Pink and White Terraces

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White Terraces, 1884
White Terraces, 1884

New Zealand's Pink and White Terraces, or Otukapuarangi ("fountain of the clouded sky") and Te Tarata ("the tattooed rock") in Māori,[1] were considered a natural wonder until they were destroyed by a violent volcanic eruption in 1886.

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[edit] Description

Pink Terraces, 1884
Pink Terraces, 1884

Geothermally heated water containing large amounts of calcium bicarbonate cascaded down the mountain slope, leaving thick white layers of limestone and travertine that formed terraces enclosing pools of water. The White Terraces were the larger and more beautiful formation, covering 3 hectares and descending 30 metres, while the Pink Terraces were where people went to bathe.[1]

The terraces, located on the edges of Lake Rotomahana near Rotorua, were considered to be the eighth wonder of the natural world and were New Zealand's most famous tourist attraction. They attracted tourists from Europe in the early 1880s when New Zealand was still relatively inaccessible.

[edit] Destruction

The terraces were destroyed when Mount Tarawera, five kilometres to the north, erupted at 03:00 on June 10, 1886. The volcano belched out hot mud, red hot boulders and immense clouds of black ash from a 17 kilometre rift that crossed the mountain and passed through Lake Rotomahana. The eruption caused over 100 deaths and buried several villages including Te Wairoa.

After the eruption, a crater over 100 metres deep encompassed the former site of the terraces.[2] After some years this filled with water to form a new Lake Rotomahana, 30 metres higher and much larger than the old lake.[3]

[edit] Similar places

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Geoff Conly, "Tarawera: The destruction of the Pink and White terraces", Grantham House Publishing, Wellington, 1985. ISBN 1869340965.
  2. ^ Eileen McSaveney, Carol Stewart and Graham Leonard. 'Historic volcanic activity: Tarawera', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2007-11-05. Accessed 2008-03-19.
  3. ^ Mount Tarawera, New Zealand Disasters, Christchurch City Libraries.

[edit] External links

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