Hi all A weather bomb is headed for the North Island, and as you can see it is already hitting Auckland: http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,1242245a1500,FF.html The term weather bomb was used to describe a deepening low pressure system diving from 1020+ HPa to 1000 HPa and beyond. Very strong winds and heavy rain, with thunderstorms in tow are expected tonight and tomorrow in Auckland, Northland, Coromandel, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Central Plateau, Hawkes Bay/Gisborne and eastern Wairarapa. Strong winds are forecast for most of the North Island and in particular the Hauraki Gulf. As it passes over, there is supposed to be cold southeasterly winds here and along the east coast up to Blenheim with rain. This is an evil system: The following are a cross section of weather forecasts through the North Island from Auckland to Napier, heading south-southeast. A)Today's Forecast: AUCKLAND Rain becoming persistent. Easterlies rising to gale. Updated: 20 Jun 2002 04:55AM Friday Rain, heavy at times. Strong winds tending southwest. B)Todays Forecast: HAMILTON Rain. Strong easterlies. Updated: 20 Jun 2002 06:55PM Friday Rain easing to showers. Strong southwest change. C)Todays Forecast: TAUPO Rain. Strong easterlies. Updated: 20 Jun 2002 06:55PM Friday Rain easing to showers. Strong southwest change. D)Todays Forecast: NAPIER Rain. Strong easterlies. Updated: 20 Jun 2002 06:55PM Friday Rain slowly clearing. Strong northerlies tend westerly. Rob

The term "weather bomb" certainly sounds like an evil system. Is New Zealand prone to constantly being exposed to weather extremes. Sometimes reading your posts, Rob, it seems as though NZ gets some of the worst weather in the world.

Hi all The weather bomb has passed over the country and things have improved considerably, but Civil Defence emergencies still exist in Coromandel and Waikato: http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,1243823a10,FF.html A rough night was in store for Waikato with very heavy rain and very strong winds. 20,000 homes were without electricity and the damage will take days to clean up. http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,1243489a1600,FF.html Northland had heavy rain that caused flooding. Schools closed early to get students home before the flooding got severe: http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,1243090a1800,FF.html Get a hint that this is nuts?? Well I confess that this is pretty bad and it appears that considerable damage has been done, but maybe this had something to do with the onset of El Nino. Here, we just had drizzle and a moderate southerly. But it was depressing having the fourth day in a row of rain. Rob

The farther away from you I get, the more reasons you seem to have to worry about you. Bad weather, indeed! It is hot and like mainland summers of my youth; I mostly hibernate until night when I stop being dripping wet and go back to more normal temperatures.

Take care yourself Rob. I will remember my past winter for all of my rest life. I cannot see the ice as before. Best regards John

To me ice is no longer beautiful and recreational. It is treachery waiting for us to make one little mistake. *HUGS* Please be careful. Poor John is a reminder to all of us how sneaky nature can be even when we are at out most vigilant. I hear thunder again. I guess I had better get offline before this fuses to the call and me with it.

Hi all Ice is only good in a drink - its no fun around here during the winter especially when driving down the road and hitting a patch of 'black ice' and doing a few 360's. Also, posting here since for some reason I can not display the entire Geo list. An interesting site I found was www.rfspace.com which describes a receiver that utilizes dsp for processing. Im still working up courage to start on my dsp radio kit (lots of surface mount parts) but Im getting closer to starting assembly. Just finished kitting up a PIC microcontroller that encapsulates GPS data and retransmits it as 1200 baud packet. 73 de AA9IL Mike r-c-i

OOOH Mike, that sounds great. No, NOT the black ice. It causes compound fractures and a great amount of body damage on other things like cars. In fact, the only place ice is good is in oa tall cool one. Cheers!!! Your radio ventures sound exciting. How much stuff did you capture on feild day? I was in the mountains of TN listening to papers by learned individuals and collecting stuff like books and having the authors sign them. I enjoyed it very much but was out of anything but scanner range where we were. Loads of geology, though!

Checking http://www.rfspace.com My host's W95 Pc shows the complete list of Geo sites as well as new posts when requested. I wonder what your difficulty is...! I'll check again!

Hi there Believe it or not, I didnt even turn a radio on during FD except for shortwave listening - the June VHF contest a couple of weeks ago was my 'FD' - anyway will try again to see if the complete list displays from the dialup. Sounds like your TN conference was fabulous - really helps to inspire! Looking forward to all the updates on your visit. 73 de AA9IL Mike r-c-i

There is a fantastic fossil bed in the Ohio River ca;lled the Falls of The Ohio tthat I want to see very much. We were going this weekend but plans have changed. I will keep trying to get there as soon as possibler. The only rocks I managed to find were ancient VERY fine grained limestones from the sea bed that once was Kentucky and Tennessee and a bit of coal on top of that. I am way behind in collecting. Most of the really good stuff was in the road cuts on super high-ways and it would have been suicidal to stop for a rock or two.

Hi all Marcia, when you get an opportunity I would not mind seeing you on Yahoo IM *GRINS BRILLIANTLY*. I am HOME!!!! Wooooooooohoooooooo!!!!! So where is the lovely hostess of Geo, the very lovely, very entertaining and very friendly Marcia Hemming?? Rob

My host has just posted in Geo 17 even though his screen did not show that such a topic existed. Hi Rob! I miss talking to you, too. I am perched ready to dash down two flights of steps to sign for my laptop as soon as it arrives. When that happens I will link up the computers so we can both be online at the seme time. The I will download Yahoo. The anguish as been real in mising talking to you all. Julie, I am ready to take on your broken leg and have things to entertain you. Been to the Falls of the Ohio and other places. So much happening and so little time to post. I will get caught up eventually! I promise! Rob, for what it is worth, both my host and his friend agree I am much better in person than in photos. *smiling brilliantly* back at you...

Hi all New Zealand is strangely quiet. No volcanism to speak of, and earthquake activity is steady, with nothing untoward happening. Is that good or bad? Hard to tell, though one notable thing to occur was a landslide near Turangi at the south end of Lake Taupo. No ordinary landslide, this one may have been a combination of the geothermal plumbing and the high water table getting the overlying soil and rock mobile. Has happened in the past. Rob

I worry with the world so quiet at the moment and John's multitude of great quakes about to happen. Could one have anything to do with the other? Quite possibly. Please do not let the New Madrid fault reawaken just yet.

Hi all Tomorrow I start a new feature in Robs Geo World by doing a run down of the Volcanoes of New Zealand. The series includes the following volcanoes: Auckland Volcanic Field Mayor Island White Island Edgecumbe Okataina Tarawera Tauhara Taupo Taranaki Tongariro Ngauruhoe Ruapehu Rob

Wow, that's great that you're doing this comprehensive coverage. Neat!

Ongoing Hawaiian eruption is for all to see. There is percious little unknown of the most studied volcanoes on earth. Rob, are you going to have help? It sounds like something at which you would excel!

Hi all If you go to World Volcanism you can see the series there. World Volcanism is a Yahoo Group I foundered and Marcia helps run (been pretty busy Marcia - you are welcome to join us again)dedicated to the volcanoes of the world. This is an indepth look at one of natures greatest landscape creators. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/worldvolcanism Rob

All I can do from here is cut and paste Kilauea updates! How sad it is finally doing something and I am thousands of miles from the closest active volcano! I remember how good your reports were. I snitched a few and posted them on Geo somewhere (I think they call it senility when I cannot rememberwhere I posted in 79 actual topics!) Thanks for putting them here.Here it is "foreverr" On Yahoo is it at the whim of Yahoo's masters! That is the reason I have mostly vacated their websites. Too frustrating!

Hi all This the long awaited first installment of the Volcanoes of New Zealand series. Rob ----- Mount Ruapehu is a large andesitic stratovolcano located at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone (the zone of active volcanoes stretching from Ruapehu to White Island). It is best remembered for the spectacular but small eruptions of 1995-96 which lightly dusted much of the central North Island and whose plume was picked up on weather radar. These eruptions were the largest in New Zealand during the 20th century and were similar in part to the 1945 eruption. That eruption emptied the crater lake in a series of phreato-magmatic (involving water and magma mixing)explosions. After this a lava dome appeared in the crater but was blown to bits a few months later. The eruptions formed a debris dam over the outlet into the Whangaehu River and this collapsed in 1953 with catastrophic results. On Christmas Eve 1953, Cyril Ellis, a postal worker was driving home from work at Waiouru and he was about to drive across the Whangaehu River when he noticed a "flood" going over and under the road bridge. Realising there was a problem he got out of the car and went to investigate. What it was, though no one knew at the time was a lahar from Ruapehu's crater lake (the debris dam had failed after the refilling lake had overtopped it). Then he heard a passenger train approaching the nearby rail bridge. Realising the danger the train was in he scrambled up the bank and ran along the railway tracks toward the train waving for the driver to slow down. But it was too late. The train thundered onto a bridge that did not exist and sailed through the air. F ve carriages and locomotive landed in the lahar. Despite the very brave efforts of Cyril Ellis, it was a night without parallel in New Zealand railway history. 151 people were killed. The following day, the Queen of England who was visiting made a speech on the radio expressing her sorrow. Geologically Ruapehu began forming about 1,000,000 years ago. The volcano experienced a flank collapse about 9,500 years ago which has left a deposit visible from the road to Whakapapa village in the Tongariro National Park, and has had numerous mudflows pour down it's flanks over time. The summit is a complex mass of 6 craters of which a circular one with a lake in it is the currently active vent. Two more notable eruptions occurred in 1969 and 1975 which did severe damage to skifield facilities at Whakapapa, damage (1975)to the Tongariro power scheme. Future eruptions are likely to consist of more phreato magmatic events, that will generate lahars. Explosions of ash and steam may follow, or there could be lava domes built in the crater. These are usually destroyed, generating ash clouds posing a threat to aircraft, and also the Tongariro Power scheme.

Want Julie to teach you how to post images to go with your text? She has become skilled at it. Wonderful series, Rob. It will benefit all of the internet from now on.

