Mount Tarawera

The eruption that generated the Ōkareka Tephra has been dated to 23,535 ± 300 years before the present.{{cite web |last1=Lowe |first1= David |last2=Ilanko |first2= Tehnuka |date=2023 |title=Pre-conference tephra data workshop – Hands-on session II: tephra excursion, Okareka Loop Road (29 January 2023) |publisher=University of Waikato |page=15 |url= https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/15537 |access-date=6 August 2023}} It had a tephra volume of about {{convert|12|km3}} but may be less, generated in days or weeks at the most.{{cite journal |title=Pyroclastic stratigraphy and eruption dynamics of the 21.9 ka Okareka and 17.6 ka Rerewhakaaitu eruption episodes from Tarawera Volcano, Okataina Volcanic Centre, New Zealand |url= https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00288306.2006.9515170 |first1=Miles |last1=Darragh|first2=Jim |last2=Cole |first3=Ian |last3=Nairn |first4=Phil |last4=Shane |pages=309–328 |year=2006 |doi=10.1080/00288306.2006.9515170 |journal=New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics |volume=49 |issue=3 | s2cid=59137127 |url-access=subscription }} The associated eruption mountain building appears to have been at both ends of the complex and includes present features at the eastern end such as the Rotomahana Dome ({{convert|434|m|abbr=on}}) and Patiti Island (peak is {{convert|404|m|abbr=on}} high) which is in the middle of Lake Rotomahana. Lava fields at the western end came from sources most likely buried in the Waiohau eruption, have a volume of at least {{convert|5|km3}},{{cite thesis|first1=Miles Benson |last1=Darragh |year=2004 |title= Eruption Processes of the Okareka and Rerewhakaaitu eruption episodes; Tarawera Volcano, New Zealand |url= https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/104014/Darragh_thesis.pdf }} and would have taken several years to form. The Ōkareka Embayment is a separate, but adjacent volcanic structure in the Ōkataina Caldera responsible for the Rotorua Tephra.

The Rerewhakaaitu eruption has been recently re-dated forward to 17,496 ± 462 years ago, at about the time of the last glacial termination, with a tephra volume of about {{convert|7.5|km3}}. Other historic sources suggested a higher volume. It involved three rhyolite magmas with a total volume of about {{convert|5|km3}} with the Rerewhakaaitu Tephra having 15 rhyolitic fall units. The Southern ({{convert|1024|m|abbr=on}}) and Western ({{convert|446|m|abbr=on}}) Domes were formed at this time and the lava excursion of {{convert|2|km3}} again lasted for several years after the much shorter tephra phase of the eruption.

The Waiohau eruption occurred 14,009 ± 155 years ago (recently re-dated backward). The Kanakana ({{convert|925|m|abbr=on}}) and Eastern ({{convert|529|m|abbr=on}}) Domes were formed. The estimated total volume of the fifteen or more Waiohau Tephra eruptions and some lava is {{convert|2|km3}}.{{cite journal|title=Volcanic stratigraphy and phase chemistry of the 11 900 yr BP Waiohau eruptive episode, Tarawera Volcanic Complex, New Zealand |last1=Speed |first1=J. |last2=Shane |first2=P. |last3=Nairn |first3= I. |year=2002 |journal=New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=395–410 |doi=10.1080/00288306.2002.9514981|s2cid=129086498 |doi-access= }} During one of the eruptions structural collapse of the then mountain occurred.

