24-720: Mount Tongariro ( / ˈ t ɒ ŋ ɡ ə r ɪr oʊ / ; Māori: [tɔŋaɾiɾɔ] ) is a compound volcano in the Taupō Volcanic Zone of the North Island of New Zealand . It is located 20 km (12 mi) to the southwest of Lake Taupō , and is the northernmost of the three active volcanoes that dominate the landscape of the central North Island. Mount Tongariro is part of the Tongariro volcanic centre, which consists of four massifs made of andesite : Tongariro, Kakaramea-Tihia Massif , Pihanga , and Ruapehu at
48-494: A new vent below the Upper Te Māri crater, and sent blocks as large as 1 m (3 ft) in size up to 2 km (1.2 mi) from the vent. An ash cloud 6.1 km (3.8 mi) high deposited ash into the surrounding area, especially to the east of the volcano. The ash cloud travelled 250 km (160 mi) in four hours. NIWA reported the ash cloud contained about 10,000 m (350,000 cu ft) of ash, and that
72-474: A period of volcanic unrest that had resulted in an increase in alert level on 20 July 2012, at 11:50 pm (NZST, UTC+12 ) on 6 August 2012, Mt Tongariro had what was initially believed to be a hydrothermal eruption after this increased activity. The eruption occurred at the Te Māri Craters, which had not had a major ash eruption since 1897 and had been dormant since September 1899. The eruption occurred in
96-409: A separate mountain, is geologically a cone of Tongariro. It is also the most active vent, having erupted more than 70 times since 1839, the last episode in 1973 to 1975. Activity has also been recorded at other vents in recent history. Te Māri Craters erupted in 2012, for the first time since 1897. Red Crater last erupted ash in 1926 and contains active fumaroles . There are many explosion craters on
120-694: A series of explosion craters on the Tama Saddle between Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngaruahoe (a main Mount Tongariro vent). Geologically the deep magma source and depth of basement are not usual for vents in the area. The lakes are assumed to have subsurface drainage towards the springs that source the Waihohonu Stream that flows into the Tongariro River as there are no outlet streams and even inlet streams are transient. In
144-574: Is believed to have facilitated dyke intrusions in the area. The youngest tephra from the Tama Lakes vents is dated to about 11,000 years ago. This is the Wharepu tephra layer in the Mangamate tepra formation and started as phreatomagmatic eruptions but ended in a 0.16 ± 0.04 km (0.0384 ± 0.0096 cu mi) pyroclastic flow up to 7.5 km (4.7 mi) to
168-701: The Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks of Nevada , Idaho , and eastern California are also caldera complexes and their erupted ash flow tuffs. The Bennett Lake Caldera in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory is another example of a Cenozoic ( Eocene ) caldera complex. Tama Lakes The Tama Lakes ( Māori : Ngā puna a Tama ) are two crater lakes in New Zealand 's Tongariro National Park . They fill two (Upper and Lower Tama) of
192-537: The Precambrian rocks of northern New Mexico , which indicates that caldera complexes have been important for much of Earth's history. Yellowstone National Park is on three partly covered caldera complexes. The Long Valley Caldera in eastern California is also a complex volcano; the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado are formed on a group of Neogene -age caldera complexes, and most of
216-513: The Mangamate formation was erupted over less than a month with the largest eruption being at the Tongagiro Half Cone vent, but at least three other tephra falls came from Tama Lakes area. At least one of the earlier Tama Lakes eruption columns collapsed generating another pyroclastic flow to the south-east of the lakes that was 0.03 ± 0.0075 km (0.0072 ± 0.0018 cu mi) in volume. The last eruption from
240-523: The Rotoaira tephras , at about 11,400 years ago producing the Pahoka tephra and the largest Mangamate Formation at about 11,200 years. The Pahoka-Mangamate sequence was an intense 200 year long period of large explosive eruptions from multiple vents between Tongariro and Ruapehu. This sequence is understood to have included a total volume of about 4.5 km (1.1 cu mi) in several episodes: After
264-460: The absence of ice after the last ice age to form. Tongariro displays evidence for extensive Quaternary glaciation in the form of moraines and lava-ice interaction textures. However Pukeonake is off this axis, approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) west of the linear vent zone, but is considered to be a satellite vent. The largest recent eruptions with volumes greater than 0.2 km (0.048 cu mi) occurred between 16,600 and 26,000 years ago with
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#1732772229211288-513: The air. Flights in the area were cancelled, as were several the following morning. Geologists had no warning before the eruption, saying it was not linked to warnings the week before of elevated activity at nearby Mount Ruapehu. Complex volcano A complex volcano , also called a compound volcano or a volcanic complex , is a mixed landform consisting of related volcanic centers and their associated lava flows and pyroclastic rock . They may form due to changes in eruptive habit or in
312-534: The ash cloud was 25 km (16 mi) long and 15 km (9.3 mi) wide 39 minutes after the eruption. Ash and the smell of sulphur was reported in Napier and Hastings . The smell of sulphur was also reported in Wellington , Nelson and Blenheim . State Highway 1 to the east and State Highway 46 to the north of the mountain each received up to 5 cm (2 in) of ash cover, and were closed until
