Volcanic plateau
| Volcanic Plateau ( North Island Volcanic Plateau ) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Highest peak | Mount Ruapehu ( 2797 m ) | |
| location | New Zealand | |
| part of | North island | |
|
||
| Coordinates | 39 ° 3 ′ S , 175 ° 44 ′ E | |
| Type | vast plateau at Mount Ruapehu and Lake Taupo around | |
| surface | around 35,000 km² | |
The Volcanic Plateau of New Zealand , sometimes also referred to as the North Island Volcanic Plateau , is one of the nine ecoregions of the country and describes a large plateau in the middle of the North Island of New Zealand that is characterized by volcanic activity .
geography
The Volcanic Plateau covers an area of roughly 35,000 km², starting from the Kaimai Range in the northwest, along the Bay of Plenty to the east to the Rakumara Range , then south to the Ruahine Range and west over the Whanganui National Park to Mount Taranaki . This area is home to the most active volcanoes in the country, Mount Tongariro , Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Ruapehu , as well as Lake Taupo and the volcanically active area around Lake Rotorua . The Volcanic Plateau partially overlaps with the Taupo Volcanic Zone , a volcanically active fault that runs south from White Island in the Bay of Plenty down to Mount Ruapehu .
Central Volcanic Plateau
The Central Volcanic Plateau is often confused with the Volcanic Plateau in common parlance , but is used as a term for different areas even in New Zealand. On the one hand, the tourism industry likes to refer to the plateau in the Tongariro National Park around the volcanoes Mount Tongariro , Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Ruapehu as the Central Volcanic Plateau . On the other hand, official bodies refer to the region around Lake Taupo between Turangi , located at the southern end of the lake and around Atiamuri , located south of Rotorua , as the Central Volcanic Plateau . In other definitions, the region designated as central extends over Rotorua to the Bay of Plenty or is located at the end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone from Lake Taupo to Mount Ruapehu .
landscape
In the west of the three volcanoes, Mount Tongariro , Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Ruapehu, there is rough, forested hill country , whereas in the east there is a preference for ash soils which, if at all, allow only sparse vegetation. It is not for nothing that the area east of the volcanoes is also known as the Rangipo Desert (wasteland, desert). Part of this wasteland is a restricted military area. This is where the New Zealand Army holds its military exercises. Further to the east there is an extensive forest landscape with some forest parks , which extends up to the Bay of Plenty and into the northeastern tip of the North Island, called Eastland . To the west of Lake Taupo , a forest area also extends north, runs west of Rotorua and ends in the foothills of the Kaimai Range . To the west of the Tongariro National Park is the Whanganui National Park . The highlands end here at Mount Taranaki volcano .
Individual evidence
- ^ Matt McGlone : Ecoregions - Nine ecoregions . In: Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , July 12, 2013, accessed July 15, 2013 .
- ^ Taupo and Atiamuri ecological districts . (PDF; 1.0 MB) Waikato Regional Council , accessed on May 22, 2019 (English).
- ^ BG Koller : Agriculture on the Central Plateau and Colstal Bay of Plenty . (PDF; 57 kB) NZ Grassland Accociation , accessed on July 15, 2013 (English).
- ^ Central Plateau Volcanic Advisory Group . (PDF; 1.3 MB) Horizons Regional Council , 2009, accessed on July 15, 2013 .