The Great Tarawera Volcanic Rift, New Zealand Author(S): James Mackintosh Bell Source: the Geographical Journal, Vol
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The Great Tarawera Volcanic Rift, New Zealand Author(s): James Mackintosh Bell Source: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 27, No. 4 (Apr., 1906), pp. 369-382 Published by: geographicalj Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1776237 Accessed: 27-06-2016 05:04 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), Wiley are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Geographical Journal This content downloaded from 128.42.202.150 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 05:04:06 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms THE GREAT TARAWERA VOLCANIC RIFT, NEW ZEALAND. 369 the south-east right away into the Solomon islands, and further still into the New Hebrides. This shows how carefully the expedition touched upon what may be regarded as the three principal points in New Guinea. There is another point on the north coast which should have been touched, but I do not think the expedition got so far. But, at any rate, Dr. Seligmann has shown us to-night what there is to be done in New Guinea. There is a great deal to be done; there are some very interesting problems to be worked out, and I hope before long we shall see some other expedition going there to follow up the good work and extend our knowledge of that part. I thank Dr. Seligmann for his interesting paper. The PRESIDENT: I do not know whether there is any one else present who knows anything of New Guinea; if not, I will ask you to join in a vote of thanks to Dr. Seligmann for his interesting paper. Dr. SELIGMANN: I am sure it is very gratifying to hear all these pretty things said, and to receive your very hearty vote of thanks, for which I thank you very much, both on my colleagues' and my own behalf. THE GREAT TARAWERA VOLCANIC RIFT, NEW ZEALAND. By JAMES MACKINTOSH BELL, Director New Zealand Geological Survey. IT is not yet twenty years since there took place the great eruption of Mount Tarawera, New Zealand, on June 10, 1886; but already great changes have taken place in the configuration of the country and in the display of hydrothermal phenomena, not only in the volcano itself, but along the great rift formed at the same time. Mount Tarawera lies near the centre of the Taupo volcanic zone, and about 135 miles south-east of the city of Auckland. The Taupo volcanic zone, so named by the Baron von Hochstetter, is one of the most remarkable geological features of New Zealand, and extends from the south-west of the great volcanic cones of Ruapehu, Tongariro, and Ngaurahoe, to White island, on the Bay of Plenty-a distance of nearly 160 miles. The width of the volcanic zone, according to Prof. A. P. W. Thomas, of Auckland, is some 25 miles.* The area enclosed within these dimensions contains practically all the thermal springs, geysers, fumaroles, and expiring volcanoes for which New Zealand is justly famed. Though the whole Taupo volcanic zone was more or less affected by the Tarawera eruption, only a comparatively small portion of it was very seriously influenced. This very pronounced influence was felt in the immediate neighbourhood of the great rift, or more correctly line of craters, which stretches from Mount Wahanga, the most north- easterly part of the Tarawera range, to a point about 600 yards north- north-west of Lake Okaro. The length of this huge fissure is about 9 miles, and its direction N. 68? E., while the trend of the Taupo zone in general is 20? more northerly. * See 'Report on Eruption of Tarawera and Roromahana, New Zealand,' p. 5, by Prof. A. P. W. Thomas. This content downloaded from 128.42.202.150 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 05:04:06 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 370 THE GREAT TARAWERA VOLCANIC RIFT, NEW ZEALAND. By the eruption of Mount Tarawera, 130 people were killed, the world-famed pink and white terraces were destroyed, and the country for an area of over 6000 square miles devastated. The Tarawera range is a very prominent feature in the topography of the north island of New Zealand, and above the low country which surrounds it it stands out with very decided relief. The range com- prises three peaks: Mount Wahanga, quite distinct, and Mount i WAIMANGU GEYSER IN ERUPTION. Ruawahia and Mount Tarawera, which are practically one peak. Prior to the eruption of 1886, Ruawahia, the highest peak, had an elevation of 3606 feet, to-day it is 3770 feet. The great rift cuts the summit of the Tarawera range, and appears on its south-western slope. West- south-westward from the Tarawera range, and in the same direction as its main axis, lies Lake Rotomahana. In continuation along the same line are the deep holes forming the Black crater, the Fourth crater, the This content downloaded from 128.42.202.150 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 05:04:06 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms THE GREAT TARAWERA VOLCANIC RIFT, NEW ZEALAND. 