Mount Tongariro erupts

New Zealand History’s website has a wonderful timeline which informs us that on this day, November the thirteenth, in 1896 Mount Tongariro ‘erupted spectacularly’. This initial eruption started a series which continued on for almost a year and it makes fascinating reading browsing the contemporary accounts on Papers Past. Te Ara have a picture of Tongariro erupting that they have dated as likely from this time.





New Zealand’s volcanoes are part of the ‘ring of fire’ which contains around three quarters of the world’s active volcanoes. Tongariro, along with Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe, is one of the three active volcanoes in the National Park bearing its name. Along with Tarawera and White Island These three volcanoes are part of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, which is extremely active on a world scale.


At Auckland Libraries we have a great amount of photographs of New Zealand’s volcanoes: active, dormant and extinct. Here is a selection of our images of Mount Tongariro:






For more information and wonderful images of volcanic activity do have a look at the following books:

Gordon Ell, Volcanoes and thermal wonders. (2004)
Karen Williams and Harry Keys, Ruapehu erupts. (2008)

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