Hi all Today we go to Mt Ngauruhoe in the second of the 12 part series on the Volcanoes of New Zealand. Mount Ngauruhoe is the near perfect stratovolcano in the Tongariro National Park World Heritage Area. The volcano is the youngest of the 3 in the national park and has a summit altitude of 7175 feet (2291 metres). It last erupted in 1975 and is the most likely volcano, in my opinion to erupt next in New Zealand. ---- Ngauruhoe is in many ways the Fujiyama of New Zealand in that it has a perfectly symmetrical stratovolcano, minus the parasitic cone. Ngauruhoe of now, is a young cone formed in the place of a larger proto-Ngauruhoe, which existed on the same spot. Proto-Ngauruhoe was destroyed about 2500 years ago and the present cone began forming shortly afterwards. The old Ngauruhoe was first formed about 260,000 years ago and would have been broader and taller than the the present cone. The new Ngauruhoe was too small to divert the massive ground hugging surge from Taupo in 186 AD, which just went over the top. The volcano is an andesitic cone that shares the same magma reservoir as Tongariro, but the two run to different schedules and while Tongariro has been dormant since 1896, Ngauruhoe had several eruptions in the 20th Century, the last ones being in 1974-1975. These eruptions were mainly explosive and hurled bombs and blocks in vulcanian explosions quite effortlessly from the vent. Small pyroclastic flows travelled down the flanks about 2 kilometres and the loudest explosions were heard 80 kilometres or more from the vent. The volcano erupted andesite lava in 1954, and the glow of which was visible by night during Strombolian eruptions for more than 150 kilometres. So what does Ngauruhoe hold for the future. Well, more eruptions are a certainty and whilst averages should not be taken for granted, the volcano has averaged eruptions every seven years since records began, and it has been 27 years since the last eruption. The volcano is likely to continue the occasional lava flow from the vent and will experience explosive eruptions from time to time. These are potentially threatening for aircraft flying in the volcano's vicinity, and anyone near the cone during pyroclastic surges. Rob

Hi all This is the Third installment of the Volcanoes of New Zealand series and I have a surprise in store for the middle of the series... But this is the turn of Mount Taranaki. Rob ---- Hi all Today in the third part of our 12 part series on the volcanoes of New Zealand we go to the province of Taranaki. Taranaki is a province in the western North Island dominated by a large andesite cone which goes by the name Taranaki. Taranaki province is home to several large towns, notably Hawera, Stafford, Waitara and the city of New Plymouth. The province is noted for it's dairy farming and petroleum/gas industry which has onshore and offshore fields to tap. As for the mountain. Well it is a stratovolcano with symmetry to rival pre-1980 Mount St Helens, Fujiyama, Ngauruhoe or Mayon. The volcano's summit is about 2518 metres above sea level and has a lava dome in the crater that is left over from the last eruptions in 1755. Activity has been present at Taranaki for about 130,000 years and major eruptions occur about every 340 years with the last one being about 247 years ago. A ring plain of volcanic debris from major flank collapses and lahars is visible from the air around Taranaki and in particular the National Park. On its flank is the Pouakai volcano facing New Plymouth, due north of the volcano. Pouakai volcano is one several older volcanic features near Mount Taranaki and it has a height of 1299 metres. The largest landslides have ranged up to 3.5km3 in volume have an occurrence frame of about 1 per 20,0000- 120,000 years. Pyroclastic deposits have been found in the cuttings near the Maero stream on the northwest flankss of the volcano, and they had carbonised vegetation suggesting very hot flows killed the bush. Egmont will erupt again and one of the concerns is that because the volcano has shown itself to be punctual, because we are now nearly within the 250-340 average repose period, it is possible the volcano is now loaded. Future eruptions could consist of pyroclastic flows from dome collapse and explosions starting lahars down the rivers draining the flanks and landslides of some size and description are a real possibility. Lava flows and lava domes are possible and being andesitic in nature the magma could vary between explosions and flows. Ashfall descent may be a problem for farmers milking cows and machinery while also polluting water supplies, and being hazardous to aircraft. Mount Taranaki clearly poses a threat. Rob

Mt Taranaki http://www.kidszone.co.nz/places_mt_taranaki.htm

Rob,this is great stuff. All that is lacking are the illustrations. How good is the picture I found? This one I posted of Mt Taranaki is much different from another I found which would NOT let me borrow it. You are the best judge of what is indicative of the area.

Hi all Marcia dear, you are not going to get anything better than that. That is just awesome!! Rob

I find good stuff on the net and borrow it. Makes life so much easier! Thanks, Rob. Happy to oblige until you become as expert as is Julie!

Hi all Today I move to the fourth volcano of the Volcanoes of New Zealand, and the last of the volcanoes in the Tongariro National Park. Mount Tongariro is the closest of the three to Lake Rotoaira, which is the focal point of two water diversion schemes for electricity generation. Not readily recognisable by many as a volcano, Tongariro has the renown Ketetahi hotsprings on its northern flanks, which make a good day trip. ---- Today volcano in our 12 part look at the volcanoes of New Zealand, examines Mount Tongariro, the third volcano of the Tongariro National Park. It is not a volcano most recognise immediately, being an impressive complex with a broad summit rather than a near perfect stratovolcano like Ngauruhoe. At 1968 metres it is the lowest of the three volcanoes in the Tongariro National Park, and also low enough that the pyroclastic flow from the great Taupo eruption in 186AD, swept over the summit a full 30 kilometres away from the vent. Tongariro is near the Lake Rotoaira intake for the Tokaanu power station, so any tephra eruption is going to cause major problems with the Tongariro Power Scheme. This hydro-electric power scheme has a two pronged system of intakes, tunnels and canals on either side of the Tongariro volcanoes. Tongariro began to form possibly as much as 1 million years ago and has dimensions of 13 kilometres in length and 8 kilometres wide. Initially it was probably a single massive cone rising much higher than the current truncated summit, that lost it's prominence through explosion and collapse. Tongariro is however known to be a complex overlapping series of vents. It has experienced considerable glaciation in some parts and since the last ice age renewed volcanism has revitalised the cone. Many youthful features appear like lava flows, craters, and cones. The Te Maari Craters are a prime example of younger volcanism because activity here began about 14,000 years ago and explosions have occurred intermittently since then. It has two notable craters called Upper and Lower Te Maari, the former forming in 1868 and named after the chieftainess Te Maari. It's last eruption was in 1896-97. The Lower Te Maari Crater oozed a major flow of andesitic lava that flowed 5 kilometres down the slopes. North Crater is a large crater that was infilled by solidifying lava lake which gives it the level appearance. The depression in the side of the infilled crater is an explosion pit at least 1800 years old. Central Crater is a broad depression near the centre of the Massif but it has clearly no recognisable vent and therefore owes it's name to the surrounding rims of the other volcanic features nearby. A basaltic flow is identifiable as an ash black fan shaped flow. Blue Lake Crater is a crater with a brilliant blue water lake, that is about 9700 years old. The crater had lava fountaining in it according to interpretation of the debris lying around the crater. It is inactive. Red Crater is a brilliant red shaded feature lying within an older scoria cone. Five flows have flowed from this crater since the Taupo event of 186AD, but none in historic time. It is also the most recently active vent in the complex to have erupted. The last event was in 1926. I have not finished the Tongariro volcano in this message because this is getting a bit lengthy. Shall finish of in the next one.

CONT FROM LAST MESSAGE: The Emerald Lakes are at the foot of Red Crater and despite their proximity to the most recently active vent, the lakes are cold. Their colouring comes from minerals leached from the surrounding rocks, and are contaminated with sulphur and ammonium chloride. Oturere Craters are located at the head of the Oturere Stream, and the vent may have been one of the original on the eastern size. Since the last glaciation Red Cone at the head of the Oturere Glacier has been constructed. Several large lava flows poured from Red Crater and there was a dike that fed a slow flow at the valley head. Finally we have South Crater. This may not actually be a crater but a feature of glacial erosion. The most notable things to happen here are an explosion crater forming while flows of lava from Ngauruhoe and Red Crater have entered South Crater. Tongariro will erupt again and it had volcanic tremor as recently as this year, but it was not sustained or frequent enough to be considered problematic. However any future eruption will be violent as one has only to drive past the volcano and over the northern flanks to see the boulders the volcano has tossed out over time. Tongariro will be a massive threat to the world renown fishery on the Tongariro River and to the Tongariro Power scheme. Future eruptions can range from lava fountaining of andesitic lava to tephra fall and possible pyroclastic flows. Some flooding or local lahars are possible as well. Tongariro is clearly a volcano with a dangerous potential. Rob

Hi all For those of you who have seen "Volcano" and wondered what it would be like to see a volcano form in an urban area, you might want to read this: ------ The Auckland Volcanic field as some in this group (Wayms_99, and szerelem_02)know very well, has something odd about it - the city of Auckland which is the largest in New Zealand, lies directly over top of the only volcanic field in the country. Auckland is a city on a Geo-bomb. The last eruption was bigger than every preceding eruption in the volcanic field put together and this was the eruption of Rangitoto about 1200 AD. Not many cities can boost of having their own volcanic field with up to 48 cones, explosion craters, maars, and islands. Auckland can. It can also boost of reasonably expecting the next volcano to form within 200 years. Therefore today I choose to visit the urban volcanic field of Auckland in the hope that what gets printed here will do someone a huge favour in the future. About 60,000 years ago, at a time when the sea is much lower and the icy grips of an Ice Age are upon the land, in the ground under a dense forest canopy magma is rising. As it forces a path to the surface it makes contact with ground water leading to a violent explosion. The explosion hurls skyward, soil, rocks, and forest leaving a gaping hole in the ground and a battered forest looking much the worse. Within days or even a matter of hours magma is oozing out of the cracks to start fountaining, creating scoria cones which merge into a single mound and then lava flows start isssuing. They flow down the gently sloping valley in which the volcano is forming. It is followed by many more over the following days and these form a plateau of basalt. Now there is only a central crater erupting and it scatters ash into the sky. Eventually this stops as well. Steam drifts from the cooling lavas, but this volcano is extinct. The above account based on Geoffrey J. Cox's Fountains of Fire (1989), is based on knowledge of Mount Albert, one of the 48 known volcanoes in the Auckland area. Mount Albert was born in the early phase of the Auckland volcanoes which lasted from about 60,000 years ago to 18,000 years ago. A second phase started about 18,000 years ago and ended 9,000 years ago. Then a silence of several thousand years settled upon the field. When it ended about 800 years ago, a volcano bigger than all the preceding events put together, appeared. Rangitoto has a volume of at least 2.3km3. It is an island in the Hauraki Gulf identifiable from just about anywhere in the city and with a summit elevation of about 259 metres. Rangitoto is probably extinct, like the 47 other one-shot events preceding it. Auckland volcanoes have a number of eruption styles ranging from simply forming explosion pits with tuff rings, to building elaborate islands of reasonable size like Rangitoto. Rangitoto would have been violently active initially because it formed undersea and broke to the surface. But during eruptions once it reached above sea level, lava fountaining in the crater and broad flows would have been the most likely style. Other types included forming explosion pits where magma made contact with groundwater and went boom. They often became extinct after just forming the pit, but some went on to erupt lava and form scoria cones welded with lava. But some were violent - Three Kings hurled tuff that heavily showered the area around the vent and built up a large cone of scoria and tuff. It then got blown to bits before lava emerged and built the trio of cones that gives the volcano its name. So what can we expect from this volcanic field in the future? Well, first off, one can reasonably expect that the next volcano will appear with 200 years. It could take any one of a number of forms, as mentioned above. To monitor for signs that the next volcano is on it's way, there are seismometers in the Waitakere Ranges, and in the Auckland Regional council to pick up tremors, and tiltmeters to measure any displacement associated with magma rise. ---- In 10,000 years time I think there will be a case of a developer wanting to build something in central Auckland. He is drilling through masses of hardened lava and stumbles on something VERY strange (oh my god it is a mangled CAR!!!).... Rob

INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGICAL & NUCLEAR SCIENCES LTD. GeoNet Data Centre, Lower Hutt, New Zealand http://www.geonet.org.nz The following earthquake has been recorded by GeoNet: Reference number: 1909352/G Universal Time: 2002 August 17 0821 NZ Standard Time: 2002 August 17 8:21 p.m. Latitude, Longitude: 37.76�S 176.80�E Location: 10 km north of Matata Focal depth: 150 km Richter magnitude: 6.0 Likely to have been felt widely from Whakatane to Wellington, particularly along the east coast of the North Island.