Mount Tarawera erupted 1314±12 CE{{cite journal |last1=Berryman |first1=Kelvin |last2=Villamor |first2=Pilar |last3=Nairn |first3=Ian.A. |last4=Begg |first4=John |last5=Alloway |first5=Brent V. |last6=Rowland |first6=Julie |author-link6=Julie Rowland |last7=Lee |first7=Julie |last8=Capote |first8=Ramon |date=2022-07-01 |title=Volcano-tectonic interactions at the southern margin of the Okataina Volcanic Centre, Taupō Volcanic Zone, New Zealand |journal=Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research |volume=427 |page=107552 |doi=10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2022.107552 |s2cid=248111450 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2022JVGR..42707552B |hdl-access=free |hdl=2292/59681}} in the Kaharoa eruption.{{Cite journal|author1=Nairn I.A. |author2=Shane P.R. |author3=Cole J.W. |author4=Leonard G.J. |author5=Self S. |author6=Pearson N. |title=Rhyolite magma processes of the ~AD 1315 Kaharoa eruption episode, Tarawera volcano, New Zealand |journal=Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research |volume=131 |pages=265–94 |year=2004 |doi= 10.1016/S0377-0273(03)00381-0|issue= 3–4 |bibcode = 2004JVGR..131..265N }}{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/00288306.2005.9515128|author1=Hodgson K.A. |author2=Nairn I.A. |title=The c. AD 1315 syn-eruption and AD 1904 post-eruption breakout floods from Lake Tarawera, Haroharo caldera, North Island, New Zealand |journal=New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=491 |date=September 2005 |doi-access= |bibcode=2005NZJGG..48..491H }} This was just a few years after the first Māori settlement about 1280 CE{{cite web|title=Introduction to Tephra-Derived Soils and Farming, Waikato-Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand |url=https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/12297/Lowe%20and%20Balks%202019%20Intro%20to%20tephra-derived%20soils%20and%20farming%2c%20NZ_final.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y |last1=Lowe |first1= D. J. |last2=Balks |first2= M. R. |year=2019 }} although more widespread settlement is now believed to have not taken place until 1320 to 1350 AD.{{cite journal|last1=Lowe |first1= David |last2= Pittari |first2= A. |year=2014 |title= An ashy septingentenarian: the Kaharoa tephra turns 700 (with notes on its volcanological, archaeological, and historical importance) |journal=Geoscience Society of New Zealand Newsletter |volume=13 |pages= 35–46 |url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264545168 }} The Plinian phase of this eruption consisted of 11 discrete episodes of VEI 4{{cite journal |last1=Bonadonna |first1=C. |last2=Connor |first2=C. B. |last3=Houghton |first3=B. F. |last4=Connor |first4=L. |last5=Byrne |first5=M. |last6=Laing |first6=A. |last7=Hincks |first7=T.K. |title=Probabilistic modeling of tephra dispersal: Hazard assessment of a multiphase rhyolitic eruption at Tarawera, New Zealand |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth |date=2005-03-15 |volume=110 |issue=B3 |doi=10.1029/2003JB002896 |bibcode=2005JGRB..110.3203B |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2003JB002896|url-access=subscription }} although there are possibly two more discrete sub-Plinian phases in a two-stage eruption from at least two different vents along a {{convert|8|km|abbr=on}} long fissure.{{cite journal|last1=Sahetapy-Engel |first1= S. |last2= Self |first2= S. |last3= Carey |first3= R.J. |last4= Nairn |first4= I.A. |year=2014 |title=Deposition and generation of multiple widespread fall units from the c. AD 1314 Kaharoa rhyolitic eruption, Tarawera, New Zealand |journal=Bulletin of Volcanology |volume=76 |issue= 836 |doi=10.1007/s00445-014-0836-4 |bibcode= 2014BVol...76..836S |s2cid= 128686206 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00445-014-0836-4 |url-access= subscription }} The total dense rock equivalent (DRE) was at least {{convert|9.1|km3|abbr=on}}. It distributed the Kaharoa Tephra, very low in the essential mineral cobalt (lack of cobalt is a factor in New Zealand bush sickness), from the east coast of the Northland Peninsula, down the Coromandel Peninsula and through beyond Tarawera to northern Hawke Bay at the Māhia Peninsula. The total volume of material erupted was more than 5 times that of the 1886 eruption{{cite book|last1=Wilson |first1=C. J. N. |last2=Gravley |first2=D. M. |last3=Leonard |first3=G. S. |last4=Rowland |first4=J. V. |year=2009 |title= Studies in Volcanology: The Legacy of George Walker|chapter=Volcanism in the central Taupo volcanic zone, New Zealand: Tempo, styles and controls |pages=226–231 |doi=10.1144/IAVCEl002.12 |isbn=978-1-86239-624-1 |chapter-url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/1733/chapter-abstract/107596167/Volcanism-in-the-central-Taupo-Volcanic-Zone-New }} and has been stated to be at least {{convert|15|km3|abbr=on}} of tephra. The Ruawahia ({{convert|1111|m|abbr=on}}), Tarawera({{convert|874|m|abbr=on}}), Wahanga ({{convert|1025|m|abbr=on}}) and Crater ({{convert|1095|m|abbr=on}}) Domes were formed.

