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Earth Sciences Volcanoes

Plate tectonics are behind the Pacific Ring of Fire and eruptions of lava, gas, and ash that can cause damage. Volcanologists study the formation and types of volcanoes such as Ruapehu, White Island, and calderas like Lake Taupo. SCIS no. 1819494

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Volcanoes

Scenic view, from the air, of the snow-capped peaks of Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe emerging from clouds.

Tonga eruption likely the world's largest in 30 years

Early data from Tonga's violent volcanic eruption suggests it is the biggest blast since Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines 30 years ago.

Whakaari / White Island eruption

The volcano on Whakaari / White Island has erupted, leaving at least five dead and at least 18 injured.

Hot earth

This 1955 film looks at the “savage” geology of the North Island volcanic region, and its human settlement. Te Arawa myth introduces the steaming valleys of volcano and quake god Rūaumoko. The film...

Tongariro

Images, articles, and research on Mt Tongariro.

Ruapehu

Eruptions over time from the archives

Just a glitch! with a good foundation you can still build!

Just a glitch! with a good foundation you can still build!

Cartoon that refers to the Mt Togariro eruption.

Ngauruhoe

A drawing of Ngauruhoe.

Volcano traditions - roadside stories

Volcano traditions - roadside stories

The central North Island peaks of Ngāuruhoe, Ruapehu and Tongariro - dramatically visible from the Desert Road - are active volcanoes, part of the Pacific 'ring of fire'. One version of a Māori tra...

Preparation for a disaster

Preparation for a disaster

Preparation for a civil defence emergency. What can we do to be ready? What everybody should do. This video plays in the Volcanoes gallery at Auckland Museum (see http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/volc...

Mt Ruapehu

Cartoon about the 2007 Mt Ruapehu eruption.

Volcanic fury - White Island

Volcanic fury - White Island

Documentary from 1952 about White Island.

Landscape Road lava cave

Landscape Road lava cave

Image of a lava cave.

Volcanic lava threatens Hawaii village

A river of molten lava continues to make it's way towards the village of Pahoa on Hawaii's Big Island, threatening it's main street.

Evidence of the Taupō eruption

Evidence of the Taupō eruption

The circular ends of these charred logs are evidence of the burning of forest at the time of the Taupō eruption, around 232 CE. They are encased in ignimbrite, the material emitted from the volcano...

Rotomahana after the eruption

Rotomahana after the eruption

Painting of Rotomahana after the Mt Tarawera eruption.

Newspaper article from 1906 about volcanic eruptions at Whakarewarewa.

Volcanoes: Pacific Ring of Fire

New Zealand lies at the south-west end of a vast horseshoe-shaped zone of intense volcanism and earthquakes. This zone extends, essentially unbroken, around the margins of the Pacific Ocean – the s...

Snow’s better

Snow’s better

Cartoon referring to the problem of litter on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu.

Tarawera

In June 1886 Mt Tarawera spectacularly erupted, and this documentary tells the story of the people who were caught in the catastrophic events. Around 120 people lost their lives, and the internatio...

Volcanic Lake Taupō - roadside stories

Volcanic Lake Taupō - roadside stories

Lake Taupō fills a caldera (volcanic depression) formed by massive eruptions.

Sand volcano

Image of a sand volcano.

Taupo

Lake Taupo was created by a super volcanic explosion some 26,500 years ago.

Volcanic ash cloud from Chile

Volcanic ash cloud from Chile

Cartoon referring to the 2011 Puyehue-Cordon Caulle eruption.

Mount Tarawera in eruption Ref: C-033-002

Mount Tarawera in eruption Ref: C-033-002

This dramatic volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886, was painted by Charles Blomfield.

To Tongariro and back

Legend about the fight between the mountains Tongariro and Taranaki.

The Pink Terraces

The Pink Terraces

The Pink Terraces at Lake Rotomahana were one of 19th-century New Zealand’s most celebrated scenic wonders. Along with the neighbouring white terraces, they disappeared during the 1886 eruption of ...