Hi all I resume the tour of the volcanoes of New Zealand today, by going to Mayor Island in the Bay of Plenty. Mayor Island is a volcano with a not very well known geological history, but known as a significant place for Maori who valued the obsidian found on the island. ---- Mayor Island is located in the western Bay of Plenty on the western margin of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, the zone of volcanic activity stretching from Ruapehu to White Island. It is one of the least well known features of the volcanic zone and one of the most colourful in terms of eruptive behaviour. This makes Mayor Island unique in many ways because it's different eruption styles and the physical setting of the island combine to create many unique landforms. The volcano has had most styles of eruption during it's life span, with Hawaiian, Strombolian, Plinian and sub-Plinian styles occurring. There have been phreato-magmatic eruptions involving water and magma making contact and causing a steam explosion. Dome collapse and lava flows are also a feature of the volcano's history. Perhaps the most notable feature of the volcano is deposits and a caldera formed in an eruption about 6340 years ago. The eruption involved the formation of ignimbrite and was one of only a few to have an impact on the mainland. Mayor Island has had three distinct eruptive phases that initially began about 130,000 years ago. Phase 1 lasted from about 130,000 years ago to 36,000 years ago and consisted of the formation of shields that involved at least 12 explosive eruptions and 9 lava flows. Phase 2 lasted from 33,000 years ago to 8,000 years ago. It consisted of a minor caldera collapse, and at least one sub-Plinian eruption. This phase ended with the big caldera collapse 6340 years ago. The third and current phase starts with the caldera collapse and continues to this day. So what can we expect from Mayor Island in the future? Hard to say, since it has had the works in eruption styles and quite a colourful past to go with it. Since it has had them several times in the last 130,000 years one can expect in the worst case, a caldera collapse and thus a tsunami risk. However there is also the possibility of lava fountaining, ashfall deposits and pyroclastic flows possibly forming ignimbrite. Rob

That is really an interesting volcano and the URL I found for the best source of material outside of our own Rob, includes many photos and diagrams. http://www.gns.cri.nz/earthact/volcanoes/nzvolcanoes/mayorisland.htmb

Hi all As the helicopter flew across the Bay of Plenty, a volcano slowly materialised out of the haze, which covered the horizon. From afar, no steam plume was visible, as is sometimes the case and White Island today looked quiet and drowsy. The chopper flew in over the crater, to give the four passengers a view of the volcano, before looking for a spot to land. After the blades had stopped whirling five people emerged from the helicopter and into a hostile like environment where no bush was visible. No living things inhabited the barren brown crater, whose vents were 2 kilometres away. It was the start of the volcano era for one person in particular: It was a cool morning when the Glennie family drove from the Bombay Hills of Auckland, to Whakatane for something few people are lucky enough to have experienced. The thought of walking around in the crater of an active volcano is not the most appealing thing to most people, but to me, my brother and my parents, it was a dream. White Island is one of the not very many volcanoes where you can walk right up to the vent in relative safety. So anyway about 10AM we arrived in Whakatane, and had lunch. We then drove to a property about 5km from Whakatane from which the tours were being run. After signing the required paperwork and being instructed on the safety equipment on board we were airborne. It was a 30 minute flight out to the island, and the weather was spot on. Only the odd cloud about, gentle seabreezes and warm. As we approached the island a small plume became visible. Flying over the crater and looking down on a volcano into whose breached crater we were now descending. I looked down on the island wondering how long it would be before I got to repeat my dream of being in the crater of an active volcano. Once on the ground we were given hard hats and gas masks. White Island was active enough that it could send bits of tephra flying without warning so the hard hat was compulsory, and the gas masks were for up near the crater lip where wind directions within the crater could change without warning. Not a problem, but.... I am an asthmatic. We began walking across a barren lifeless crater criss crossed with drainage runoff channels from the crater. Some of them were deep enough that you had to climb down them or do the long jump. On three sides there were high crater walls, only on the outside of which did life exist. Behind us was the breached crater entrance and the sulphur works. This was awesome and we had not even reached the lip of the vents! Further on we came across a fumarole. Only a little one but the temperature was probably 80.C. Nearer to the vents we started dodging the ever-shifting gas clouds wafting from them and used our gas masks whenever the wind changed direction. The first interesting vent we came to had been discovered by TV One while filming out on the island for a documentary and thus was named TV One. Noisy Nellie was another vent. This was a steam and gas gusher whose roar was deafening close up and you had to watch the colour of the steam closely for streaks of ash, incase something was up. But not today. I had to observe it from a distance because a wind direction change had driven a gas plume back toward me. I had the mask on but because there was an erosion gully near me I had to walk TOWARD the vent and then turn away to get out of it. So I hung back incase my asthma flared. We would have collected ash, but the volcano had not erupted in recent months so no new deposits were lying around. Of great interest on the way back from the crater was the ruins of the sulphur works on which we now focus. They had been set up to get sulphur from the crater, but White Island was not having any of this carry on. In September 1914 the crater wall slumped and then fell into the crater. It plugged the vent, and for a short time, all activity ceased. But not for long. Pressure was fast building up, and the internal plumbing had water trapped in it. This quickly built up and in short order an explosion violently cleared the crater flinging out rocks, mud, ash and water. It quickly mobilised as a lahar that poured down the gullies and straight through the sulphur works. All 11 men there were killed by a short lived but fast moving lahar. Today one can see the wharf off which the sulphur was loaded, mangled buildings reduced to a skeletal state and old railway lines along which a cart was run onto the wharf for loading. The trip to White Island was a fantastic experience that I would jump at the chance to repeat. This is a once in a life time sort of thing that is not at all dangerous if done at reasonably stable volcanoes where the crater is degassing freely 24 hours 7 days a week. When this degassing stops, the problems start. Rob

I've been reading everything you have written, Rob. You are doing a fantastic job on New Zealand's volcanoes. I didn't know much about any of them except Ruapehu, but now thanks to your informative explainations on them I am learning a lot. Keep up the great work. I look foward to reading your next one and your finale. Hmmmm.....I wonder....

If I were to go to New Zealand on a ten day 'geo" tour, what would I do? What would be your recommended itinerary?

Hi all Well first I would get my bearings. I will assume that the 10 days is the Geo tour and does not count for arriving in the country, getting your bearings together and getting over jetlag. I shall assume you are doing this in our Summer (December-March). Day 1 would be spent in Auckland. Here I would suggest you go up the Sky tower and survey Auckland to see what the volcano distribution is like. Auckland has 48 one shot event volcanoes that formed and died. They are a mixture of little cones, explosion craters and a couple islands. Not all are visible, but there are a few volcanoes you can drive to the summit of: Mount Eden, One Tree Hill, possibly Mount Albert. Not sure about Three Kings. Explosion craters are found at Pukaki, and Pupuke but I am not sure about whether they still exist as such. If you are really adventurous you can spend a day on Rangitoto Island, and do the mainland volcanoes in the evening. Day 2: Drive south east to Rotorua. Rotorua is a city in an extinct caldera and has magnificent geothermal features (mudpools, hot pools, geysers a couple small mud volcanoes), which are a feature because of the natural ground water plumbing system. Spend the afternoon at say Hells Gate or Whakarewarewa (Foh-kah-ray-wa-ray-wa). Day 3: The following day, go to Te Wairoa village which is a partially excavated Maori village badly damaged by the Mount Tarawera eruption in 1886, and spend the morning there before going on an afternoon Safari up Tarawera. Day 4: Fly to Wellington. Spend the afternoon at Te Papa Museum which has a very good section on the natural forces which shaped New Zealand. Allow at LEAST 3 hours for the Museum. Alternatively make a day trip to Taupo, visit the volcano centre near Wairakei, and maybe go on a cruise around parts of the lake (bookings can be made in Taupo - population 15,000). While you are on the cruise, you might be taken to a special place of great significance to a volcano lover, but about which I am going to be a meanie, and not say anymore on this place until I complete the Volcanoes of New Zealand series. Note I would fly to Christchurch and skip Wellington in this case on Day 5. Day 6: Spend in and around Christchurch. For an afternoon drive I suggest going to Sumner which has a sort of microclimate and then dropping into Lyttelton, nestled in the crater of an extinct volcano. If you want, there is the Gondola to go up. It goes to the summit of the Port Hills and gives on a clear night, a glorious view across the city and the plains to the Southern Alps. Day 7: Drive to Greymouth at a fairly leisurely pace. Suggest following the Old West Coast Road and having a look at a large braided river (the Waimakariri River). A couple good spots to do this, and marvel at the vast alluvial plains on which you stand. Then head for Arthurs Pass, through some superb glaciated scenery. You cross an active fault at the top of Porters Pass, and it is visible from the road. In Arthurs Pass I would have lunch. After lunch you continue on to Greymouth where I would spend the night. Day 8: Drive to Franz Josef in the morning and spend the afternoon at the glacier before having dinner at one of the cafes in the township. If you are earthquake minded, walk down onto the river bed of the Waiho River and see if you can find a fault expression in the river bank anywhere. If you can, you have found the Alpine Fault. A hint: Fault is within 50 metres of the road bridge and should run through the motor camp on the south side of the river. Day 9: Drive to Fox Glacier, and onto Lake Matheson, where there is a billion dollar image visible on the surface of the lake, before driving back to Greymouth. Day 10: Retrace steps from Greymouth to Christchurch. Note this is just a short tour of a few places of geographical/geological interest in New Zealand, and I would recommend you set aside a month at least for touring. Rob