===1886 eruption===

Image:Charles-Blomfield-Mount-Tarawera-in-eruption-June-10-1886.jpg]]

{{main|1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera}}

Shortly after midnight on the morning of 10 June 1886, a series of more than 30 increasingly strong earthquakes were felt in the Rotorua area{{cite news|title=On this day: Tarawera volcanic eruption in 1886|url=http://www.eqc.govt.nz/news/on-this-day-tarawera-volcanic-eruption-in-1886|access-date=6 July 2015|publisher=New Zealand Earthquake Commission}} and by 2:45 am Mount Tarawera's three peaks had erupted, blasting three distinct columns of smoke and ash thousands of metres into the sky{{cite web|title=Mt Tarawera eruption 125th anniversary|url=http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/bay-of-plenty/places/lake-tarawera-scenic-reserve/mt-tarawera-eruption-125th-anniversary/|publisher=Department of Conservation, Government of New Zealand}} At around 3.30 am, the largest phase of the eruption commenced; vents at Rotomahana produced a pyroclastic surge that destroyed several villages within a 6 kilometer radius, and the Pink and White Terraces appeared to be obliterated.Nairn, I. and Houghton, B. F. (1986) "Tarawera- the 1886 eruption" in Perry, J. F. (Ed.) Tarawera Eruption Centennial Exhibition 1886–1986, Rotorua District Council, Rotorua, 204. Recent research using mathematical modelling of events during the later Rotomahana eruption phase, is consistent with eyewitness accounts; describing it resembling a pot boiling over.{{Cite thesis|title=Approaches in Experimental Volcanology: Bench-Scale, Field-Scale and Mathematical Modelling of Maar-Diatreme Systems|url=https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/handle/10523/5716|publisher=University of Otago|date=2015 |degree=PhD |language=en |first=Robin George|last=Andrews}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/geology/staff/postgraduate-students/mick-may.html |title=Michael May |publisher=University of Otago |website=otago.ac.nz |language=en-nz|access-date=2019-12-30}}

File:Inside the Tarawera rift.jpg cliffs surround the summit rift]]

Settlements inhabited by Ngāti Rangitihi and Tūhourangi around the Ariki arm of Lake Tarawera, including Moura, Koutu, Kokotaia, Piripai, Pukekiore and Otuapane, Tapahoro, Te Wairoa, Totarariki, and Waingongoro, were buried or destroyed. Of these, Te Wairoa is now a tourist attraction and is described as the "buried village". The official death toll was reported as 153, and many more were displaced, making the eruption the most deadly in New Zealand history.{{cite web |title=Okataina Volcanic Centre |url=http://info.geonet.org.nz/display/volc/Okataina+Volcanic+Centre|access-date=6 July 2015 |publisher=GeoNet}}{{Cite book|title=Tarawera: The Volcanic Eruption of 10 June 1886|last=Keam |first=Ronald Frank|date=1988 |publisher=Auckland, NZ |isbn=0-473-00444-5|oclc=861411476}}{{Cite journal |last=Keam |first=Ronald F. |date=March 2016|title=The Tarawera eruption, Lake Rotomahana, and the origin of the Pink and White Terraces|journal=Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research |language=en |volume=314 |pages=10–38 |doi=10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2015.11.009 |bibcode=2016JVGR..314...10K}}Keam R. F. and Lloyd, E. F. (2016) "Post-1886-eruption Rotomahana hot springs" GOSA Transactions, 13, 39

The eruption was also believed to have destroyed the world-famous Pink and White Terraces. However, 125 years after the eruption a small portion of the Pink Terraces was reportedly rediscovered under Lake Rotomahana.{{cite news |url=http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/scientists-find-pink-terraces-new-zealands-lost-eight-wonder-world-nn-84968 |title=Scientists find Pink Terraces – NZ's lost 'eighth wonder of the world' |author=NZPA and NBR staff |date=2 February 2011 |work=National Business Review |access-date=26 October 2011}} This was due to the discovery of a previously unknown 1859 survey of Lake Rotomahana by Ferdinand von Hochstetter, which was deciphered and published between 2016 and 2019. This unique primary data indicate the Pink, Black and White Terrace locations now lie along the present lake shores. There is a prospect the terraces or sections of them, may lie buried, and as a result the terraces can no longer be assumed destroyed.{{Cite journal|last1=Bunn|first1=Rex|last2=Nolden|first2=Sascha|date=2016-12-20|title=Te Tarata and Te Otukapuarangi: Reverse engineering Hochstetter's Lake Rotomahana Survey to map the Pink and White Terrace locations|journal=The Journal of New Zealand Studies|issue=23|doi=10.26686/jnzs.v0i23.3988|issn=2324-3740|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Bunn|first1=Rex|last2=Nolden|first2=Sascha|date=2018-01-02|title=Forensic cartography with Hochstetter's 1859 Pink and White Terraces survey: Te Otukapuarangi and Te Tarata|journal=Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand|language=en|volume=48|issue=1|pages=39–56|doi=10.1080/03036758.2017.1329748|s2cid=134907436|issn=0303-6758}}{{Cite journal|last=Bunn, Davies and Stewart|date=2018|title=Dr Hochstetter's Lost Survey|url=https://www.surveyspatialnz.org/members/Article?Action=View&Article_id=101|journal=Surveying+Spatial|volume=94|pages=5–13}}{{Cite journal|last=Bunn|first=A. R.|date=2019|title=Hochstetter's Survey of the Pink and White Terraces: the Final Iteration|url=https://issuu.com/nzis/docs/s_s_sept_2019|journal=Surveying+Spatial|volume=99|pages=30–35}}