Pink and White Terraces

Pink and White Terraces

A photograph of the famous Pink and White Terraces.

Auckland’s volcanoes

Auckland’s volcanoes

Volcanologists Jan Lindsay and Graham Leonard explain a research project that aims to determine volcanic risk in Auckland.

Rangitoto, Auckland's youngest volcano - roadside stories

Rangitoto, Auckland's youngest volcano - roadside stories

The landscape of New Zealand's largest city is dotted with 48 volcanoes. The oldest volcano last erupted some 150,000 years ago -- the youngest, Rangitoto Island, is just 600 years old. A symmetric...

Volcanoes

Dr Jan Lindsay from the University of Auckland discusses the Auckland Volcanic Field.

Sunset, Ngāuruhoe volcano

Sunset, Ngāuruhoe volcano

A painting of Mt Ngāuruhoe at sunset.

Volcanic eruption

A newspaper article about Tarawera shortly after its eruption.

Mt Taranaki (Egmont)

Mt Taranaki (Egmont)

White Island

Scenic view looking over White Island. Steam/smoke is rising from the crater.

Pumice

A oval shaped piece of pumice. It is a creamy white colour with many small holes in the surface.

Pink Terrace

‘Stunning’, ‘majestic’ and ‘incredible’ are all words that can been used to describe the Pink and White Terraces which were once considered to be the eighth wonder of the world. Located on the shor...

Volcanology student

Volcanology student

A volcanologist has a very important job as they not only record volcanic activity; they also act as detectives and historians and investigate how volcanoes will behave in the future. Today, volcan...

White Island, New Zealand’s most active volcano is the summit of a large submarine volcano believed to be 150,000-200,000 years old. Located 49 km north of Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty, this volc...

Tongariro National Park

Tongariro National Park

“Never has a nobler gift been made to the people of a country than the one which Te Heu Heu Torino, chief of the Ngati Tuwharetoa tribe, has offered to New Zealand as a national park.” So declared ...

Mt St Helens

In 1980 Mt St Helens awakens after 123 years. The eruption in Skamania County, Washington, USA, disrupted the lives of thousands and changed more than 200 square miles of rich forest into a grey, l...

Puyehue-Cordon caulle eruption

Puyehue-Cordon caulle eruption

When volcanic ash stopped a jet at 37,000ft

Volcanic cones of Auckland

Volcanic cones of Auckland

Auckland is built over the Auckland volcanic field that contains more than 50 volcanoes. Of these volcanoes, Rangitoto is the most recent having last erupted 550 years ago. This eruption was extrem...

Pumice makes a great density demonstration.

Drones sacrificed for spectacular volcano video

Sam Crossman uses camera-mounted drones to capture the spectacular Marum Crater.

Volcanoes and volcanic eruptions

Everything you need to know about volcanoes and volcanic eruptions.

Māori Legend about Mount Taranaki.

All about volcanoes for children

All you need to know about volcanoes including, how volcanoes form, volcano types and structures etc.

Volcano alerts in New Zealand

Shows New Zealand's system for communicating activity levels and potential hazards during volcanic eruptions.

What Hawaii’s volcanoes looked like before color photography

Article about paintings of Hawaiian volcanoes.

When volcanic ash stopped a jetty at 37,000ft

The events around one British Airways flight in 1982 reveal the potential dangers of volcanic dust.

Provides brief facts about volcanoes, including eruptions, and parts of a volcano.

Shows the volcanoes of New Zealand and their alert levels.

Quiz: volcanoes

A quiz about volcanoes.

Make You own volcano

This site contains information about how to make your own volcano.

Top 10 famous volcanoes

TIME takes a look at well-known volcanoes and the destruction they caused.

Space volcano explore

Discover volcanoes in space.