Hi all The time is approaching when I will conduct the Grand Finale to the Volcanoes of New Zealand tour. It has been great fun writing the descriptions of the various volcanoes and the personal experiences based on my own contact with the volcanoes. I will put up Part 11 which will be Tauhara in World Volcanism later on tonight, and then on Friday or Saturday Night I will display the mysterious 12th volcano. The next volcano to be entered into Rob's Geo World is Edgecumbe, which is Part 8 on the Volcanoes of New Zealand series. Rob

Hi all Driving inland from the Bay of Plenty coastline, one notices a solitary steep sided volcano looming on the horizon. Mount Edgecumbe, a relatively little known volcano has been found. It is a volcano not active in historical time, but it is a prominent feature with a summit 821 metres above sea level. It is however part of a vast volcanic centre called Okataina. But it is as an independent volcano, that we shall focus upon Mount Edgecumbe. The volcano last erupted about 2500 years ago, and has two small explosion craters in the summit. Large hydrothermal craters are situated at the western foot of the volcano, and these are thought to be about 200,000 years old (based on geothermal activity at Kawerau, which is nearby). The hydrothermal craters are thought to have erupted about 15,000 and 9,000 years ago. Edgecumbe is a volcano of dacitic and andesitic lavas, and has two large domes near the western foot of the volcano, not far from the hydrothermal craters. Edgecumbe dacite tends to have about 63% Silica content and this would result low to high level explosive eruptions. Despite the lack of activity from Edgecumbe for the last 2,500 years, the relatively short time span that this time period represents suggests there is still more to come. Edgecumbe can be expected to erupt andesite and/or dacite lava's which will add to the steep sided cone. Some lava's from Edgecumbe have flowed as far as the Tarawera River, and future flows may divert it. Alternatively it might produce pyroclastic flows of the latter lava which may mean explosive eruptions and tephra fall are possible. Reports of Edgecumbe's demise are probably exaggerated. Rob

Hi all When most people think of a volcano, they think of an inverted ice cream cone of rock with the ice cream on the flanks as snow. Your normal volcano looks very similar to Ngauruhoe, pre-1980 Mount St Helens, and Fujiyama. So it is a great surprise to find that you are nestled in a volcano with no clear outline. It might be unsettling to know that the volcano whose crater you are in, is one of a fortunately very rare type. Driving around the lakes east of Rotorua you think the volcanoes are the rhyolite domes of Tarawera, Haro Haro, and the cone of Mount Edgecumbe to the east. It is surprising therefore to find ignimbrites from a volcano covering the area. But the source of the ignimbrite is not readily visible. Maybe it dissappeared. Maybe it was dispersed or destroyed in later events, or maybe it is buried under debris left behind from events in which up to 500km3 of material was thrown out. But it is there, it is dormant, and it's name is Okataina. After a break, I resume the tour of the New Zealand volcanoes. This Part 9: Okataina Okataina is not readily visible as any individual volcano, but yet it is there, hidden from all. With no single crater readily visible on the surface, the untrained eye has a point to make when it cannot distinguish any notable features. To be fair other volcanoes have grown in the caldera like the rhyolite domes of Tarawera, Mount Edgecumbe and Ngongotaha, plus a host of lesser known domes, flows and craters. These have filled in part of it, and lakes cover several craters. The Pink and White Terraces - sometimes called the eighth wonder of the world - existed until 1886, when Lake Rotomahana was raised by the eruption of Tarawera. All these are features within a vast caldera that has seen some of the largest eruptions in New Zealand history and which has dropped ash as far away as the Chatham Islands. Okataina was born in violent fashion about 50,000 years ago when a series of six very large eruptions excavated about 500km3 to form a vast caldera. The caldera has dimensions of 18 kilometres by 25 kilometres or 450 kilometres square. These eruptions were devastating in form and covered larges swathes of the central North Island in sheets of pumice and ash, which welded into ignimbrite. A second series of eruptions between 50,000 and 24,000 years ago was somewhat smaller, but still managed to transform part of the caldera, and drop ash and pumice over parts of the central North Island. At least eleven eruptions have occurred at the Okataina volcano in the last 21000 years and have been of rhyolitic or basaltic composition. The last event was in 1886 when Tarawera had a basaltic scoria eruption. More on that in Part 10. So what types of eruption does Okataina exhibit? The eruptions of the last 21,000 years have been mainly rhyolitic in composition throwing out pumice and ash, but also extruding lava domes of rhyolitic composition (Tarawera). Okataina caldera however can produce rhyolitic ash and pumice in most events and ignimbrite when the volcano is in a full blown caldera event. There is no way to time the next eruption, but that signs of unrest include earthquakes generated by rising magma. Seiches of water in the several lakes that help make up the caldera maybe an indicator that earthquakes are occurring, while changes in gas emissions and composition might indicate what the magma is doing, and whether the vent is blocked. A large eruption at Okataina is fortunately very unlikely, but small to moderate size events that are locally destructive are probable. Rotorua, a popular tourist destination and city of considerable cultural significance is only 10 kilometres from the caldera. Add to that some of the finest farmland in New Zealand, the Kawerau paper mill, several towns including Tokoroa, Taupo, Whakatane, Kawerau, and others with a combined population of over 40,000 people are all nearby. Any eruption at Okataina will be destructive, however small it is. Rob

Hi all How many people here have climbed a lava dome, be it extinct or dormant, or active? The next part of the Volcanoes of New Zealand series is focussing on the dome volcano of Mount Tarawera, with its three domes. The largest eruption to occur since Europeans settled the country, occurred at Mount Tarawera, which is due east of Rotorua, and part of the Okataina caldera. So, moving on now to I want to introduce the three rhyolite domes of Tarawera - Wahanga (Wa-hung-a), Ruawahia (Ru-a-wa-he-a), and Tarawera (Ta-rah-we-ra). Tarawera is a low squat set of domes with truncated summits that reach the unimpressive height of 1111 metres above sea level. Rising out of the eastern shore of Lake Tarawera, Mount Tarawera is a youngish volcano which first began to form about 18,000 years ago. This eruption consisted of a mix of basaltic and rhyolitic magma being erupted. The rhyolitic magma contributed to the steep sided domes that make up the triumvirate, while the basalt is probably the lava that formed the thick flows which terminate as a steep slope dropping into Lake Tarawera. On June 10, 1886, at about 1.30AM the people of Te Wairoa and other villages were awoken by a deafening boom, as Tarawera was rent from one end to the other, with a line of vents opening from the domes, across Lake Rotomahana to the Waimangu valley. The locals were terrified. A chain of fiery clouds soared skyward from the vents and massive explosions of steam mud and lake water were raining mud down upon the people cowering in the McRae Hotel. People who bravely (or stupidly)went outside to see what the racket was, were showered upon by ash from the volcano, mud from the chain of craters erupting through Lake Rotomahana, and saw lightning doing a brilliant dance in the towering eruption columns. From up close, it seemed like Hell. From afar, it gave rise to fantastic stories of the Russians trying to invade New Zealand, for the explosions sounded like cannon in Auckland. Hell is probably a more accurate description of the eruption, because as it progressed, the atmosphere had the sulphur dioxide smell of falling ash, roofs and walls caved in burying people, chunks of scoria shattered windows and brilliant lightning lit the sky. As dawn broke over the central North Island, Tarawera quietened down, but hydrothermal activity along the rift and in Waimangu was just starting. 153 people were dead and hundreds more were injured. Three villages including Te Wairoa were in ruins, and for the most part buried in a mass of ash and mud. The 1886 eruption was a painful reminder to the people of the time, that they lived in a geologically dynamic environment whose forces achieve spectacular and often violent results. The eruption of Tarawera had largely ended by 6.00AM but the hydrothermal activity in the newly formed rift of vents (22 in all dispersed in a line 17 kilometres long), was just beginning. This would continue for another several years and claim several more lives, and damage more property. Explosions at Frying Pan flat, and Echo crater highlighted the danger of building near hydrothermal vents. On April Fools Day 1917 Frying Pan flat exploded without warning, dropping super heated rocks and mud on a cafe for tourists, that was on a ridge overlooking the vent. The building was wrecked and all 3 people inside were killed. Future eruptions at Tarawera could be either rhyolitic or basaltic in terms of magma erupted, and may include scoria eruptions like 1886 or rhyolitic dome building. Basaltic lavas may also get as far as Lake Tarawera and pyroclastic flows are possible in dome building events. Future eruptions at Tarawera are inevitable and a hazard is posed to the people of Rotorua who live close to the volcano, the people of Kawerau which is downwind from the domes and also the people near the coast, because the Tarawera River drains Lake Tarawera. Rob

Hi all What do people think of the narratives I have written to date, and do people have questions about the volcanoes of New Zealand as yet? Bearing in mind there are two more still to come and the last one redefines the meaning of the word "GRAND". Rob

Hi all The eleventh volcano in our tour is a dome volcano. This is Mount Tauhara, to the northeast of Taupo. It formed at least 65,000 years ago during one of the eruptive phases in the Taupo caldera. There is a story from Maori folklore about Tauhara but I cannot find it, and have no idea where to look for it. I searched through all my reading material about NZ volcanoes and cannot find it either. So I will post the geological history of Tauhara and continue looking. Today we come to the 11th volcano in the tour of New Zealand's active and potentially active volcanoes. Tauhara is a lone dome volcano about 15 kilometres north east of Taupo. It is dacitic in origin, with the lava being viscous in nature. The dome has no record of explosive eruptions and it is thought the lava would have oozed out quietly and solidified. Tauhara is the most significant dacite in the Taupo volcanic centre, where 98% of all material is rhyolitic in composition. Tauhara formed thousands of years ago, about 65,000 to be precise, and has had 7 distinct phases judging by the lavas erupted from the volcano. It might erupt again, and therefore reports of it's demise are exaggerated. There is not much published data on Mount Tauhara and I was unable to find anything that the IGNS did not say, in my books and what online information I knew of. Rob