File:Kennett Watkins - The Phantom Canoe- A Legend of Lake Tarawera - Google Art Project.jpg

One legend{{cite web|url=http://www.rotoruanz.com/rotorua/history/maori_legends.php#phantom|title=Rotorua NZ – Explore Rotorua – Natural and cultural attracitions|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907174539/http://www.rotoruanz.com//rotorua/history/maori_legends.php#phantom|archive-date=2008-09-07}} surrounding the 1886 eruption is that of the phantom waka (canoe). Eleven days before the eruption, a boat full of tourists returning from the Terraces saw what appeared to be a waka approach their boat, only to disappear in the mist half a mile from them. One of the witnesses was a clergyman, a local Maori man from the Te Arawa iwi. Nobody around the lake owned such a war canoe, and nothing like it had been seen on the lake for many years.

It is possible that the rise and fall of the lake level caused by pre-eruption fissures had freed a burial waka from its resting place. Traditionally, the dead were tied in an upright position. A number of letters have been published from the tourists who experienced the event.

Though skeptics maintained that it was a freak reflection seen on the mist, tribal elders at Te Wairoa claimed that it was a waka wairua (spirit canoe) and was a portent of doom. It has been suggested that the waka was actually a freak wave on the water, caused by seismic activity below the lake, but locals believe that a future eruption will be signalled by the reappearance of the waka. {{Citation needed|reason=Unreferenced claim|date=May 2014}}{{clear}}

{{maplink|frame=yes

|frame-align=right

|text=Map of Mount Tarawera with {{Wikipedia:Map data/Ōkataina Caldera/key}}

|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Ōkataina Caldera}}

|frame-width=300

|frame-height=300

|frame-lat=-38.26

|frame-long=176.47

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}}

It is within the Ōkataina Caldera of the Ōkataina Volcanic Centre in the central segment of the Taupō Volcanic Zone. This rhyolitic segment is dominated by explosive caldera.{{cite journal|

last1=Seebeck

|first1=H. A.

|last2=Nicol

|first2=P.

|last3=Villamor

|first3=J.Ristau

|last4=Pettinga

|first4=J.

|year=2014

|title=Structure and kinematics of the Taupo Rift, New Zealand

|journal=Tectonics

|volume=33

|issue=6

|pages=1178–1199

|doi=10.1002/2014TC003569

|s2cid=129430650

}} The actual basaltic dyke of the 1886 eruption is {{convert|15|km}} long and extends from the eruptive fissure of Mount Tarawera to Lake Rotomahana and has a remnant hydrothermal hot spot in the Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley. The dyke and linear line of vents align with the Taupō Rift at this point.

Image:MountTerawera1.jpg|View from the north

Image:20250124-L1020197.jpg|View from the northeast

Image:MountTaraweraCrater.jpg|Close up of one chasm

Image:MountTarawera3.jpg|Southwest side

Image:Lake rotorua.jpg|Satellite view of Lake Rotorua; Mount Tarawera is in the lower right corner

File:Abaconda_lake_tarawera.jpg|Mount Tarawera standing behind Lake Tarawera

• List of mountains of New Zealand by height
• List of volcanoes in New Zealand
• Volcanism of New Zealand

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Mount Tarawera}}

• [http://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=241050 Global Volcanism Program page for Tarawera and Okataina]
• [http://www.buriedvillage.co.nz/ Buried Village of Te Wairoa] – Archaeological Site
• [http://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Learning/Science-Topics/Volcanoes/New-Zealand-Volcanoes/Okataina-Volcanic-Centre-Mt-Tarawera-Volcano Okataina Volcanic Centre/ Mt Tarawera Volcano] – GNS Science
• [http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0401-05= Tarawera (Okataina)] – National Museum of Natural History

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarawera, Mount}}

Category:Okataina Volcanic Centre

Category:Volcanoes of the Bay of Plenty Region

Category:Lava domes

Category:1886 natural disasters

Category:1886 in New Zealand

Category:19th-century volcanic events

Category:History of the Bay of Plenty Region

Tara

Category:VEI-5 volcanoes

Category:Rotorua Lakes District

Category:Taupō Volcanic Zone