Volcanoes: earth's fiery power

Facts, video, photos and information related to volcanoes.

Pumice from the mountains

Thousands of floating boulders of pumice were gathered, drilled and threaded with stainless steel cable.

How volcanoes work

Everything you need to know about volcanoes, including eruption dynamics, and landforms etc.

Toba supervolcano

Did humans nearly become extinct 75,000 ago because of a supervolcano eruption?

Auckland War Memorial Museum

General information about volcanoes including those around Auckland.

1815 volcanic eruption

Article about the eruption of Tambora which killed 80,000 people.

One of New Zealand's most popular walks the Tongariro Alpine Crossing is suffering nightmare traffic woes.

A Line of volcanoes - the birth of Mt Taranaki

The amazing development of our iconic mountain, Mt Taranaki.

A collection of lesson plans on volcanoes.

New Zealand site containing information on different types of volcanoes and eruptions.

Auckland's volcanic hazards

A video is about Auckland's Volcanic Hazards.

Brief facts about volcanoes, including different types of volcanoes and eruptions.

This unit is written for secondary English language learners to develop the skill of explaining.

Blocks of pumice

Blocks of pumice

Pumice is a volcanic rock so light that it floats, and large blocks can be easily lifted. It occurs mainly in the central North Island, but because it floats it can be found around the New Zealand ...

Mountains (New Zealand)

Mountains (New Zealand)

Aotearoa New Zealand is a mountainous country made up of the North and South Islands, with 60% of the South Island being covered in mountains. These mountains formed because New Zealand lies on the...

Volcano map of New Zealand

Interactive map showing major volcanoes, types of volcanoes and when they last erupted.

Rotorua caldera formation

Caldera eruptions leave behind large craters in the Earth. See how Lake Rotorua could have formed from a caldera eruption.

Taking the pulse of an active volcano

Why scientists are using a drone on Whakaari/White Island.

Sailors discover volcanic rock carpet

A mass of pumice from an underwater volcano near Tonga has been discovered drifting toward Australia.

Volcanoes (New Zealand)

Volcanoes (New Zealand)

A volcano is a vent (opening) in the earth's crust through which magma (molten rock within the earth) erupts to the surface as lava, a mixture of liquid rocks, ash and poisonous gases. Aotearoa New...

Living with the threat of a volcanic eruption

"If an eruption was to occur (in New Zealand), we'd likely be looking at multiple billion dollars of loss.”

Whakaari/White Island tragedy: Where the survivors are at six months on

Nearly six months ago the lives of 47 people, and those who loved them, were irrevocably changed as Whakaari/White Island erupted.

Incredible footage of the Whakaari eruption

Minute-by-minute footage of Whakaari volcano before and during the fatal 2019 eruption.

National Emergency Management Agency

The National Emergency Management Agency provides leadership in reducing risk, being ready for, responding to and recovering from emergencies.

New Zealand scientists invent volcano warning system

Researchers claim system could save lives in situations like the Whakaari/White Island eruption in 2019, which killed 21 people.

Volcanic eruption simulation

Auckland Museum’s educational simulation of a volcanic eruption in Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour harbor.

Volcanic activity

Contains information about what to do before, during and after a volcanic eruption.

Central North Island volcanoes

Find out about New Zealand's central North Island volcanoes.

Global volcanism program

This website from the Smithsonian Institution collates information about global volcanic activity.

What makes volcanoes erupt?

The volcano of Parícutin revealed itself in 1942 with a crack in the ground. This was the birth of one of the youngest volcanoes on the planet.

What is a volcano?

Wonderopolis explores volcanoes with links, video clips and activities.

DK Find Out!: Volcanoes

Quick facts and images about volcanoes.

La Palma volcano

Stunning explosions of red-hot lava after crater collapses.

Ruaumoko - the Mountain is me

Dr Huirangi Waikerepuru outlines his perspective of the forces that create volcanoes, earthquakes and landforms in New Zealand.

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