Mt. Tarawera Eruption 1886
In this essay I will tell you about the 1886 Tarawera Eruption. More specially I will tell you about the effects had on the natural environment and the effects it had on the local communities caused by the 1886 eruption.
10th of June soon after midnight. Mt Tarawera light up like fireworks. BOOM! Molten rock cam flying out of the crater. People as far as Blenheim could hear this thunder like noises but had no idea what it could be. Although the people of Rotorua knew exactly what has happening Mount Tarawera was erupting! The Mt. Tarawera eruption was the largest eruption in New Zealand for 800 years.
After the eruption the land had dramatically changed. In my mind I think the biggest loss would have to be the pink and white terraces. The loss of pink and white terraces was a huge blow to New Zealand's tourist industry. People around the world came to bathe covering 3 ha (hectares) and descending 30 metres the were massive. The pink and white terraces were about to be named on of the seven wonders of the world. No tourists would want to come and see the ash over the terraces. Millions of dollars lost.
After the Eruption. The region of Tarawera was covered in Ash. In fertile ash. The eruption layered the soils with infertile volcanic ash. They could no longer grow their food or graze animals. Maori used to call the central North Island “Kaingaora” Meaning Lean and hungry land. The native bushes and scrub land close to Tarawera's eruption was burnt and a lot of vegetation have never recovered.
Around Tarawera the lakes and rivers became heavily polluted with ash. The lakes turned to mud, lakes and rivers were cut off and covered by the debris. It must have been extremely hard to find fresh water, as all the lakes would have been polluted. South of Lake Tarawera there were fans of eruption debris. Lake Rotomahna now fills up Rotomahana crater.
After the Eruption Rotorua had many Hot springs boiling rivers and mud pools that are still active today.
Before the Eruption, Many people claimed to see a ghostly canoe on Lake Rotomahana. Maori say it was warning them that death is coming.
Mount Vesuvius is one of history’s most recognizable Volcanoes, as each of its eruptions have gone down as a significant event in geologic history. The events that transpired during and after these eruptions have shaped the way scientists and people view the sheer power that these volcanoes possessed. This report will take a look at Vesuvius’ most prolific eruption in 79 AD. The geologic setting of the mountain, precursor activity, and the impact the eruption had on the surrounding populations and towns will all be detailed. Along with these details, this report will also look at the further history of Vesuvius’s explosive past by detailing its eruption cycle. Finally, the current state of Vesuvius and the possible danger the current population living near the mountain could face should it erupt explosively again.
Mauna Loa is located on a hot spot in the Pacific Ocean. It is not near a plate boundary, in fact it is 3,200 km from the nearest plate boundary, and is situated in the middle of the Pacific tectonic plate. This is actually a rarity, as 90% of volcanoes are along a tectonic plate boundary. A hot spot occurs where long, stationary vertical pools of magma rise up and towards the plate. Movement of the tectonic plates above the hot spot created Mauna Loa, along with the other Hawaiian volcanoes. The older Hawaiian Islands were once above this stationary hot spot, but have been carried northwest by the slowly moving Pacific plate. As the plate moves, it carries the previously formed, older, volcanoes with it, creating a trail of younger, new volcanoes behind. The islands are lined up along the Hawaiian Ridge-Emperor Seamounts chain, which is 3,750 miles and includes Kauai, Maui, Oahu and Hawai’i, from north to south, respectively. There are around 80 volcanoes in this chain; most of them underwater, consequently the term seamount refer to submarine volcanoes. Three volcanoes of Hawai’i, Mauna Loa, Kilauea and Loihi seamount, are all currently sharing the Hawaiian hot spot. Although, recent evidence has shown that all three volcanoes use have separate plumbing systems to expel the lava from the pool of magma deep below them. It has also been suggested that Loihi is slowly moving Mauna Loa from the center of the island, thus shifting directly over the hot spot. The closer to the hot spot a volcano is, the more active it will be. The Hawaiian hot spot has laid down layers of lava, building up enormous islands from the ocean floor.
