Rangitoto Island
Rangitoto Island | |
---|---|
Rangitoto Island from the ferry | |
Waters | Pacific Ocean |
Geographical location | 36 ° 47 '14 " S , 174 ° 51' 49" E |
length | 6.2 km |
width | 5.2 km |
surface | 23.11 km² |
Highest elevation | Rangitoto 260 m |
Residents | uninhabited |
Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf of the North Island of New Zealand .
geography
Rangitoto Island is approximately 8 km northeast of downtown Auckland . The uninhabited island is almost round and has a diameter between 4.8 and 5.8 km. The highest point is the volcanic crater of the Rangitoto in the middle of the island with a height of 260 m . On the eastern side of the island, an embankment connects the volcanic island with the neighboring island of Motutapu Island . On the west side of Rangitoto Island , a beacon secures the fairway of the Rangitoto Channel .
Emergence
The island was formed in at least two eruption phases of the Rangitoto volcano around 600 to 700 years ago. A human footprint in the ashes of the volcano, which was formed around 1400, is evidence of the last eruption. The material erupted by Rangitoto accounts for about 60% of the material ejected by all volcanoes in the Auckland Volcanic Field . The Rangitoto is by far the largest volcano in the volcanic field.
Origin of name
The name " Rangitoto " comes from the Māori language and means something like "bloody sky". The name of the mountain, however, is said to have been in full " Te Rangi i totongia te ihu a Tama-te-kapua " (" the day on which blood flowed from Tama-te-kapua ?? s nose "). According to legend, the crews of the two canoes Arawa Waka and Tainui Waka were involved in a dispute in which the crew of the Arawa Waka was defeated. Their leader Tama-te-kapua was injured in battle and his people eventually had to leave the island.
Web links
- Auckland Field in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)
- Rangitoto Volcano . (PDF 548 kB) GNS Science ,accessed on April 17, 2016(English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Topo250 maps . Land Information New Zealand , accessed April 17, 2016 .
- ↑ Eileen McSaveney : Historic volcanic activity - Footprint in Rangitoto ash . Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand , November 16, 2012, accessed April 18, 2016 .
- ^ Rangitoto Volcano . (PDF 548 kB) GNS Science , accessed on April 17, 2016 (English).
- ^ Rangitoto Island . Auckland War Memorial Museum , accessed April 17, 2016 .