336-705: The complex has multiple eruptive centres aligned with the Taupō volcanic rift and bounded by the Waihi and Poutu fault zones . The formation of these began about 304,000 years ago in the Tama lakes area and definitely was established by 230,000 years ago. The eruptive centres extend from the Te Maari craters in the north-east to the Tama Lakes in the south-west and include the more classic cone of Mount Ngauruhoe which like North Crater, another symmetrical but smaller cone, required
360-662: The earliest in the world. It was set aside (literally "made sacred") in 1887 by Te Heuheu Tukino IV (Horonuku), paramount chief of the Māori Ngati Tuwharetoa iwi and made a national park in order to preserve its natural beauty. The park also includes the peaks of Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu , both of which lie to the southwest of Tongariro. The national park is a dual World Heritage Site for its outstanding natural and intangible cultural values. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing hiking route passes between Tongariro and Ngauruhoe. Mount Tongariro and its surroundings are also one of
384-538: The following morning due to ash and low visibility. A layer of ash 10–15 mm (0.4–0.6 in) thick settled on farmland 5 to 10 km (3.1 to 6.2 mi) east of Mount Tongariro. Particle sizes were between 2 and 3 mm (0.08 and 0.12 in). The airspace within a 12 km (7.5 mi) radius of the mountain was closed after the eruption, but later reopened to visual flights only. Air New Zealand cancelled some flights in and out of Rotorua , Taupō , Gisborne , Napier, Wanganui and Palmerston North due to
408-552: The form of moraines and cirques indicates the former presence of mountain glaciers. Dating of moraines on western Tongariro show that valley glaciers were present at several times during the last glacial cycle, before melting away at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum approximately 18,000 years ago. Mount Tongariro is in the Tongariro National Park , New Zealand's first national park and one of
432-414: The location of the principal vent area on a particular volcano. Stratovolcanoes can also form a large caldera that gets filled in by a lava dome, or else multiple small cinder cones , lava domes and craters may develop on the caldera's rim. Although a comparatively unusual type of volcano, they are widespread in the world and in geologic history. Metamorphosed ash flow tuffs are widespread in
456-584: The massif; water has filled some of these to form Blue Lake and the Emerald Lakes . The high altitude and severe alpine climate between March and October allow snowfall in the winter (there are commercial ski-fields at neighbouring Mount Ruapehu) and rain can freeze, causing verglas ; in contrast in the mid to late summer, the mountains can be bare apart from remnant patches of snow in south-facing gullies. Unlike nearby Mt. Ruapehu , no glaciers exist on Tongariro today. However, geomorphological evidence in
480-401: The region of the southern Tama Lakes of the southern Taupō Rift , the tens to hundreds of metre thick Tertiary greywacke basement is shallowest at approximately sea level, being somewhat higher under the volcanoes of Mount Ruapehu and Tongariro. Lava exists nearby that has been dated to 275,000 years ago, the oldest that contributed to the present Mount Tongariro massive. The Waihi fault
504-568: The risk of volcanic ash clogging the engines on their aircraft serving those airports. No injuries were reported, and the only significant property damage was to the Department of Conservation's Ketetahi Hut, which is located 1.5 km (0.9 mi) west of the Te Māri Craters. There was no official evacuation but 24 people living along State Highway 46 fled their homes for fear of being isolated. Mount Tongariro erupted again at 1:20 pm on 21 November, ejecting an ash cloud 4000 metres into
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#1732772229211528-565: The several locations which Peter Jackson chose to shoot The Lord of the Rings film trilogy . The oldest recorded volcanism in the area was at 933,000 ± 46,000 years ago at Hauhungatahi , north-west of Ruapehu. There is then a gap in identified materials until a small lava inlier on the western side of Tongariro that has been dated at 512,000 ± 59,000 years ago and is essentially buried by more recent activity. The 90 km (22 cu mi) cone and 60 km (14 cu mi) ring-plain of
552-569: The south-east of the lakes. This youngest eruption happened after 11,200 years and before 10,900 years before 1950, and produced a tephra volume of at least 0.63 km (0.15 cu mi). This eruption came by fast ascent from a deep magma reservoir at between 28 to 35 km (17 to 22 mi) depth unlike the much shallower depth of recent Mount Ngaruahoe eruptions. The Tama lakes vents had often previously erupted at very similar times to other Tongariro vents during this very active period for them about 11,000 years ago. The Oturere member of
576-487: The southern end of the North Island Volcanic Plateau . The andesitic eruptions formed Tongariro, a steep stratovolcano , reaching a height of 1,978 m (6,490 ft). Tongariro is composed of layers of both lava and tephra and the eruptions that built the current stratovolcano commenced about 275,000 years ago. Tongariro consists of at least 12 cones. Ngauruhoe , while often regarded as
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