On May 18th, 1980, one of the most prominent volcanic eruptions in US History took place in the state of Washington. Mount St. Helens had been dormant for almost 100 years before March 15th. On this day, two months before the eruption several small earthquakes shook the earth. This indicated a magma buildup below the surface, and the first minor event that would lead to one of the greatest eruptions the US has ever known. Following the first set of earthquakes, “Steam explosions blasted a 60- to 75-m (200- to 250-ft) wide crater through the volcano 's summit ice cap and covered the snow-clad southeast sector with dark ash. Within a week the crater had grown to about 400 m (1,300 ft) in diameter and two giant crack systems crossed the entire summit area. Eruptions occurred on average from
Six Hawaii Island volcanoes coalesced, or joined, to form the Big Island: Mahukona Volcano, Kohala Volcano, Mauna Kea Volcano, Mauna Loa Volcano, Hualalai Volcano and Kilauea. While Kilauea may be the most famous of the Hawaii Island volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Hualalai are also active volcanoes. To be considered active, a volcano will have erupted at least once in the last 10,000 years, and there continues to be sufficient seismic activity below the surface to suggest that another eruption may occur in the next 1000 years or less. Kohala was devastated by a massive landslide between 250,000 and 300,000 years ago. The Hawaiian
...e than 30 volcanoes that have erupted over the past 300,000 years in the Lassen Peak volcanic area.
37,600 years ago with dacite and andesite eruptions of pumice and ash. Mudflows were very significant forces in all of St. Helens' eruptive cycles. Starting around 2500 BC eruptions of large amounts of ash and yellowish-brown pumice covered thousands of square miles. This eruptive cycle lasted until about 1600 BC. After 400 years of inactivity, St. Helens came alive again around 1200 BC. This cycle, which lasted until about 800 BC, is characterized by smaller volume eruptions.
Volcanoes are one of the most disastrous yet captivating geological land forms on earth. Many volcanic eruptions are catastrophic, but not all volcanic eruptions are as brutal. The two case studies I have chosen to compare and contrast are the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption with the eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano which is still active today.
The history of volcanic activity at Yellowstone starts with its first eruption at Huckleberry Ridge 2.1 million years ago, the leftovers reached as far as Iowa and central Texas. Then 800,000 years later, another eruption took place in Mesa Falls creating Henry Fork Caldera near Park, Montana. The last eruption took place 630,000 years ago, called the Lava Creek eruption, spewing 240 cubic miles of debris, and spreading as far as Louisiana and California.
...815 eruption of Mount Tambora. With over 70,000 deaths and a rating of 7 on the volcanic exclusivity index, this eruption is one of the largest in recorded history. Not only did this volcano cause destruction in Indonesia but the consequences were further felt around the world, as volcanic ash and sulphuric gases were dumped into the stratosphere causing a global climate shift. Dark clouds covered the sun, and dramatic weather changes ensued. Flash floods frequently occurred wiping out a great deal of crop eventually causing prices to skyrocket. Disease began to spread due to malnourishment and unsanitary living conditions. Eventually these consequences subsided and citizens began to migrate towards Mount Tambora once again. Today the government has placed seismic sensors are set up in the most volatile areas to ensure preparedness in the event of another volcano.
The eruption on Mount Saint Helens has a specific cause and comes with many effects. A multifold of people would say that the “mountain looked like the site of an atomic blast” (Bredeson 30). That is a very accurate depiction as it took great power to inflict as much damage as it did. The reason for this impressive amount of force is that when magma is built up with pressure and an earthquake hits, the pressure gets magnified and the volcano explodes (Lewis). This is exactly what happened inside Mount Saint Helens. Furthermore, it has been revealed that “The earthquake that triggered the explosion was a 5.2 on the Richter scale” (Gunn 559). The earthquake to the magma can be compared as a match to gasoline. Even though the earthquake was not huge, the scale of the eruption was much greater than that of the earthquake (Gunn 560). The earthquake was only the trigger that allowed for more devastating things to occur. Thirteen hundred feet of the volcano were lost in the explosion followed by landslides, mudslides, and lava flows...
Stories about volcanoes are captivating. Myths come in different versions, but all of them are capable of capturing yours, and everybody’s imagination.
The eruption of Kilauea continues to flow at two places in the park. The vent within Halema'uma'u Crater and the Pu'u'' vent. In conclusion, the trip to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park should be an experience to remember. On this trip you will experience a cultural, creative, inspirational, and memorable theme. The Park has many visitors each year, to my knowledge the experience is unimaginable.
Digging up the dirt on Mauna Loa. (Hawaiian volcano studied) Science News v144, n25-26 December 18th, 1993 414 (1 page)
The earliest outcropping volcanic deposits date back to about 25,000 years ago. The lavas observed at a -1125 m bore-hole are about 0,3-0,5 million years old. It is known for the first eruption of which an eyewitness account is preserved, in 79 AD. Geologically, Vesuvio is unique for its unusual versatility. Its activity ranging from Hawaiian-style release of liquid lava, fountaining and lava lakes, over Strombolian and Vulcanian activity to violently explosive, plinian events that produce pyroclastic flows and surges.