Me again And now we come to the Grand Finale of the Volcanoes of New Zealand series. It is a time to reflect back over the last eleven volcanoes, with their quirks, their stories and their history. It has been immense fun writing the guide to the volcanoes here and I have learnt a lot about them as well and given you a personal rundown of a few of them. But now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to introduce a volcano that is deceptively calm at the moment, and lives in the most unlikely place one would expect a volcano. It is a volcano that is little known to most, and not super well understood by those in the know. It has a history of massive variation in eruption style, and when I think of it's last eruption, I hear a distant drum beat, an attention riveting sound. It starts out softly, growing in intensity, before fading. You hear it again, closer and more urgent this time, with the chilling call of a Scottish war pipe in the back ground. The drum and war pipe fades, but then there is an ice cold groundswell as string instruments join in, revving up the orchestra... Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the Taupo (Tow-po)volcano. Rob

Drum roll please ---- I plan to do this magnificent volcano, in a two part series which firstly looks at the geological history of the volcano, and then a narrative based on the last eruption of Taupo. Around 330,000 years ago the central North Island was rent an eruption from several vents which poured ash and pumice skyward in a grand spectacle that would become a style typical of the larger eruptions from the newly born Taupo volcano. Although the details of the first 300,000 years of eruptive history for the volcano are sketchy, it is possible to concentrate on events in the last 27,000 years in some detail. It has be deduced that there have at least 28 eruptions from Taupo in the last 330,000 years, a date based on an exceptionally massive eruption from the Whakamaru centre. This is one of several large centres of major volcanism in the central North Island, which include Taupo and Okataina. About 150,000 years ago activity formed a pumice rich ignimbrite which is found around Acacia Bay and the Mount Tauhara dacite. Several basaltic scoria cones were also formed, but information is very incomplete because most deposits from this phase are still buried. Further activity followed between 65,000 and 27,000 years ago with the older eruptions producing a coarse pumice, while newer activity produced a fine ash, that geologists think suggests the eruption was through lake water. It was about 26,500 years ago that the biggest display of volcanism took place. The dimensions of this event, the Oruanui event are colossal - something in the order of 300 cubic kilometres of ignimbrite was erupted. This was in addition to 500 cubic kilometres of pumice and ashfall plus an unknown volume of material left in the lake. Last year the estimated size of the eruption was raised to a figure of 1200 cubic kilometres of material all up. This includes the ash and pumice fall, the ignimbrite that formed as the superheated ground hugging surges sped across the landscape, the vast volume of material dumped in the lake. It adds to the sum, a volume of fine grain material that got into the stratosphere and carried around the world. But it was not the sheer size of the eruptions that eventually earned the volcano it's notoriety. It was violence - sheer violence demonstrated quite graphically by the most recent event, the infamous Taupo eruption, 186AD. For in the summer of the year 186AD (a season suggested by the pollen sample of the trees taken). The eruption, suggested by some to be one of the most violent in the world in recent geological time, initially only affected the immediate area around the vent, which was above water. However as the magma was expelled, the roof of the magma chamber caved in. The vent sunk below the water line immediately allowing water to pour into the vent. With huge volumes of water entering the magma chamber, the eruption suddenly and rapidly intensified. Based on deposits that came out, it has been suggested that in a day 20 cubic kilometres of material was expelled, and now it worsened even further. The simply unbelievable had become the almost inconceivable, as a further 30 cubic kilometres of material soared skyward. Not surprisingly gravity had something to say, and with impossible speed the vast bulk of the airborne material came straight back to earth. It hit the ground with a thud more like the shockwave of a nuclear bomb and transformed into a frictionless gas filled mass rolling across the landscape. The effects on wildlife, and vegetation were apocalyptic. Pollen samples taken from trees in the area of devastation that extended from Waiouru to Rotorua, showed that originally a bracken covered the land, but a forest reappeared in 200 years. The difference being the new one was dominated by Matai and Totara, instead of Rimu and beech. With vast volumes of volcanic debris being washed down the rivers, and the soil having been fish, aquatic species, birds, and ground grubbers would have had a hard time initially trying to adapt to a change in the landscape. Since that last catastrophic eruption, Taupo has lain dormant and may well does so for another few hundred years yet. But let there be no mistake about Taupo. It will erupt again, but the most likely events are likely to be small to moderate size, yet explosive dome building events, possibly with small pyroclastic flows. Occaisional scoria cones of basaltic origin are possible. What ever happens in the future however is likely to be destructive to local people. Aircraft may be diverted, farming, and most every day activities disrupted to some extent in the immediate vicinity of the volcano. Water supplies will be polluted and electricity generation may be affected by the ash getting into machinery. Fortunately, a caldera volcano is likely to offer significant warning of unrest, and there are numerous ways of keeping tabs on indicators. Ground deformation may occur as magma rises in the volcano, and earthquakes caused by rock breaking as the magma rises within are two signs. Gas changes will show what type of magma is rising, and chemical testing of initial ash samples will show when new magma is being erupted. To most people, Taupo is a place of great beauty and great scenery. They are right, the scenery is great and grand, and there are many physical and cultural attractions in the area to draw the tourists. This is fine, as long as people understand that eventually they prepare for the day when the caldera will awaken. It may not be for another 500 years, but the day will come. Of that, geologists are certain. Rob

Hi all So, people. That was the history of the Taupo volcano. Coming shortly is the narrative for one of the greatest eruptions on earth. But I ask you what have you learned about the volcanoes of New Zealand. What do you want to know and do you want to get up close and personal with any of them? For me, priorities are to see Taranaki up close, and explore a few more of the Auckland volcanoes. Get some scoria from the craters of some of the Auckland cones and some andesite from the Tongariro volcanoes. I have learned that there is much more to our volcanoes than just the visible ones. Reading the GNS information pages on the volcanoes and their histories, it is obvious that even I know not enough. As for getting up close and personal, I would happily do it with any of the volcanoes I mentioned. Rob

For Rob, an illustration of "Tarawera's Crater"

Taupo to follow as soon as I can find an image. http://www.laketauponz.com/wtsd/volcanic.asp

Impressive, Rob! Thanks! Let me know when and if you want more images! I'll be happy to help!

Do a bit about geothermal areas of New Zealand, Rob. Or shall I? If I do it, I will put it in Geo 30.

Hi all I will happily. I like the image of Wairakei Geothermal field - with the second oldest geothermal power station in the world. Wairakei generates 152 megawatts of electricity, and is the larger of two major geothermal plants in the North Island. Wairakei relies on water from the Waikato River on whose banks the powerstation is located. Being about 5 kilometres north of Taupo, Wairakei is part of the Craters of the moon thermal reserve, where you can find The water is fed by a pumping station for injection In the back ground I think the mountain is Tauhara, and Lake Taupo is in the upper left. Wairakei power station has an extensive pipeline network and a notable feature of the pipes is the loops every 305 metres. These allow for steam expansion. The other power station that is geothermal is Ohaaki (O-ha-key). Ohaaki is a geothermal station about 40 kilometres northwest of Taupo and it is defined by the massive 105 metre high cooling tower, which is visible long before you reach the power station. Ohaaki has a generating capacity of 102 megawatts and is the newer geothermal station. It was completed in the late 1980s and when I visited it in 1994 it had been fully functional for about 5 years. Ohaaki also has the expansive network of steam pipelines extending from two fields on either side of the Waikato River. Rob

Hi all A few images of New Zealand volcnanoes to come soon, hopefully. But in the meantime, enjoy these: http://community.webshots.com/photo/153370/196042 - an explosion crater in rural country near Rotorua. I am not sure if it is extinct, but I would not entirely count on it. http://community.webshots.com/photo/33191818/33192320qpxhrZ - Tongariro volcano from the summit. Looking north. http://community.webshots.com/photo/153370/196036 - looking north over the Rotorua caldera, one of about 8 in the central North Island. Fortunately this one is probably extinct. Rob

Hi all Craig moved out, so I have no internet connection (it was run through his computer, and the family one will be set up on Monday). Because of that I am doing this from a place in town. So I will be offline until AT LEAST Monday if not longer. Do not panic. In the interim I am getting some things I have been procrastinating on, done, so do not worry. I am alive and fine, just in a quiet patch. Oh, and by the way, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences now has a webcam of Ngauruhoe. You can now see one of our two "Fujiyama's". http://www.gns.cri.nz - geonet or volcanoes for more. Rob

Hi all You recall me mentioning Craters in post 153? Well it erupted today. Craters of the Moon is an active Geothermal area about two kilometres from Wairakei geothermal field and 5 kilometres from Wairakei power station. Rob ---- Geothermal eruption blasts tourist site Tourists visiting a geothermal area near Taupo got to see a little more than what was advertised in the brochure. After 18 months of dormancy, the "crater of the moon" lived up to its name, showering thick grey ash over a popular walking track. In a spectacular eruption, the geothermal area coated a 200 metre area late on Tuesday morning. The site is visited by around 100,000 tourists every year but the blast has now made it barely accessible. The Department of Conservation says the eruption has peaked but it is keeping an eye on it. Locals say it is the largest eruption they can remember. Published on Sep 17, 2002

Hi all The Craters of the Moon eruption saga continued today and I understand it has thrown out between 2-25 centimetres of ash from the vent. The eruption started yesterday when a vent that had been dormant for 18 months erupted ash and pumice in an explosive event that took people by surprise. The ash and pumice is not representative of a current volcanic eruption but of the vast deposits left behind from eruptions at Taupo, Okataina, and possibly Oruanui (O-ru-a-nu-i). The sudden resumption of activity has come as a surprise and today the number of people visiting the reserve tripled. Unless new vents open up the danger is low, because the devastated area is off-limits. Rob

Hi all SPRING IS HERE!!! The glorious northwester was going for 4 days last week, and dropped about 300mm of rain over 5 days in the mountains. I have been quite busy at University with my research group putting together our Geog 309 research into public perceptions of the earthquake risk in Christchurch. This coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday I will be in Wainui with the group to present to the Canterbury Development Corporation, the results of the research. Umm... what else? Oh yeah, I am pleased to say that later this week I will be meeting a PhD student doing his degree in medical geography on Christchurch's air pollution problem, who is from Texas. Jeff Wilson. Anyway, thats all from me. Peace love and volcanoes.... Rob

What part of Texas is Jeff from, Rob?

