Pōhutu Geyser is a

geyser A geyser (, ) is a spring characterized by an intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. As a fairly rare phenomenon, the formation of geysers is due to particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only ...

in the

Whakarewarewa Whakarewarewa (reduced version of Te Whakarewarewatanga O Te Ope Taua A Wahiao, meaning ''The gathering place for the war parties of Wahiao'', often abbreviated to Whaka by locals) is a Rotorua semi-rural geothermal area in the Taupo Volcanic ...

Thermal Valley,

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 encompa ...

, in the North Island of

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 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. The geyser is the largest in the southern hemisphere and among the most active in the area, erupting up to twenty times per day at heights of up to . The name Pōhatu is derived from te reo Māori, although it has an unclear etymology being translated as either 'big splash', 'explosion' or 'constant splashing'. The use of geothermal bores for heating by nearby Rotorua has impacted on the activity of Pōhutu Geyser and other nearby geothermal features. After a decline in geothermal activity at Whakarewarewa, a programme in the late 1980s saw bores within of the geyser being shut, leading to a pronounced increase in activity. This activity increase has concerned some scientists who have been involved with the field, who claim that the increased regularity of Pōhutu Geyser's eruptions may result in the system dying in the future. Its crater is 50 centimetres in diameter.

References

Rotorua Lakes District Geysers of New Zealand Taupō Volcanic Zone Landforms of the Bay of Plenty Region {{BayofPlenty-geo-stub