Rotorua Caldera

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Rotorua

NASA image of Lake Rotorua and caldera
Elevation 757 m (2,484 ft)
Location North Island, New Zealand
Coordinates 38.08° S 176.27° E
Type Caldera
Volcanic arc/belt Taupo Volcanic Zone
Last eruption Pleistocene

The Rotorua Caldera is one of several large volcanoes located in the Taupo Volcanic Zone on the North Island of New Zealand. Its last major eruption was about 240,000 years ago. At this time, the Mamaku ignimbrite, covering about 4000 square km, was deposited. After the eruption, the magma chamber underneath the volcano collapsed. The circular depression left behind is the current caldera, about 22 km (14 miles) in diameter and now occupied by Lake Rotorua. Mokoia Island, close to the centre of the lake, is a rhyolite dome.

Downtown Rotorua, Lake Rotorua, and Mokoia Island
Downtown Rotorua, Lake Rotorua, and Mokoia Island

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