Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley
Encyclopedia
Mount Tarawera
Mount Tarawera is the volcano responsible for New Zealand's largest historic eruption. Located 24 kilometres southeast of Rotorua in the North Island, it consists of a series of rhyolitic lava domes that were fissured down the middle by an explosive basaltic eruption in 1886, which killed over...
, on the North Island of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It encompasses Lake Rotomahana
Lake Rotomahana
Lake Rotomahana is an lake in northern New Zealand, located 25 kilometres to the east of Rotorua. It is immediately southwest of the dormant volcano Mount Tarawera, and its geography was substantially altered by a major 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera...
, the former site of the Pink and White Terraces
Pink and White Terraces
The Pink and White Terraces, also called Otukapuarangi or Te Tarata in Māori, were a natural wonder of New Zealand...
. It was the location of the Waimangu Geyser
Waimangu Geyser
The Waimangu Geyser, located near Rotorua in New Zealand, was the most powerful geyser in the world. Its workings were apparently created by the great 1886 Mount Tarawera eruption, which opened a 14km-long fissure down the mountain and through Lake Rotomahana.The geyser was first seen erupting in...
, which was active from 1901 to 1904. The valley contains Frying Pan Lake
Frying Pan Lake
Frying Pan Lake is the largest hot spring in the world. It is located in Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley, New Zealand....
, which is the largest hot spring
Hot spring
A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...
in the world.
Waimangu means 'black water' in Māori
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
, the indigenous language of New Zealand. This name comes from the water that was thrown up by the famous Waimangu Geyser
Waimangu Geyser
The Waimangu Geyser, located near Rotorua in New Zealand, was the most powerful geyser in the world. Its workings were apparently created by the great 1886 Mount Tarawera eruption, which opened a 14km-long fissure down the mountain and through Lake Rotomahana.The geyser was first seen erupting in...
, which was black with mud and rocks.
The valley is home to a population of wallaby
Wallaby
A wallaby is any of about thirty species of macropod . It is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or wallaroo that has not been given some other name.-Overview:...
and Black Swan
Black Swan
The Black Swan is a large waterbird, a species of swan, which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. The species was hunted to extinction in New Zealand, but later reintroduced. Within Australia they are nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon climatic...
, which according to local guides were introduced to the region from Western Australia by George Edward Grey
George Edward Grey
Sir George Grey, KCB was a soldier, explorer, Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Cape Colony , the 11th Premier of New Zealand and a writer.-Early life and exploration:...
in the 19th century.