Taupo (volcano)

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Taupo
Lake Taupo photographed from space (NASA photo)

Lake Taupo photographed from space (NASA photo)

height 357  m
location Central in the North Island , New Zealand
Mountains Volcanic plateau
Coordinates 38 ° 45 ′ 0 ″  S , 175 ° 55 ′ 0 ″  E Coordinates: 38 ° 45 ′ 0 ″  S , 175 ° 55 ′ 0 ″  E
Taupo (volcano) (New Zealand)
Taupo (volcano)
Type Caldera , super volcano
Last eruption 230 AD
particularities lying under Lake Taupo

The Taupo is an approximately 300,000 year old super volcano in New Zealand . He has been active since its inception in irregular intervals and is considered the most active and productive rhyolite - volcano in the world.

geography

Today the volcano is no longer recognizable as a volcano or a mountain, but continues to exist in the northern half of Lake Taupo below the lake, as geological studies have found. The Taupo is part of a northeast-trending fault on New Zealand's North Island known as the Taupo Volcanic Zone .

Activity periods

The continental crust , which has an average thickness of around 35 km, has rejuvenated below the Taupo Volcanic Zone over millions of years to an average of around 15 km. The tectonic processes of the North Island - the Pacific plate pushes under the Australian plate - caused fractures in the crust along the Taupo Volcanic Zone and the formation of numerous volcanic vents in which magma could rise. The Taupo volcano, which formed around 300,000 years ago, is one of the volcanoes that erupt less often, but then develop large, explosive and, above all, destructive eruptions.

Ōruanui eruption

One of these mighty Taupo eruptions was the Ōruanui eruption , which occurred 26,500 years ago. The material ( pumice stone and volcanic ash ) that was thrown out and distributed over a wide area is said to have had a volume of almost 1200 km³, three times the size of Mount Ruapehu . Other sources specify this as 430 km³ of rock and ash precipitation, 320 km³ of pyroclastic flows in the surrounding landscape and 420 km³ of material that fell within the caldera . At the end of the eruption, the magma chamber below the volcano collapsed , forming a caldera with a depression of around 500 meters. This caldera later became the northern part of Lake Taupo. This was followed by 28 more or less large eruptions in the last 23,000 years. This and the Ōruanui eruption shaped Lake Taupo and the landscape around it.

Hatepe eruption

According to the latest studies, the last of these eruptions is said to have taken place in AD 232 (± 15 years) and was probably one of the world's most powerful volcanic eruptions in the last 5000 years. With an ejection amount of 50 to 60 km³, it devastated an area in New Zealand that is now home to over 200,000 people. The ash rain covered all of New Zealand with a carpet at least 1 cm thick and may have caused the extraordinary red sunsets in China and Europe that were observed and documented by the Romans and Chinese at the time.

The volcano today

The Taupo is one of the twelve volcanoes in New Zealand that are classified as dangerous and are constantly monitored. The constant monitoring of seismic activities, changes in the lake bed, the water level and the water quality provide important information about possible hazards from volcanic activities, because the magma chamber of the volcano is only 6 to 8 km below the lake.

Lake Taupo

It is not known when exactly the caldera filled with water and led to the formation of Lake Taupo. What is certain, however, is that the caldera had changed due to the numerous large eruptions of the past 23,000 years and led to a further increase in the surrounding area. But the 3487 km² catchment area of ​​the rivers running towards the caldera filled the basin with water, which finally created a breakthrough to the north near today's city of Taupo , which keeps the water level of the lake at its current level. At this breakthrough, the Huka Falls formed , which today represent an attraction for tourists and whitewaterers with a drop height of around 11 m.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Taupo . GeoNet - GNS Science , accessed on July 21, 2013 (English).
  2. ^ JJ Aitken : Plate Tectonics for Curious Kiwis . In: Institute of Geological & Nuclear Science (Ed.): Institute of Geological & Nuclear Science Information . series 42. Lower Hutt 1996, ISBN 0-478-09555-4 , pp.  39 (English).
  3. ^ The Taupo volcano . In: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , accessed July 19, 2013 .
  4. ↑ CJN Wilson : The 26.5 ka Oruanui eruption, New Zealand: an introduction and overview . In: Elsevier (Ed.): Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research . Volume 112, Issues 1-4 , December 2001, ISSN 0377-0273 , pp.   133-174 , doi : 10.1016 / S0377-0273 (01) 00239-6 (English).
  5. ↑ a b Taupo Lakebed - Background . In: Lake Taupo '98 - The JAGO dive project . New Zealand Mineral , October 1998, archived from the original on March 27, 2012 ; accessed on February 11, 2016 .
  6. ^ Alan Hogg, David J. Lowe, Jonathan Palmer : Revised calendar date for the Taupo eruption derived by 14C wiggle-matching using a New Zealand kauri 14C calibration data set . In: The Holocene . Volume 22, Issue 4 . SAGE Publications , November 22, 2011, pp.  439-449 , doi : 10.1177 / 0959683611425551 (English).
  7. ↑ a b Volcano Fact Sheet - Taupo Volcano . (PDF 554 kB) GNS Science , accessed on March 17, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Our Volcanoes . GeoNet - GNS Science , accessed on July 19, 2013 (English).
  9. ^ Taupo - Volcano Alerts - Volcano Drums . GeoNet - GNS Science , accessed on July 19, 2013 (English).