White Island Volcano

2 Pages 429 Words

White Island
White Island is located in the Bay of Plenty, 30 miles north of Whakatane and Opotiki. It stands 1053' above sea level and approximately 70 % of the volcano is underwater, making it the largest volcanic structure in New Zealand. White Island presently the most active volcano in New Zealand, with a history of continuous hydrothermal activity pronounced by small to medium eruptions. The period from 1976 to 1993 has been the island's most active in the last several hundred years. The exact location of white island is 37.52s and 177.18e. White island is an uninhabited composite volcano that has been active over the past several hundred years. White Island is the northernmost active volcano in the Taupo Volcanic Zone - a 250km-long zone of intense volcanism that marks the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates. Volcanic hazards in and around the main crater vary considerably with the level of activity. Hazards exist even during quiet periods. As well as the risk of isolated eruptions during quiet periods, there is also the small possibility of a crater wall collapse. A collapse and resultant avalanche could be triggered by a shallow earthquake or through increased instability after heavy rain. Given the history of the last 25 years at the island, the most likely hazard-producing event is the resumption of enhanced activity. Hazards during enhanced activity include ashfall, steam eruptions and occasional explosions throwing ballistic blocks as far out as the sea. Explosive eruptions pose a risk to visitors on the island, boats anchored in the bays, and to aircraft passing close to the island. The island hasn’t had many occurrences of death due to the volcano other than 12 sulfur miners that died in a 1914 avalanche.
The layers of white island consist of rhyolitic material and date back approximately 150,000 years. The earth...