The Pink and White Terraces, also called Otukapuarangi ("fountain of the clouded sky") or Te Tarata ("the tattooed rock") in Māori, were a natural wonder of New Zealand. They were thought to have been completely destroyed by a violent volcanic eruption in 1886.[1]
The Terraces were formed by geothermally heated water containing large amounts of silicic acid and sodium chloride regularly spouting from the two large above mentioned geysers. These two geysers were part of a group of 40 smaller geysers in the nearby area.
The Pink and White Terraces were two separate terraces, beside Lake Rotomahana, 800 metres apart in a NNW direction. The White Terraces were at the north end of Lake Rotomahana and faced away from the lake at the entrance to the kaiwaka stream. They descended to the lake edge 40 metres below, which was 280 metres above sea level. The extra sunlight they received from facing north gave them a more bleached or white appearance.
The Pink Terraces were positioned about two thirds of the way down the lake sheltered from the harsh sun on the western shores, facing south-east. Their pink appearance (near the colour of a rainbow trout) was largely due to less sunlight reaching them and therefore less bleaching.
The foundations for both terraces were formed from alternate layers of previous volcanic fallout over a long period of time. The volcanic debris layers, alternating between rhyolitic and sedimentary stone, formed the base for precipitation of silica.
The precipitation sloped down towards the top of the geyser and formed many pools and steps over time. Precipitation occurred in two methods. The ascending foundation over time formed a lip which would trap the descending flow and become level again. Over time this process formed attractive swimming places, both for the shape and for the warm water.. When the thermal layers sloped in the other direction away from the geyser, then silica steps formed on the surface. Both types of formation grew as silica-laden water cascaded over them, and the water also enhanced the spectacle. This process as studied in 1860 took an estimated 1000 years or more to form to the presentation as see in the accompanying photo.
The White Terraces were the larger formation, covering 3 hectares and descending over approximately 50 layers and a drop in height of 40 metres. The Pink Terraces descended 30 metres over a distance of 75 metres. The converging Pink Terraces started at the top with a width of 75–100 metres and the bottom layers were approximately 27 metres wide. The Pink Terraces were where people preferred to bathe due to the more suitable pools.[2][3]
The terraces, on the edges of Lake Rotomahana approximately 20 km southeast of Rotorua, were New Zealand's most famous tourist attraction. The terraces started attracting tourists from all over the world from their recognition by early traders and missionaries in the 1840s. New Zealand was still relatively inaccessible and passage took several months by ship, followed by a tedious trip 150 kilometres inland to Lake Rotomahana.[1]
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Ferdinand von Hochstetter estimated the precipitation phase of the terraces to have commenced very close to 1036 years before his visit in 1860. His calculations were based on precipitation rates measured on site at this time against stable flow rates. He mentions reference to comparisons with The Great Geyser.in Iceland.[2]
One of the first Europeans to visit the Rotomahana area was Johan Karl Ernst Dieffenbach. He visited Rotomahana and the Terraces while on a mission for the New Zealand Shipping Company. Dieffenbach and his assistant Symonds travelled from New Plymouth via Mount Egmont (Taranaki) and Ruapehu and then around the shores of Lake Taupo. They then travelled north, partly following the Waikato River then east towards Maunga Kakaramea (Rainbow Mountain), reaching Rotomahana Lake late one evening. They camped overnight at the mouth of the Haumi Stream.
Dieffenbach left geological notes that gave clues as to why the lake levels varied. Because there were Pohutakawa trees around the lake, he speculated that the sea level had been much higher at some stage. It is more likely that the trees grew taller faster than the volcanic fallout accumulated. It has been observed that this species of tree has adapted to the changing environment over a long period of time.[3]
He inspired wider interest in the Pink and White Terraces with his publications. When he had completed his short stay at Rotomahana, they continued north via Lake Tarawera and Te Ngae to Rotorua. Dieffenbach was employed by the New Zealand Shipping Company, his primary employer, for this excursion, and also traveled extensively throughout the North Island, making notes on flora and fauna, which can be seen in his biography at the Alexandra Turnbull Library.
When Dieffenbach completed his employment by the New Zealand Shipping Company he was forced to leave the country. His studies in the North Island were completed after he left New Zealand. When he attempted to re-enter New Zealand to continue his studies in the South Island he was refused entry.[3][4]
The Reverend Seymour Mills Spencer and his wife Ellen followed an ambition to carry out the role of missionary work in New Zealand. They were American and trained for missionary work in England. Spencer was posted to New Zealand to work under the missionary Thomas Chapman at the recently formed Te Ngae branch of the Church of England Mission. He was to take over the newly formed Taupo branch but due to scandal over Spencer's purported advances toward a Māori girl, the couple moved to Lake Tarawera. There they formed the first missionary post at Lake Tarawera; working with the local Māori they built a European-styled community called Te Wairoa. Spencer visited Rotomahana and Te Ariki many times during his 35 year term there. His work with the local Māori helped develop the area, and he was also instrumental in assisting explorers and traders in the vicinity. Seymour was reinstated to the church in 1850.
