Day 19 - Taupo Ignimbrite & Redwood Forest

Ashes to ashes, pumice to pumice, for Taupō thou art, and unto Taupō shalt thou return. Guil 5:26



Today, for the last time, we learned about our old friend, the Taupō sequence. Dave, our trusty van, delivered safe and sound to our first outcrop of the day, a wacky series of falls and flows. Guil and Lydia, barely able to restrain us, set us loose. We DEVOURED this outcrop, hand lenses and map books in hand. This was a peculiar outcrop, with strange scouring and elusive layers, but by an astounding group effort, we were able to crack the secrets held within. 

Our first clue was the sub sorted, clast supported subtle layering of the bottom unit, indicating it was a series of proximal tephras, falling ash and pumice. Above this is where it got confusing, there were captured clumps of the previous unit and a very wavy contact. With a little help from our instructors, we concluded that it was a slurry of ash and water caused by the increased rainfall after the eruption that sat on and messed up the unit below. Above all this was the main Taupō Ignimbrite, which we identified with ease. We had done such an exceptional job identifying this outcrop, our instructors waived the assignment about it. Satisfied with our work, we hopped back in Dave and drove off into the distance.

As we gazed out the window of our trusty van Dave, we all said “woah, these trees are crazy”! I didn’t know there were redwoods in New Zealand!” Margaret and Conrad were feeling luscious California vibes in this beautiful redwood forest! It turns out that these trees were planted here in order to determine what tree species would be the most economically efficient in the New Zealand timber industry. After warming up with some overpriced coffee in the gift shop and finally getting a chance to meet the famous Mr. Darren (Big D), we took a small jaunt to a view overlooking the city of Rotorua. 

With the humble smell of eggs filling our nostrils we watched the hydrothermal steam rise into the sunset and began our discussion about the calderas that make up the Rotorua region. We learned that calderas form when magma chambers drain or the magma leaves the region, allowing for overlying material to collapse. We went more in depth about the Central Taupo Volcanic Zone and were excited to hear that there has been 20 major eruptions here in the past million years, making the region of significant importance for geologists. We got a glimpse at the “Double Trouble” ongoing research project, headed by Darren and Guil, aimed at correlating two large caldera eruptions in the Rotorua area. As the sun fell further we rounded out the day with a group picture including a real kiwi! A person, sadly not the mystical bird. (This dream appears to be dead.) 

We made our way back to the car and even managed to see some glowing wormies along the way. We rewarded ourselves with some local pizza pie and authentic Italian music and settled down for the night, dreaming of hot springs that wouldn’t burn our skin off.

Conrad & Ellie