Hi all Will find out. Watch this space for two things. The response to the question just asked, and (drums please)..... the long awaited narrative to the Taupo eruption. I am in the process of entering the narrative onto the computer, and will let you know about it in the next few days. Rob

It was a gloriously sunny day as a bird swooped in low over the crystalline waters of Lake Taupo, before levelling of and landing on the sandy beach.. To the south, three volcanoes rose serenely above the hills. Far off in the distance big white puffy cumulus clouds grew with on the back of air convection. The clouds soared into the skies above the lake and the fantastic ignimbrite cliffs. In the foreground, kids ran and frolicked in the water, and on the beach picking up pumice pieces, throwing them into the cool blue waters of a lake that stretched for almost as far as the eye could see. Offshore boats towed jet skiers, sat in the water with fishing rods dangling over the edge, or took excited screaming kids biscuiting. Their parents watched over them as they sunbathed in the summer sun. This was heaven to them, and rightfully so. Not one of them knew, or cared that the place many call heaven has a geological history of stunning violence, revered by geologists, respected by all volcanologists, and a heada he for planners. But for all it�s beauty, Lake Taupo is a lake inside a massive volcanic caldera. A caldera nearly 700 square kilometres in size and more than 500 feet deep in places, formed by a series of massive eruptions over a 330,000 year time span, as well as many smaller events. The most notable of the major eruptions was the massive Oruanui eruption 26,500 years ago. That eruption rivals in size the great American caldera eruptions. The Oruanui event discharged 300 km� into the air as ash and pumice fall, while another roughly 500 km� was flung across the land in huge ground hugging surges. Finally 400 km� that was left in the vent, or found dispersed out to sea, rounds of the equation. A staggering 1200 km� had been discharged. After this event, Taupo fell silent for a while, before embarking on small-scale dome building. For centuries it lay calm and serene. The forest returned, the bird life and ground creatures returned. All seemed perfect � until the spring of AD 185. This is the story of the most famous eruption, an event 1800 years ago that caused fantastic sunsets halfway around the world in Rome and China, which astronomers must have wondered about. No one saw the eruption up close, which is just as well considering the climax was an apocalypse that obliterated a 20,000 square kilometre area of the central North Island, decimating the populations of every living thing in the area, and having a severe impact on the climate in the Southern Hemisphere. This is the story of one of the greatest eruptions known to mankind. ________________________________________________________________________________

Early signs Deep down in the Earth during the summer of AD 186 strange things were afoot. Swarms of micro-tremors few and far between at first, but increasing in intensity and frequency were persistently rising beneath Lake Taupo. Far before the age of volcanology and scientific instrumentation, only the wildlife picked up the strange happenings or noticed changes in the physical parameters of the environment around them. Far before the curiosity of humans wondering what was driving the changes, this slipped past virtually unnoticed. At first it was just the odd quake, scaring the daylights out of their young, or the waft of stinking hydrogen sulphide from a gas vent in the nearby thermal reserves. The problems were only occasional and rarely troublesome. But then ground deformation began to displace the ground, steepening the slopes of the hills around the volcano and in particular the land immediately around the vent. Slowly but surely the monster was awakening. Slowly but surely a most terrible resolve to obliterate the pristine land, was filling a volcano with an ice-cold temper. For the land was slowly deforming, slowly swelling as gas rich magma rose from deep within. The magma was rhyolitic in composition, a gas rich mix prone to exploding rather than flowing quietly. Micro-tremors were persistent with each one signalling rock being broken by the rise of the magma within. Steam vents were puffing out increasing volumes of gas, including sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphide. As the magma approached the surface the ground began to crack and crumble. It began to warm with the approach of the underground furnace, tremors were now visibly swaying trees on the surface, causing seiching in the lake and loosening rocks on the cliffs. Then a noisy explosion broke the crust sending rocks and mud flying in all directions, as the magma, on making contact with ground water, immediately exploded. The birds, the ildlife, and the fish bolted or died from the bombardment of scalding mud, and steadily rising water temperatures. The trees began to take on the appearance of those in a war zone � shattered, and mangled. But this was only the beginning. For things were slowly but steadily deteriorating. The initial explosion was followed by further events as the magma began contacting the water on a broad front, showering mud, rocks and ash across the landscape. As the explosions continued, the composition of material gave way increasing to a muddy shower of water-saturated ash. These explosions were hardly beginning to settle when things suddenly took a decisive turn for the worse� CONT PART 2

CONT FROM PART 1 As the first of many rising pulses of magma was expelled the ground began to subside. Not far away lay the beach of Lake Taupo, and beyond that a vast reservoir of cold lake water. A chemical equation would show something like this: Cold lake water + magma = EXPLOSION!! And that was precisely what was about to happen. The cool water was separated from the vent by only metres of increasingly cracked ground, slowly subsiding. Time was fast running out for every living thing within 90 kilometres from the vent, for as the distance between the water and the vent diminished, more like the time left on a time bomb before it explodes, the time was rapidly heading in the same direction. The difference is this would be on a much grander, and scarier scale. This would be on a scale so huge, that any man made weapon this powerful would be declared criminal by each and every nation on earth. But Nature plays to Natures rules, and her rules say that this is just fine. As the summer progressed, the seismic drums were heard to be beating ever more menacing tunes, and from the brass there now came an ominous note in the pace and power of the eruption. As the mud eruptions subsided the first massive explosion rocked the landscape, confirmation of the seismic disturbances, the ground deformation, and changes in gas being indicators of the impending eruption.It reverberated through the forest, punching at the eardrums of the wildlife, and lacerated with sonic booms. Ash fell like snow starting fires, and choking the ground grubbing creatures with a smelly sulphurous residue. Nearer the vent volcanic bombs, blocks and pumice fell straight back into the vent, only to be blasted into fragments as the next pulse of magma made contact with the air and exploded. Out of the vent rose a towering column of ash, and pumice 25 kilometres high and spreading on top, carrying ash eastward. It was laced with lightning, with thunder that clapped rumbled and rolled through the sky. Any remaini g wildlife now fled, convinced that the end had come, as it already had for so many birds and fish The powerful eruption had penetrated the upper atmospheric jet streams and ash was now being carried toward the Chatham Islands, some 500 miles to the southeast. The more the magma was sucked out of the reservoir, the more the ground subsided. The more the more the ground subsided, the closer the magma got to the lake water. Yet day-by-day, the eruption had gone on in a crescendo that grew ever louder, and whose climax was now approaching. CONT PART 3

CONT FROM PART 2 By night it looked like Hell. A massive, brilliant fiery red column of pyrotechnics, laced with forked lightning doing a tango through the clouds. It was accompanied by deafening claps of thunder, near constant ash fall, and almost continuous tremors. The air smelled of sulphur from the deluge of ash. By daytime the land looked desolate � a grey barren wasteland, devoid of life surrounding the vent. A vent now ringed by cracked ground, shaking with every injection of magma. For the distance between the lake water and the exposed vent was now very small and the existing cracks were deepening and widening. Taupo would not hang on much longer. Then the water began seeping into the vent. Uh-ohhhh�. No one heard it flash to steam. No one saw the explosion that dug a hole into which million litres of water now surged. The ground around the vent started to subside from the cracking ground with a steadily increasing covering of debris. A trickle of water from saturated debris began to flow back into the vent, slowly at first but steadily increasing in volume. Earthquake levels by now were fever pitch and an almost continuous succession of events, which were so close together, that no human would have known the difference. Like Bolero in the closing minutes, the noise of the eruption, an ever more intense ear splitting crescendo rose above the cacophony of volcanic bombs whistling through the air, the roar of the monstrous Plinian column climbing to the heavens, and the rumble of the non stop seismic activity. So it went on for a few days, during which time, by all accounts a human could have been forgiven for thinking it was the end of the world� And then, in an instant, all hell broke in an indescribable racket. Like a bomb going of underneath your feet, the ground shook with a fury not seen, and then literally exploded. The water had done the unthinkable. It had made contact with the magma undergone and the whole lot � the water, the magma, the overlying debris - had simply gone BOOM!!! The ground lurched massively, The column began to splay surges across the lake as it expanded outwards and upwards. It soared and soared through the atmosphere, climbing to impossible heights with dizzying speed enough to make anyone nauseous. As it climbed the heavier material, mainly pumice, bombs and blocks began raining down once more upon the battered land. But now at the climax of the eruption a new phenomena was about to play it�s hand. Column collapse. As the cloud punched it�s way far into the stratosphere, the law of gravity began to influence the eruption column. The rate of ascent began to slow, but not fast enough. The sheer volume of material that had been pumped out, simply could not stay airborne, and it now began to descend at break neck speed. Down it went. Down to the ground, and down through 55 kilometres of the atmosphere. Then it hit the ground, HARD!! Driven on by an instantaneous shockwave, the collapsing column seemed to implode downwards, and then explode outwards. It swept outwards at breath-taking speeds sweeping high over the summits of Tongariro, Pihanga and the infantile Ngauruhoe. Its immense heat welded a rock together over an area bigger than 20,000 square kilometres. When peace finally descended on the devastated land, the view from the ground, and the air would have been heart breaking. From the future sites of Waiouru and Rotorua, some 170 kilometres apart, the North Island resembled no-mans land. A land that had been covered in lush forest, that rang out with a myriad of bird calls, fresh cool blue waters, and with majestic mountains on the southern horizon, looked like the moon. A lifeless barren grey wasteland, pock marked with craters from falling debris, steaming and sizzling away as the masses of heated debris began the long gradual cool down. The volcano was silent, having expended it�s energy once more. The wildlife was dead or scared into fleeing for safety. No more did the Kakapo boom from the ground floor while scavenging for insects and warms to feed on. No more did the rimu forests of old stand proudly, and no more, did the lake look like a mirror of beauty. CONT END NOTE PART 4

CONT FROM PART 3 End note Today, the visitor would be hard pressed to say that such an apocalyptic event occurred. For the forest returned within 200 years, though it comprised matai and totara instead of rimu. The lake now holds an abundance of fish, of both native and introduced species. Human development of the land began with the arrival of Maori and was furthered by Europeans. Around the lake towns accommodating a total of nearly 20,000 people have sprung up, with dairy farming, tourism, forestry, power generation and a world renown trout farm all earn big dollars. No one knows what the Taupo volcano will do in the future, except that future eruptions are guaranteed. The volcano has had a variable behavioural pattern with quiet dome building events at one end of the scale, small to moderate explosive events in between, and the occasional massive caldera eruption. Volcanologists have no idea what style the next eruption will come in, how big it will be or when it is expected. But there is one thing about which, everyone who knows the volcano�s past agrees on: Taupo is only dormant, and one day in the future, though maybe not for another 100 years or more, it will erupt. Of that, they are certain. ---- Rob

Hi all So, what do people think of the last and the greatest of the New Zealand volcanoes? Rob

Whew!!! What an experience! Having lived close to a volcano for many years, I am less than thrilled at the thought of doing so ever again. However, it allowed me to feel the grit and the heat and hear the sounds of what lapilli and other ejecta is like... and how frightening it can be.

