruption of ...

. Lava fields at the western end came from sources most likely buried in the Waiohau eruption, have a volume of at least , and would have taken several years to form. The Ōkareka Embayment is a separate, but adjacent volcanic structure in the

responsible for the Rotorua Tephra.

Rerewhakaaitu eruption

The Rerewhakaaitu eruption has been recently re-dated forward to about 17,700 years ago, at about the time of the last glacial termination, with a tephra volume of about . Other historic sources suggested a higher volume. It involved three

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

magmas with a total volume of about with the Rerewhakaaitu Tephra having 15 rhyolitic fall units. The Southern () and Western () Domes were formed at this time and the lava excursion of again lasted for several years after the much shorter tephra phase of the eruption.

Waiohau eruption

The Waiohau eruption occurred about 13,800 years ago (recently re-dated backward). The Kanakana () and Eastern () Domes were formed. The estimated total volume of the fifteen or more Waiohau Tephra eruptions and some lava is . During one of the eruptions structural collapse of the then mountain occurred.

Kaharoa eruption

Mount Tarawera erupted 1314±12 CE in the Kaharoa eruption. This was just a few years after the first

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 ...

settlement about 1280 CE} although more wide spread settlement is now believed to have not taken place until 1320 to 1350 AD. The Plinian phase of this eruption consisted of 11 discrete episodes of VEI 4 although there are possibly two more discrete sub-Plinian phases in a two stage eruption from at least two different vents along a long fissure. The total

dense rock equivalent Dense-rock equivalent (DRE) is a volcanologic calculation used to estimate volcanic eruption volume. One of the widely accepted measures of the size of a historic or prehistoric eruption is the volume of magma ejected as pumice and volcanic ash, k ...

(DRE) was at least . The essential mineral poor Kaharoa Tephra which was a factor in New Zealand

bush sickness Cobalt is essential to the metabolism of all animals. It is a key constituent of cobalamin, also known as vitamin B, the primary biological reservoir of cobalt as an ultratrace element. Bacteria in the stomachs of ruminant animals convert cobalt ...

was distributed from the east coast of the

Northland Peninsula The Northland Peninsula, called the North Auckland Peninsula in earlier times, is in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is joined to the rest of the island by the Auckland isthmus, a narrow piece of land between the Waitematā H ...

, down the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the we ...

and through beyond Tarawera to northern

Hawke Bay Hawke Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui), formerly named ''Hawke's Bay'', is a large bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, surrounded by the Hawke's Bay region. It stretches from Māhia Peninsula in the northeast to Cape Kidnapp ...

at the

Māhia Peninsula Māhia Peninsula (Maori: or ) is located on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, in the Hawke's Bay region, between the towns of Wairoa and Gisborne. Rocket Lab has set up its Launch Complex 1 close to Ahuriri Point at the southe ...

. The total volume of material erupted was more than 5 times that of the 1886 eruption and has been stated to be at least of tephra. The Ruawahia (), Tarawera(), Wahanga() and Crater () Domes were formed.

1886 eruption

Shortly after midnight on the morning of 10 June 1886, a series of more than 30 increasingly strong earthquakes were felt in the Rotorua area and by 2:45 am Mount Tarawera's three peaks had erupted, blasting three distinct columns of smoke and ash thousands of metres into the sky At around 3.30 am, the largest phase of the eruption commenced; vents at Rotomahana produced a

pyroclastic surge A pyroclastic surge is a fluidised mass of turbulent gas and rock fragments that is ejected during some volcanic eruptions. It is similar to a pyroclastic flow but it has a lower density or contains a much higher ratio of gas to rock, which makes i ...

that destroyed several villages within a 6 kilometer radius, and the

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 ...

appeared to be obliterated. Recent research using mathematical modelling of events during the later Rotomahana eruption phase, is consistent with eyewitness accounts; describing it resembling a pot boiling over. Inside the Tarawera rift

Settlements inhabited by Ngāti Rangitihi and

Tūhourangi Tūhourangi is a Māori iwi of New Zealand with a rohe centered on Lake Tarawera, Lake Rotomahana, Lake Okaro, Lake Okareka, Lake Rotokākahi, Lake Tikitapu and Lake Rotorua. They have 3 marae, Te Pakira Marae in Whakarewarewa, Hinemihi (Te Pa ...

