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This park lies at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. The park spreads out from Lake Taupo to Ohakune covering over 34 miles (55 km). The oldest dated lava flows from Tongariro are about 260,000 years old, and andesite pebbles date the activity of the region back to 1.7 million years ago. Before that point this area was part of a shallow marine basin where sediments accumulated.
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The park has been the sight of intense volcanic activity and its craters, lava flows, explosion pits, tephra layers, and composite cone are testiment to this. This park can be grouped into two volcanicly active areas. The first area includes the northern volcanoes of Kakaramea, Tihia and Pihanga and the other area has the southern volcanoes; Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu
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One of the biggest volcanic eruptions that has occured in the world in the last 5,000 years took place from the Taupo Volcanic Center. This eruption, occuring about 1800 years ago, ejected pumice to heights of 30 miles up (50km). At the end of the eruption this column of ejecta turned into a giant fountain that sent volcanic material travelling radially outward at a speed of 370 mph (600km per hour). This flow levelled forests and burying everthing within a 50 mile (80 km) radius from Taupo. The area that was affected includes most of that is Tongariro National Park.
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For more Information write:
Tongariro National Park
Regional Conservator
Department of Conservation
Private Bag
Turangi
Source:
Williams, Karen; Volcanoes of the South Wind: A field guide to
the Volcanoes and Landscape of Tongariro National Park, Tongariro
National History Society, P.O. Box 2421, Wellington
ToVolcanoWorld