Oh, BTW, your writing is excellent. You seem to have really been there. That takes a lot of talent. Thanks! Extraordinary!! I'll be reading it again and commenting more.

Hi all Yesterday was a rarity in Christchurch weather. Yesterday we had something not seen for more than a decade.... T O R N A D O Yesterday was a day some orchardists would rather forget, but a day of great excitement for weather enthusiasts, as a hailstorm carrying golf-ball size hail swept over the city on a disturbed westerly airstream. The storm arrived about 4PM and was announced by two things: 1)A flash of lightning that cut power to three suburbs for about 5 minutes. It was followed by a deep bass rumble of thunder. 2)A deafening racket preceding the hail. For a full minute at most places in Christchurch a noise that was uniform in pitch was heard preceding the hailstorm. Most knew that the hail was going to be bad when they heard the noise coming toward them, a noise that grew in volume. It was the only thing we could hear at work immediately prior to the storm. Rob

We had some heavy rains and a power outage here also. We didn't have any deafening roars though. Sounds pretty intense, Rob.

Hi all I have copied a picture from Stuff.co.nz and I want to put it up here. Can Marcia or Julie show me how to FTP or do for me if they have not the time to teach me? It is of the tornado... Rob

Email me and I'll do it for you. mailto://terry@spring.net

We had three tornado warnings and a long evening in the basement last Sunday. We seem to have missed the worst of it, though 33 people were killed by the storm's tornadoes. Today is snow flurries. Rob, did you get to see the funnel cloud? I'd like to see one - from a distance!

Rob, it is just easier for you to send me the images and I will do the FTP stuff and send you the link you need to post the pictures. That's what Julie does!

I'll do anything I can to help. Email sent to Rob.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROB! HOPE YOU HAVE A SUPER, AMAZING, AWESOME, FANTASTIC, WILD, CRAZY,AND MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY! HOPE ALL YOUR BIRTHDAY WISHES COME TRUE. LOVE AND HUGS, ROB.

Hi all HUGS and thanks. I have done well, I got 2 6-pack Canterbury Draught, an egg shaped piece of Kyalinite, incense sticks, a bottle of Appletise (apple flavoured fizzy), and a book with advanced ditigal maps of New Zealand and an accompanying text on the geological processes for that area. Nature gave me an earthquake measuring 5.3 in the North Island, at a depth of 110 km, and quite close to the volcanic caldera of Taupo... Rob

Oh NO!!! I missed your birthday and now, probably Julie's because my list is on the computer in Hilo. Argggggggh! Belated Hauoli Na Hanau, Lopaka

Hi all SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR.... This is the story of how I and a lady from Chicago came to within hours of meeting each other in a common love for geology, yet kept apart by series of unforseen circumstances. I met Jennifer Wischer in October after scouring the list of World Volcanism for more people to put on my list of IM contacts. Jennifer is a geology student and mother of one who has been involved in planning from the day I met her, until last Friday for a geology trip to New Zealand in conjunction with Victoria University in Wellington. Right up until about last Friday she said she was not sure if she would be able to meet with me at all. But on Saturday she IM'ed me and we agreed to meet at 6.PM on Monday in town. All of a sudden things were suddenly looking incomparably brighter, and I was on cloud nine. HOW THINGS CAN CHANGE IN 36 HOURS At 11AM on Monday I get a phone call. I guessed that it was Jennifer, and that she was saying she had arrived in the country, would I meet her at 6PM? Well.... It was Jennifer, but the news was not what I wanted to hear. She was stuck in Honolulu because of a medical emergency on her flight. Could we postpone 24 hours. I said yeah, and to phone back when she did get in. So, I stayed home all day because she said she could be on the move within minutes. Okay, at 2AM she touches down in Auckland and at 3AM she is through customs, and a thoroughly wacked girl is finally in New Zealand for a six week geology trip. At 8AM she is in a taxi bound for the airport and thinking she will get there with time to spare, she is stunned to find the flight is already gone. More delays as she rebooks on another flight. Finally at 2PM she gets into Christchurch, a full 27 hours behind time, and then gets another shock. Her professor announces the plan of action for the remainder of the day. Dinner was after a briefing at 4PM, and everyone had to attend.... You can imagine the despair she felt when she phoned me at 6PM to say that she could not make it. I only had to listen to the changing tone of her voice to understand that she was as disappointed as myself. To make it even worse, she would be on a bus to Queenstown at 7AM and thus would have needed an early night, anyway. When I got off the phone my shoulders felt like they had heavy weights on them, which I could not get off. Was it just me, or did I detect her voice almost breaking when I said bye? I shall not find out for at least a couple weeks, and I now have to wait until 2004 to go see her myself in the United States. It was bad in more ways than one because I also wasted two days waiting to see what was going to happen, and I am now resigned to a 2004 meeting date. UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rob

Me again The only consolation is I am now just 24 points away from completing a 102 point Bachelor of Science degree in Geography, and that I can afford to add Jennifer onto the list of people I visit in the US during 2004. Rob

*HUGS* Rob...how disappointing that must be.

Hi all Oh well. She will be much the wiser about NZ when I see her, and we can have a nice long conversation about Kiwi plate tectonics. Rob

Me again Anyway, I have to mention the town of Franz Josef. As you well know from earlier posts it sits on the Alpine Fault, and is bordered to the south by the Waiho River. Well, FJ is a town in trouble. The Waiho River carries a huge volume of sediment on it's short turbulent trip to the Tasman Sea, and the sediment has reached dangerous levels in FJ, where it has raised the river bed several metres above the surrounding countryside. This huge discharge of sediment makes the river a dirty brown at all times, but now the problem is how to help several businesses on the south side of the river. For in an earthquake or prolonged rainstorm there is a risk of a debris flow pouring down the valley from the glacier or a landslide plugging it, forming a lake. Obviously any landslide forming a dam is not going to last long, and certainly not in a land where uplift is 30 millimetres (1.2 inches)per year and rainfall 6,000 millimetres per annum. So you see, there is a problem. FJ Glacier is only 2 hours walk from the town, if you were to walk up the river from the township, or five minutes drive and an hour's walk from the end of the access road. With the Southern Alps all around you in the valley, three faults within 3 kilometres of the town and a river that can flood after just a couple hours heavy rain, the Waiho River is not a place you want to hang around once things start happening. Rob

Rob, is there a webcam on this river, too? Yes, there is definitly a problem

Hi all I emailed the Civil Defence manager for the West Coast Regional Council about it. Am awaiting her reply. Rob

Hi all To jolt you all out of your complacency: Reference Number: 2019057/G Universal Time: 2003 Jan 25 21:30 NZ Daylight Time: 2003 Jan 26 10:30 Latitude, Longitude: 40.43�S, 176.14�E Focal Depth: 30 km Richter Magnitude: 5.6 20 km east of Woodville Will have been felt throughout the southern North Island, particularly in Woodville, Dannevirke, Weber and Porangahau. ---- There have been occasional clusters of earthquakes in Wairarapa too, with notable clusters in the 1930s and 1990s. The former was a catastrophic series of earthquakes ranging in magnitude between 7.2 and 7.9. The biggest of them hit Napier and Hastings on February 3, 1931 and killed 256 people in Napier and Hastings. The climax was in 1942 where two earthquakes just FIVE WEEKS apart measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.6 rocked Masterton. Rob

Hi all I have to tell you that the earthquake did some damage. It shook stuff off the shelves in several stores in towns around Woodville which is the closest town to the epicentre of the earthquake. No word on aftershocks. Rob

All I know is that Aukland looks lovely with the America's Cup races on the sea. What a pleasure to watch them. There is nothing quite as graceful as wll trimmed sailboats dueling on a cobalt sea. For those in the USA, it is carried on ESPN 2

Hi all I have a new group in Yahoo for anyone who goes there: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsunami_warning For those are wondering what tsunamis are, we have a subject in Geo for them but at the moment my brain cannot remember what the number is. Tsunami's, volcanoes and earthquakes all go together which is why I also operate groups for the other two as well. You do not need to be a member of any of them to see what is going on, but you do if you want to participate. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/worldearthquakes http://groups.yahoo.com/group/worldvolcanism You can find all major volcanic and seimic events reported in these groups, and they are richly stocked with geoscientists - Hannah Mirabueno, Raymond Patrick Maximo, Peter Rinkleff, Sandi Harrington - none of whom you know unless you are John, Marcia or Julie (you three have all been in the groups at some stage or another). But I Hannah and Patrick are PHIVOLCS (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology) staff, while Peter is USGS. I am not sure what Sandi is doing (Marcia, Julie). Hannah is an interesting girl. She happens to have done her MSc on Mayon at Canterbury University under the guidance of Jim Cole, who has been giving my GEOL 113 lecture group lectures on volcanism. One of her colleagues is still at Canterbury. Rob

You can subscribe to email notifications of tsunami alerts. I do! Welcome back,Rob! Congratulations on your new group.

Hi all Looking good down here. We had decent sized floods pouring down the Rakaia in early and mid May with the latter peaking at 1700 cubic metres per second. This was the result of badly needing rain finally showing up and the rain will go some way toward relieving the worst electricity crisis in New Zealand for a decade. New Zealand is largely a nation of dams on rivers when it comes to producing electricity since it is the cleanest and most easily built form of power generation here, so any drought in the South Island high country or central North Island is bad news. The Greens are hopeless. They have no vision whatsoever on how to improve the problem other than power conservation. It has not apparently dawned on them that there are only a limited number of rivers we can really dam, if people still want to go fishing on some of the best braided rivers in the world. Greens being Greens they oppose gas and coal fired stations even though there has been considerable improvement in burning technology now, that the coal or gas being used burns fairly cleanly, and they ignore the fact that 55% of all Greenhouse gas here is actually from sheep and cows farting. New Zealand is windy - you go to Turakirae Heads east of Wellington on a windy day and you will probably be blown into Cook Strait. The people of Wellington are aware of this and the Regional Council is looking to "Okay" a wind farm on the heads to supply Wellington. There is support for a wind farm near Christchurch on Banks Peninsula where most days have wind. Rob

Rob, what about the usage of geothermal energy, such natural occurring hot water? I'm phrasing this badly, this type of energy is used to produce power in Iceland. The reason I ask is because, like Iceland, New Zealand is quite volcanic and it would seem that hot springs would also be found in both places. Also, I remember when my aunt and uncle visited New Zealand and sent us back a postcard with a picture of bubbling mud on it. Apparently there is a very place in New Zealand famous for its hot mud and hot springs. I just can't remember the name of it.