371 ENGIISH MIIES 0 10 20 l i l 1 TAUPO VOL.CANIC ZONE This content downloaded from 128.42.202.150 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 05:04:06 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 372 THE GREAT TARAWERA VOLCANIC RIFT, NEW ZEALAND, Waimangu crater, the Inferno crater, the Echo lake crater, and the Southern crater. These will be described later. Lying north-west of the Tarawera range, and just at its base, is the lake of the same name, with a length from north to south of about 9 miles, and a width in the opposite direction of some 6- miles. The lake is surrounded by broken volcanic hills which rise to a height of 400 or 500 feet. North-westward and northward from Lake Tarawera lies a rugged volcanic country, dotted with numerous lakes, the largest being Lake Rotorua. These lakes appear to fill depressions formed by the HIGHEST KNOWN ERUPTION OF WAIMANGU. down faulting of limited areas in a lava plateau, which formerly existed, and is now represented by the flat volcanic hills which border the lakes or their basins. North-eastward from Mount Tarawera ex- tends a series of low hills, clothed in a monotonous cover of volcanic ash, broken only by the tall leafless stumps of trees, which remain as a ghastly tombstone of the dreadful eruption. On this landscape, Mount Maungawhakamana and Mount Edgecumbe, two elevated volcanic peaks, stand out in definite relief. Far to the north-eastward lies the Bay of Plenty, surrounded by a narrow coastal rim, the beginning of a coastal plain. East and south-east of the Tarawera range lies the dreary, This content downloaded from 128.42.202.150 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 05:04:06 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms THE GREAT TARAWERA VOLCANIC RIFT, NEW ZEALAND. 373 slightly rolling expanse of the Kaingaroa plains, devoid of trees, and terminated by the Whakatane range, which rises with the singular abruptness of block mountains just east of the Rangitaiki river, Westward, the Kaingaroa plains lose their level character, become much more broken, and are surmounted by several volcanic peaks, the most prominent of which is Mount Kakaramea. The whole country immediately along the great rift is quite devoid of vegetation save for the native grass toi-toi and tutu, which have been able to find sufficient material for sustenance in the new volcanic tufa ejected at the last eruption. All rocks of earlier age than the eruption of 1886 are hidden beneath FRYING-PAN FLAT AND ECHO LAKE CRATER ARE THE SAME. a thick covering of cinders, scoria, and ashes, ejected at the time of the eruption. This deposit follows, however, the pre-existing contours, and on the more angular hills has merely rounded their outlines. The deposit of tufa, of course, is exceedingly soft, and though it has become somewhat packed within the nineteen years which have intervened since the eruption, it still shows practically no consolidation, and has become deeply sculptured by innumerable streamlets and rills, which intersect it in all directions. Viewed from the top of Mount Tarawera, the surrounding country resembles an immense ploughed field with furrows of gigantic size. The geology of the Tarawera area is simple. The rocks are entirely No. IV.-APRIL, 1906.] 2 c This content downloaded from 128.42.202.150 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 05:04:06 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 374 THE GREAT TARAWERA VOLCANIC RIFT, NEW ZEALAND. volcanic, though the various species are of somewhat different origin. Apparently the oldest rocks consist of trachytic and rhyolitic lavas of slightly different petrographic character. Overlying these, or possibly in part contemporaneous with them, are thick beds of acidic tufas and agglomerates. These fragmental rocks are of the same chemical com- position as the lavas, and probably represent the comminution by the force of explosion of the latter. Above these acidic rocks are the deposits of the recent eruption, which are much more basic in character.* Lava rose to the surface only on Tarawera mountain itself, and even then it flowed only a very short distance from the lip of the crater.