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Days 13 and 14: Trip to Whakapapa and up Ruapehu

Hello readers! Welcome to our blog today! Very excited to talk to you on this great day. Not five minutes ago (what feels like at least!) we embarked on our journey, one we would never forget. After arriving in the North Island and spending a free day in Wellington we were impatient to see what the geology of this landmass could hold. And boy were we not disappointed.


Our first destination: Whakapapa! Home of the southern edge of the North Island's Taupo Volcanic Zone (specifically Ruapehu volcano and the Tongariro volcanic complex) and a great ski resort, we happily rested our tired little heads for a night at The Skotel. After a good sleep, we began our quest...volcanoes. 

We started our day in Happy Valley on the slopes of Ruapehu, a "huge ass" volcano. We studied some puzzling cliffs and made some estimates on the number of units present before focusing on a unique cliff face. After analyzing the different types of rock and orientations present, we concluded that this outcrop is a textbook example of an effusive (oozing) lava flow that had been inflated by an obstacle in the topography, likely a hill. We identified the three main components of the flow, a bottom level matrix supported volcanic breccia, a massive columnar jointed middle cliff section, and a clast supported volcanic breccia on the top level. 

With this in mind, we were able to identify the previous wall we had studied as the result of several (7-8) individual lava flows. Our hearts in the sky, we moved our bodies closer too as we hiked up the slopes of Ruapehu, stoping for lunch on a thin, spiky ridge. We enjoyed our cold cuts and snackies before continuing our geological journey. Our next point of interest: the wall next to which we’d eaten. We studied the wall, which interestingly was a feature in the cult classic: Lord of the Rings. Also cool was that we could see Mount Doom, from the same film series, as the backdrop of our investigations. 


So, the wall. After analyzing the strangely prominent feature, jutting upward in a tabular manner from the surrounding topography, we determined that it was our old friend, the dike, back for another round of punishing analysis. We were tipped off to this features nature by the horizontal columnar jointing, indicating cooling in a horizontal (as opposed to vertical) direction as well as the chilled margins (cooled zone) on the outer edges of the structure. 

We journeyed further up towards the crater and encountered some lava flows that were just wild. Their wildness stemmed from the fact that they were inclined, not horizontally layered, and demonstrated opposite inclined at different lateral positions. We concluded that this was due to lava rushing down a valley created on one side by the aforementioned dike. Due to unfortunate construction and the rising clouds, our wondrous day was cut short, to our extreme sadness. We paused at the top of our climb to point out some more effusive lava features and learn about their geometry and chemistry. 


We also got a rare treat, an orangish intrusive dome feature (notably different from the afore-aforementioned intrusive dike) protruding from the rocks above. As the sun went down, so to did we descend from the clouds, scrambling our way back to Dave, our trusty van and loving companion. Our aching souls longed for a good meal and a warm bed, which The Skotel was so happy to provide. We felt like lords of the rocks (haha lol) after our big day and were exploding with excitement to explore more about the volcanic landscape surrounding us.

John & Conrad

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