Rotorura - New Zealand
8/27/05
In the morning we had cafe in the town of Taupo Lake. The lake was formed by a cataclysmic volcanic eruption 1800 years ago.
After breakfast we went to the Craters of the Moon walk located in a dynamic thermal area formed when drilling began nearby the Wairakei Geothermal field in the 1950s.
The walk features sizzling and bubbling craters, mud pools and steam vents. A walk board is provided for the visit and it is better to stick to it, because the most recent eruption happened in 2002 and it was the biggest in the last 10 years.
Then we went through the Geothermic Powerplant that generates 5% of New Zealand's electricity. There are hundreds and hundreds of pipes leaving the ground and driving steam to the powerplant.
The next stop was at the Thermal Wonderland. The area is associated with volcanic activity dating back about 160,000 years and is located right on the edge of the largest volcanic caldera within the active Taupo Volcanic Zone.
In basic terms, beneath the ground is a system of streams which are heated by magma left over from earlier eruptions. The water is so hot (temperatures of up to 300C have been recorded) that it absorbs minerals out of the rocks through which they are ultimately absorbed into the ground.
To visit the area costs 23 NZ dollars per person, but before crossing the gate there is a mud pool that can be visited for free. The bubbling here is not the result of high temperature though, but gases emerging from the ground.
Inside the park there are lots of different formations to see.
Devil' Home - rough sides and yellow/greenish colors where cooling volcanic vapors have colored the walls.
Devil's Ink Pots - A series of mud pools whose water levels fluctuate with the amount of rainfall. The color is due to small amounts of graphite and crude oil brought to the surface by the water forcing its way up.
Artist's Palette - Overflowing water from the Champagne Pool draws with it minerals that have originated from below the surface. As the waters cool and the minerals are exposed to our atmosphere they show themselves in a variety of locations and colors depending upon water levels and wind direction.
The Primrose Terrace (like honeycomb)- These sinter terraces are the largest in New Zealand. The water from the Champagne Pool dissolved silica which, as the water evaporates, is deposited as siliceous sinter. They are regarded as being very fragile and have been forming at a variable rate over the last 700 years currently covering an area of about 1.5 hectares (3 acres)
The Champagne Pool - It is the largest in the district, being 65 meters in diameter and 62 meters deep. Its surface temperature is 74C (skin burns happen at 50C). The pool was formed 700 years ago by a hydrothermal eruption. Minerals contained in the water are gold, silver, mercury, sulfur, arsenic, thallium, antimony etc and are presently depositing in the surrounding sinter ledge.
Devil's Bath - The color is the result of excess water from the Champagne Pool mixing with sulfur and ferrous salts. Changes color through green to yellow are associated with the amount of reflected light and cloud cover.
After the Volcanic Zone visit, we passed by a small touristic Maori village.
In the morning we had cafe in the town of Taupo Lake. The lake was formed by a cataclysmic volcanic eruption 1800 years ago.
After breakfast we went to the Craters of the Moon walk located in a dynamic thermal area formed when drilling began nearby the Wairakei Geothermal field in the 1950s.
The walk features sizzling and bubbling craters, mud pools and steam vents. A walk board is provided for the visit and it is better to stick to it, because the most recent eruption happened in 2002 and it was the biggest in the last 10 years.
Then we went through the Geothermic Powerplant that generates 5% of New Zealand's electricity. There are hundreds and hundreds of pipes leaving the ground and driving steam to the powerplant.
The next stop was at the Thermal Wonderland. The area is associated with volcanic activity dating back about 160,000 years and is located right on the edge of the largest volcanic caldera within the active Taupo Volcanic Zone.
In basic terms, beneath the ground is a system of streams which are heated by magma left over from earlier eruptions. The water is so hot (temperatures of up to 300C have been recorded) that it absorbs minerals out of the rocks through which they are ultimately absorbed into the ground.
To visit the area costs 23 NZ dollars per person, but before crossing the gate there is a mud pool that can be visited for free. The bubbling here is not the result of high temperature though, but gases emerging from the ground.
Inside the park there are lots of different formations to see.
Devil' Home - rough sides and yellow/greenish colors where cooling volcanic vapors have colored the walls.
Devil's Ink Pots - A series of mud pools whose water levels fluctuate with the amount of rainfall. The color is due to small amounts of graphite and crude oil brought to the surface by the water forcing its way up.
Artist's Palette - Overflowing water from the Champagne Pool draws with it minerals that have originated from below the surface. As the waters cool and the minerals are exposed to our atmosphere they show themselves in a variety of locations and colors depending upon water levels and wind direction.
The Primrose Terrace (like honeycomb)- These sinter terraces are the largest in New Zealand. The water from the Champagne Pool dissolved silica which, as the water evaporates, is deposited as siliceous sinter. They are regarded as being very fragile and have been forming at a variable rate over the last 700 years currently covering an area of about 1.5 hectares (3 acres)
The Champagne Pool - It is the largest in the district, being 65 meters in diameter and 62 meters deep. Its surface temperature is 74C (skin burns happen at 50C). The pool was formed 700 years ago by a hydrothermal eruption. Minerals contained in the water are gold, silver, mercury, sulfur, arsenic, thallium, antimony etc and are presently depositing in the surrounding sinter ledge.
Devil's Bath - The color is the result of excess water from the Champagne Pool mixing with sulfur and ferrous salts. Changes color through green to yellow are associated with the amount of reflected light and cloud cover.
After the Volcanic Zone visit, we passed by a small touristic Maori village.
posted by Adriano and Angie | 6:20 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Angie & Andriano
Checking update on your blog is one of the first thing I have done since I came to U.S. just want to say we had great time in Peru, hopefully we get met again, and do some more walks together over a long stretch of flat land, no more steps.
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