Te Wairoa became the starting point for tourists wishing to cross Lake Tarawera to the Rotomahana tourist attractions via canoe.[5]
Ferdinand von Hochstetter carried out a geographic and geological survey of Rotomahana Lake and area at the request of the New Zealand Government. His Geographic and Geological survey was prepared in just three days on the lake but gave enough data to form the first map of the area.
This map, although not favoured by early scholars, has proven to be more accurate than several later attempts, although, as with other maps of the lake, the height above sea level was significantly incorrect in many locations. The relevant heights between lake levels and mountain peaks were in proportion, but varied as distance between reference points increased. Hochstetter was aware of this problem with using an aneroid device, and he advised several times in his original book Geology of New Zealand that the heights above sea level that he quoted were only as far he could measure due to variation in barometric preasures.
Hochstetter's studies and reports on terrace structuring in the Waipa and Rotorua areas reveal how the Terraces were formed, and he also made comments on the commercial possibilities of Rotomahana.[2]
Alfred Patchet Warbrick was born near the lower pools of The White Terraces. His father, Abraham Warbick, a trader from Tauranga, had married Nga-Karauma, a Māori chief's daughter. Warbrick had been associated with the Pink and White Terraces from an early age, assisting Kate Middlemass who guided tourists and gave him his first bath in the lower White Terrace pools. He became a skilled boat builder and was involved in whale boat building before and after the 10 June 1886 eruption.
Being on the top of Maunga Makatiti on the night of the eruption, he had the best view of the eruption and sequence of eruption events. Warbrick was actively involved in rescuing many people affected by the eruption.
Warbrick later challenged Stephenson Percy Smith's declaration that the Pink and White terraces had been destroyed: and he held this view till his dying day.
Alfred Warbrick spent 45 years exploring and serving as a government guide in what was then referred to as the Wai-a-riki ("small water") country, never giving up on the hope that someone would listen to him, and encourage the Government of the day to uncover the Terraces and reinstate this eighth wonder of the world. He did manage to have a investigation authorised by the government. The investigation was carried out by Percy Smith who without proper justification again dismissed Warbrick's claim. [6]
Stephenson Percy Smith was involved in a pre eruption survey of Mount Tarawera which was never finalised.
Dr. G. Seelhorst climbed Wahanga dome and the northern end of Ruawhai dome in search of a presumed falling star followed by reports of glowing and smoke from an area behind Wahanga. This ties in with reports of the first explosion at about 2:15 in the morning of the 10th June 1886, and lends credibility to the claim that Wahanga erupted first as suggested by Albert Warbrick.
Sophia Hinerangi, sometimes known as Te Paea (Tepaea), became recognised as the principal tourist guide of the Pink and White Terraces and guided the tourists in the whaling boats from Te Wairoa to Te Ariki near Lake Rotomahana. Sophia took over as principal guide from the older Kate Middlemass in the early 1880s. Both guides are well documented for their involvement in guiding tourists to the Terraces. Kate Middlemass was instrumental in guiding Seelhorst to the alleged fallen star.Sophia Hinerangi was also the last guide to take tourists to the Terraces before the eruption. Sophia observed the pre eruption violence in the thermal wonderland and the disturbances to lake tarawera water levels days before the eruption.[7]
In 1884 a surveyor named Charles Clayton was surveying for work in the Kawerau area and described the top of Wahanga dome as volcanic with several depressions, one being approximately 200 feet deep. This is proven true by recent semifluid magma flows consolidating on top of older scoria in the same area. In contrast, Stephenson Percy Smith gave the impression that the mountain top was rough but showed no sign of volcanic vents in 1873 when he reported on his findings. .[8] Later revelations were to prove that both were correct although Clayton's report showed that Smith had not investigated the top of Wahanga to the same degree as Clayton. It is known that there were caves on the south west edge of Wahanga and that the symmetry of the Wahanga peak was upset by the 1886 rift. [3]
On 9–10 June 1886 Mount Tarawera erupted. The eruption spread from west of Wahanga Peak, five kilometres to the north, down to Lake Rotomahana.[9] The volcano belched out hot mud, red hot boulders and immense clouds of black ash from a 17-kilometre rift that crossed the mountain, passed through the lake, and extended beyond into the Waimangu valley. The eruption also buried several villages including the Māori and European settlement of Te Wairoa, killing approximately 120 people.
After the eruption, a crater over 100 metres deep encompassed the former site of the terraces.[9] After some years this filled with water to form a new Lake Rotomahana, 30 metres higher and much larger than the old lake, due to volcanic debris blocking its outflow to Lake Tarawera.[10][11]
The terraces were long thought to have been destroyed around 3 a.m. on 10 June 1886 during the eruption. However, a team including researchers from GNS Science, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and Waikato University were mapping the lake floor when they discovered a portion of the Pink Terraces in February 2011. The lowest two tiers of the terraces were found in their original place at 60 metres (200 ft) deep (too deep for safe scuba diving unless heliox is used).[12][13] A part of the White Terraces was rediscovered in June 2011.[14] The announcement of the rediscovery of the White Terraces coincided with the 125th Anniversary of the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886. It is thought that the rest of the terraces may be buried in sediment rather than having been destroyed.