Pink and White Terraces
The Pink and White Terraces ( Māori Otukapuarangi 'Fontaine of the Cloudy Sky' or Te Tarata 'the Tattooed Rock') were a formation of sintered terraces in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand and were considered a natural wonder until June 10, 1886 were buried by a volcanic eruption.
description
The terraces were in the area of the volcanically active Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley . Thermal water heated in the earth's interior with large amounts of silicon dioxide regularly leaked from two geysers on Lake Rotomahana near Rotorua and ran down the slope of a hill. The water left behind thick deposits of the opal mineral geyserite , from which terraces were formed, which enclosed the water basins. Similar structures can still be found today near Pamukkale in Turkey and in Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park (USA). The White Terraceswere the larger and more beautiful formation, they covered an area of 3 hectares and overcame a height difference of 30 m. The Pink Terraces , on the other hand, were used for swimming.
The terraces were considered the "eighth wonder of the world" and were the most famous tourist destination in New Zealand at the time. Visitors also came from Europe in the early 1880s, when New Zealand itself was still relatively difficult to get to.
Whereabouts
According to previous representations, the terraces were destroyed when Mount Tarawera erupted five kilometers further north on June 10, 1886 at 3 a.m. The volcano spat hot mud, glowing rock and large amounts of ash from a 17 km long ditch through the mountains. This trench also runs through Lake Rotomahana. The eruption killed over 150 people and buried several places, including the Te Wairoa settlement, inhabited by Māori and European settlers .
After the eruption, there was a crater over 100 m deep at the location of the terraces. After a few years it filled with water and formed a new Lake Rotomahana, 30 meters higher and much larger than the old lake.
According to press reports from June 2011, both terraces were allegedly rediscovered 125 years after the eruption during sonar measurements in the lake. They would then lie in the lake at a depth of 60 m under deposited sediments. In 2016, however, the researchers working with project leader Cornel de Ronde (GNS Science) withdrew their assessment at the time. After a five-year investigation, they came to the conclusion that most of both terraces must have been destroyed by the volcanic eruption.
Rex Bunn and Sascha Nolden from the National Library of New Zealand presented a different theory in 2017. By evaluating survey data, which the geographer Ferdinand von Hochstetter made of the area in 1859, they come to the conclusion that the terraces have so far been incorrectly located. They assume that most of the terraces are located under the shores of Lake Rotomahana and were buried during the eruption at the time. Excavations have not yet taken place.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Geoff Conly, "Tarawera: The destruction of the Pink and White terraces," Grantham House Publishing, Wellington, 1985. ISBN 1-86934-096-5
- ↑ Eileen McSaveney, Carol Stewart, Graham Leonard: Historic volcanic activity: Tarawera In: Te Ara the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. As of November 5, 2007, accessed March 19, 2008.
- ↑ Mount Tarawera , New Zealand Disasters, Christchurch City Libraries.
- ↑ Article on ORF.at
- ↑ GNS Science: White Terraces found / Media Releases / News and Events / Home - GNS Science. Retrieved June 28, 2017 (UK English).
- ↑ CEJ de Ronde, DJ Fornari, VL Ferrini, SL Walker, BW Davy: The Pink and White Terraces of Lake Rotomahana: what was their fate after the 1886 Tarawera Rift eruption? In: Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (= The Lake Rotomahana Geothermal System and Effects of the 1886 Mt. Tarawera Eruption ). tape 314 , March 15, 2016, p. 126–141 , doi : 10.1016 / j.jvolgeores.2016.02.003 .
- ↑ Rex Bunn, Sascha Nolden: Forensic cartography with Hochstetter's 1859 Pink and White Terraces survey: Te Otukapuarangi and Te Tarata . In: Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand . June 7, 2017, ISSN 0303-6758 , p. 1–18 , doi : 10.1080 / 03036758.2017.1329748 .
- ↑ Harald Frater: Remnants of the “eighth wonder of the world” discovered: parts of the “Pink Terraces” in New Zealand survived volcanic eruptions. scinexx, accessed June 28, 2017 .
Web links
- Pictures and paintings of the terraces in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
- Photos of the Pink & White Terraces
Coordinates: 38 ° 15 ′ 38 ″ S , 176 ° 25 ′ 50 ″ E