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Kōrero: Volcanic Plateau region

Okataina caldera and its neighbours

Okataina caldera and its neighbours

The Okataina caldera is an active volcano which has erupted six times in the last 10,000 years – most recently in 1886, when a giant fissure opened up along the lava dome that forms Mt Tarawera. The sequence of eruptions has built up the Haroharo and Tarawera mountains. By blocking drainage, they have also shaped the lakes of the caldera, notably Tarawera, Okataina and the eastern arm of Rotoiti. The neighbouring Rotorua and Rotomā calderas have only one lake apiece.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: based on information in J. M. Soons and M. J. Selby, eds, Landforms of New Zealand. Auckland: Longman Paul, p. 116.

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Malcolm McKinnon, Volcanic Plateau region – Geology and climate, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/map/15134/okataina-caldera-and-its-neighbours (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Malcolm McKinnon, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009, updated 1 May 2015.

Comments

Peter Spencer
08 June 2020
In 1990 I spoke to a geologist who told me that rhyolitic volcanoes have a particular style of behaviour. 150 years before they have a major rhyolitic eruption, they have a basaltic eruption. The last time that happened was 1886, when Tarawera erupted. That means that the 150 years runs out in 2036. It is possible that there will be a major rhyolitic eruption after that time, i.e. in the 2030-2040 decade.