around the Ariki arm of Lake Tarawera, including Moura, Koutu, Kokotaia, Piripai, Pukekiore and Otuapane, Tapahoro, Te Wairoa, Totarariki, and Waingongoro, were buried or destroyed. Of these, Te Wairoa is now a tourist attraction and is described as the "buried village". The official death toll was reported as 153, and many more were displaced, making the eruption the most deadly in New Zealand history. The survivors became ''refugees in their own country'', for generations. The eruption was also believed to have destroyed the world-famous

. However, 125 years after the eruption a small portion of the Pink Terraces was reportedly rediscovered under

. This was due to the discovery of a previously unknown 1859 survey of Lake Rotomahana by Ferdinand von Hochstetter, which was deciphered and published between 2016 and 2019. This unique primary data indicate the Pink, Black and White Terrace locations now lie along the present lake shores. There is a prospect the terraces or sections of them, may lie buried, and as a result the terraces can no longer be assumed destroyed.

The phantom waka

Kennett Watkins - The Phantom Canoe- A Legend of Lake Tarawera - Google Art Project

One legend surrounding the 1886 eruption is that of the phantom ''

waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori w ...

'' (canoe). Eleven days before the eruption, a boat full of tourists returning from the Terraces saw what appeared to be a waka approach their boat, only to disappear in the mist half a mile from them. One of the witnesses was a clergyman, a local Maori man from the Te Arawa iwi. Nobody around the lake owned such a war canoe, and nothing like it had been seen on the lake for many years. It is possible that the rise and fall of the lake level caused by pre-eruption fissures had freed a burial waka from its resting place. Traditionally, the dead were tied in an upright position. A number of letters have been published from the tourists who experienced the event. Though skeptics maintained that it was a freak reflection seen on the mist, tribal elders at Te Wairoa claimed that it was a ''waka wairua'' (spirit canoe) and was a portent of doom. It has been suggested that the waka was actually a

freak wave Rogue waves (also known as freak waves, monster waves, episodic waves, killer waves, extreme waves, and abnormal waves) are unusually large, unpredictable, and suddenly appearing surface waves that can be extremely dangerous to ships, even to l ...

on the water, caused by seismic activity below the lake, but locals believe that a future eruption will be signalled by the reappearance of the waka.

Geology

It is within the

of the Ōkataina Volcanic Centre in the central segment of the

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 thro ...

. This rhyolitic segment is dominated by explosive caldera. The actual basaltic dyke of the 1886 eruption is long and extends from the eruptive fissure of Mount Tarawera to

and has a remnant hydrothermal hot spot in the

Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley The Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley is the hydrothermal system created on 10 June 1886 by the volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera, on the North Island of New Zealand. It encompasses Lake Rotomahana, the site of the Pink and White Terraces, as wel ...

. The dyke and linear line of vents align with the Taupō Rift at this point.

Gallery

Image:MountTerawera1.jpg, View from the north Image:MountTaraweraCrater.jpg, Close up of one chasm Image:MountTarawera3.jpg, Southwest side Image:Lake rotorua.jpg, Satellite view of Lake Rotorua; Mount Tarawera is in the lower right corner File:Abaconda_lake_tarawera.jpg, Mount Tarawera standing behind Lake Tarawera

References

External links

Global Volcanism Program page for Tarawera and Okataina

Buried Village of Te Wairoa
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Archaeological Site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

Okataina Volcanic Centre/ Mt Tarawera Volcano
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GNS Science GNS Science ( mi, Te Pū Ao), officially registered as the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited, is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute. It focuses on geology, geophysics (including seismology and volcanology), and nuclear sc ...

Tarawera (Okataina)
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National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarawera, Mount Okataina Volcanic Centre Volcanoes of the Bay of Plenty Region Lava domes 1886 natural disasters 1886 in New Zealand 19th-century volcanic events History of the Bay of Plenty Region Tara VEI-5 volcanoes Rotorua Lakes District Taupō Volcanic Zone