Hi all There is a zone of volcanic, geothermal and seismic activity 50km wide by 240km long that stretches from Mount Ruapehu in the south to White Island in the north. This is called the Taupo Volcanic Zone and it has geysers, mudpools, and hotsprings within it's boundaries. The TVZ also has a nearly full range of volcanoes - domes, calderas, stratovolcanoes implying a similarly near full range of magmas: andesites, dacites and rhyolites are most common, but there may be basalts there too. The most likely place you are thinking of is Rotorua, which is in a caldera volcano and has an extensive system of geothermal plumbing. You can find geysers, mudpools and hotsprings all within the volcano, which is shaped like a circular depression that houses Lake Rotorua. Geothermal energy is already heavily used. I would be reluctant to put further strain on something already supplying 300 megawatts of installed generating capacity, and although the idea is novel it is nothing new - the Italians were the first in the world to recognise geothermal sources can supply electricity, and New Zealand was second. If you take out superheated water faster than you can reinject water to replace it, then the field will run itself down faster. That being said if we stopped relying on the geothermal fields for hot water like Rotorua does, then maybe another 100 megawatts of installed capacity could be possible. But coal is a relatively untapped option, and despite it's reputation for being dirty, there is burning technology available that reduces the sulphur dioxide gas emissions drastically. New Zealand may not have a choice unless we accept nuclear power or stumble on a huge gasfield to replace the Maui fields. Besides most of our Greenhouse gas that the Greens are so anti comes from sheep and cow fart anyway, and we already have an idea of how to reduce it. Rob

Good question, Cheryl. Does the water turn tepid or do the machines it drives stall out? I never though of that. We always have suffficient rain, though we are currently having a mini-drought while Honolulu had heavy flooding and a mini tornado yesterday!

Kia Ora Been a bit since I posted something to do with NZ's dynamic geology. So, my next post is dedicated to one of the more fascinating hazards in New Zealand. During the 2 years that I have been gone, I have had some unique opportunities to understand geological hazards on multiple levels. Some of these experiences I will share here. Rob

Hi all I wrote this for a New Zealand group on Yahoo that I belong to last year. But it is as relevant today as it was when I wrote it. ---- Franz Josef is a beautiful place without any doubt, and has a growing tourist and agricultural industry that relies on the dynamism of the area's natural processes for its economic survival. The tourism industry in the area is dominated by the Franz Josef glacier, which comes down to only 300 metres in elevation and the several lakes which offer good fishing. The township of Franz Josef is located on the true left (north bank)of the Waiho River, which drains from the glacier and is the main service town for the area as well as hosting the burgeoning tourist industry. Agricultural practises include dairy farming on the plain of the Waiho River, below the Waiho Loop (a glacial feature which I will explain later)as well as on the south side of the river. State Highway 6 runs through the town and is the only road connection with the rest of New Zealand. It handles hundreds of tourist buses and cars every day, and crosses the Waiho River over a Bailey bridge before heading to Fox Glacier (heading south)or Whataroa (heading north). You often wake up in the crystal clear autumn and winter mornings, breathe in the West Coast air, and think that you are in heaven - for the duration of your visit that would be a fair comment. You have the mighty Southern Alps rising immediately east of the township, to impressive heights of more than 2500 metres which are covered in dense rainforest below the snow line. You have a glacier descending to an altitude that few glaciers except in polar regions achieve. But there is a problem... or two. For all its natural glory, Franz Josef in a sense of geological hazards could not be sited in a worse place. This is a place so dangerous in the long term, that plans are afoot to try to move most if not all of the town to safer grounds. The very forces that created the glacier, the Southern Alps and the plain on which so much economic activity is now taking place, are also quite capable of levelling the township and making the Franz Josef area uninhabitable at terrifyingly short notice. So, what are these problems and what threat do they pose? On the true right (north bank, looking downstream)of the Waiho River is a short, steep but surprisingly large river catchement which is barely visible amongst the vegetation overlying the area. This is the Callery catchment and it comes out just upstream from the road bridge. This catchment provides most of the runoff that enters the Waiho River during rainfall events. Due to the steepness of the catchment and its narrow gorge, there is very rapid runoff during rain which affects the Waiho River within an hour. North of the Waiho and Callery catchments, cutting around the edge of the Waiho Loop is the Tatare River, which is almost identical to the Callery catchment in terms of hydrology, geology and catchment size. The Tatare River is relatively small in comparison with its southern neighbours, but in catching Franz Josef in the crunch it plays a crucial role. Running the length of the Southern Alps is a large faultline, which marks the boundary of the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates. Onshore it marks a zone of the boundary where the two plates are locked in place on the surface, while grinding past each other underneath. This is the Alpine Fault, which is much like the American San Andreas Faultline (California)and in many ways behaves just like it. Along the boundary huge stresses are building underneath, which is occasionally released in earthquakes - the last on the Alpine Fault was about 288 years ago in 1717 and the window of time between Alpine Fault earthquakes is about 250-350 years. These earthquakes mostly likely range between magnitude 8.0-8.3, which would be felt all over New Zealand. The Alpine Fault runs straight through Franz Josef township, and dominates the geology of the whole area. Because of the timeframe it operates on, the risk is especially severe since it is not in the human memory and no one has any idea of just how bad things will be in an earthquake. Because it dominates the geology of the FJ area, any earthquake on the faultline can completely alter the behaviour of the Waiho, Callery and Tatare catchments as well as all human activity for months or years to come. These two features, as well as the processes behind them, combine to create a host of problems that can only be avoided by moving away from them. They include hazards not obvious to the uninformed person and those who cannot think on a geological time scale. The temporal and spatial patterns of the geology and meteorology in the area have created a landscape that is as dynamic as it is beautiful. ---- I will continue this later, and examine how they create the numerous hazards that make Franz Josef one of the most dangerous spots in NZ to live in the long term. Rob

Hi all This is the second part to my examination of the geomorphological situation as I understand it in Franz Josef, New Zealand. ---- When the precipitation and the uplift combine, it creates a lot of sediment that builds up quite rapidly. In narrow steep gorges the sediment would not so much build up as it would be carried down into a more gently sloping basin, where build up is possible. This becomes dangerous because the sediment build up can raise river bed levels above any earthworks that man has done to control the river, and the sediment outflow can exceed the relatively minor removal efforts that mankind makes. This is the case at Franz Josef where sediment discharge into the Waiho is raising the riverbed behind the stop banks to the point that the riverbed is now .5m-1m above the ground level on the other side of the stop bank. The sediment discharge comes from a number of sources - glaciation in the Waiho, freeze-thaw action in all catchments, rainfall, rainfall induced landslides, earthquake induced landslides and cross-fan sedimentation from the Tatare or Waiho/Callery catchments. All of these can spike the overall rate of sediment discharge and force the modification of the geomorphological processes in the area. An example of one potential threat was demonstrated graphically in December 1995, when there was a heavy rainfall event which dumped 600mm over just three days. The heavy rain caused many slips as well as a huge buildup of water under the Franz Josef glacier, which had to suddenly give way when the head of water became too great. In a period of only a few hours 500000 cubic metres of sediment was blasted out through a gaping hole in the true right corner of the glacier, which completely changed the direction of the river in the valley and raised the valley floor noticeably. It also knocked out the northern approaches to the Bailey bridge and started eating back into the northern side of the river. This was what geologists and geographers call a glacial-lake outburst flood - short, sharp but very intense. I now list the full litany of dangers in and around Franz Josef in no particular order of importance: 1)The Waiho avulsing to flow into the Tatare - due to sediment rearranging the riverbed the WHOLE river changes course and flows into the Tatare River, with aggrading of the channel moving progressively upstream (the erosive qualities carve out a narrow channel which works its way upstream and eventually carries the whole river). 2)Landslide dambreak in the Callery - very scary because the catchment is sufficiently steep that the whole life cycle of the dam including the break out occurs before anyone even knows it is there, which may cause substantial loss of life. A bad rainstorm that drops a couple hundred millimetres of rain in short order could cause a landslide which plugs the river, which then builds up to dangerous levels. Its proximity to Franz Josef and the direction of the likely breakout would put the bridge, motor camp, hotel accommodation and the lower township in jeopardy. 3)A rainstorm induced flood destroys the stopbank on the southside permitting a breakout onto farmland, through the airfield and threatening the state highway. 4)A rainstorm induced flood causes the stopbank to be destroyed next to the lower Franz Josef township, threatening the town and the State Highway. FUTURE THREATS: The future is dominated by one thing, and one thing only. Sooner or later an Alpine Fault earthquake will strike Franz Josef dead on, with a geological violence not witnessed in New Zealand since 1931. An Alpine Fault earthquake will have massive effects on the sediment supply, and the entire geology and hydrology of the area. For months or years after the Alpine Fault moves, there will be considerably increased sediment discharge from the hundreds if not thousands of slips that will come down in the Southern Alps. They will block rivers only to have them breaking out hours or days later moving substantial volumes of sediment in very short periods of time. Even a smallish rainfall event in this case would not have much trouble moving considerable volumes of sediment. Aftershocks will play their own role bringing down yet more landslides, and - yes, you guessed it - further increasing the pool of sediment waiting to be flushed onto the land that Franz Josef sits on and the Waiho flood plain. Debris avalanches may thunder out of the Callery catchment and glacial outburst floods would be quite conceivable in the Waiho River. The discharge in these events would far exceed anything recorded since humans decided that recording water levels and sedimentation was important, and on top of all of the other hazards these can affect both sides of the Waiho River. ---- My friends. By all means buy property around the West Coast - it is a great place and the people are really cool, but if you are buying near Franz Josef think twice about doing so since there is no short or long term guarantee of survival in the area. Insurance is difficult to obtain for properties in the Franz Josef area. There are no buyers for many of the properties on the plain whose owners have realised the forces that created their slice of heaven can - and probably will - destroy it. Rob

Rob! Welcome back! Please don't go away again for so long. I would love to hear what you have been doing. I have also been watching earthquake and eruptive activity in your area and wondering if you were in the field for such events.] More comments as soon as I read what you posted. I'm currently worried about the Hayward fault since there are at least three people in that area whose lives directly affect my happiness. Lubricate those faults and keep them inching along. It seems the Hayward has locked up and there are definite signs of stress building. Maybe I should just go there and submit to the forces of nature with those I love.

It's great to see you posting again, Rob.

I will be heading back to the Hayward fault in May and in June to "Tornado Alley." Then back to Hayward fault again in August. I step lightly and quickly. And I hope fervently that anyone who flies on the planes on which I fly are wanting to get to the destination alive as I am.