Lake Rerewhakaaitu

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Lake Rerewhakaaitu
Lake Rerewhakaaitu.jpg
View of the lake from Mount Tarawera
NZ-NI plain map.png
Disc Plain red.svg
Lake Rerewhakaaitu
Location North Island
Coordinates 38°18′S176°30′E / 38.300°S 176.500°E / -38.300; 176.500
Primary inflows Awaroa and Mangakino Streams, subsurface [1] :73
Primary outflows subsurface, surface water channel engineered to Rangitaiki River [1] :18,73
Catchment area 3,700 ha (9,100 acres) [1] :56
Basin  countriesNew Zealand
Max. length3.8 km (2.4 mi) [2]
Max. width3.7 km (2.3 mi) [2]
Surface area5.1 km2 (2.0 sq mi) [1] :55
Average depth6 m (20 ft) [2]
Max. depth18 m (59 ft) [2]
Surface elevation434.9 metres (1,427 ft) [1] :24
References [1] [2]

Lake Rerewhakaaitu is a small, shallow lake in northern New Zealand, located 30 kilometres to the east of Rotorua. It is immediately south of the active volcano Mount Tarawera, and the geography was substantially altered by the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera.

Contents

Geography

At a mean autumn height of 434.9 metres (1,427 ft) above sea level the lake is highest and southernmost of the Rotorua Te Arawa lakes. [1] :24 Occupying a shallow basin, it is mostly surrounded by farming pasture; although over the past few decades, exotic and indigenous forest cover has begun to appear.

Water Flow

The lake is feed by the Awaroa and Mangakino Streams. [3] The lake has no permanent outflow, as it is above the water table of much of the surrounding land (perched by perhaps up to 5 m (16 ft) except at north-eastern side), but has an artificial overflow channel to the south east to control the maximum height. [1] :18,54,73 Also, when the lake is high, water can flow down the Mangaharakeke Stream due to these water table issues. Further the Awaroa Stream is ephemeral. [1] :73

It is believed that the springs at the head of Te Kauae Stream are sourced from the lake as part of 442 L/s (15.6 cu ft/s) ground water outflow from its catchment into that of Lake Rotomahana to its north-west. [1] :2,73 Groundwater also flows south-east of the lake into the Rangitaiki River catchment. [3] [1] :2,73

Inflow Sources Lake Rerewhakaaitu [1] :44
SourceInflow to lake
Mangakino Stream12–16 L/s (0.42–0.57 cu ft/s)
Awaroa Stream10 L/s (0.35 cu ft/s)
Catchment1,658 L/s (58.6 cu ft/s)

Geology

The lake is believed to be about 11,000 years old, [4] having formed after the Waiohau eruption of 14,009 ± 155 years ago. [5] The area of the lake and its catchment has multiple rhyolitic pyroclastics from Mount Tarawera eruptions. [1] :8 Parts of the Whakamaru Group of ignimbrite define the south-east and parts of the northern lake shore, [1] :8 and that massive eruption sequence of the Whakamaru Caldera was about 335,000 years ago. [6]

The 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera covered the lake area in tephra to a depth between 15–5 cm (5.9–2.0 in). [7] Some of the ash deposits in the catchment, particularly the even thicker ones to the north of the lake, would have been washed into the lake within a year or two as described at the time. [8] :61–69

Ecology

The lake is home to 46 different bird species with nine of these classified as threatened. This includes the largest breeding population of banded dotterel in the Rotorua Ecological District. [4]

It is stocked with introduced Rainbow trout. [9]

The lake is classified as mesotrophic, with moderate productivity and water quality. [3] Its trophic level index was 3.4 in 2014. [1] :5

Culture

The shores of the lake are often the scene of dog shows, like those from Rotorua, Agility during Easter, and the obedience show in January. [10]

Education

Lake Rerewhakaaitu School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, [11] with a roll of 53 as of April 2023. [12]

Related Research Articles

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The Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ) is a volcanic area in the North Island of New Zealand that has been active for the past two million years and is still highly active. Mount Ruapehu marks its south-western end and the zone runs north-eastward through the Taupō and Rotorua areas and offshore into the Bay of Plenty. It is part of the larger Central Volcanic Region that extends further westward through the western Bay of Plenty to the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula and has been active for four million years. At Taupō the rift volcanic zone is widening east–west at the rate of about 8 mm per year while at Mount Ruapehu it is only 2–4 mm per year but this increases at the north eastern end at the Bay of Plenty coast to 10–15 mm per year. It is named after Lake Taupō, the flooded caldera of the largest volcano in the zone, the Taupō Volcano and contains a large central volcanic plateau as well as other landforms associated with its containing tectonic intra-arc continental Taupō Rift.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink and White Terraces</span> Large silica sinter deposits in New Zealand destroyed in 1886 volcanic eruption

The Pink and White Terraces, were natural wonders of New Zealand. They were reportedly the largest silica sinter deposits on earth. Until recently, they were lost and thought destroyed in the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera, while new hydrothermal features formed to the south-west i.e. Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Tarawera</span> Volcano in New Zealand

Mount Tarawera is a volcano on the North Island of New Zealand within the older but volcanically productive Ōkataina Caldera. Located 24 kilometres southeast of Rotorua, it consists of a series of rhyolitic lava domes that were fissured down the middle by an explosive basaltic eruption in 1886. While the 1886 eruption was basaltic, study has shown there was only a small basalt component to the previous recent rhyolitic predominant eruptions. This eruption was one of New Zealand's largest historical eruptions, and killed an estimated 120 people. The fissures run for about 17 kilometres (11 mi) northeast–southwest

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Tikitapu</span> Crater lake in New Zealand

Lake Tikitapu, more commonly known as Blue Lake, is the smallest of four small lakes lying between Lake Rotorua and Lake Tarawera in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. The other three are Lake Rotokakahi, Lake Okareka, and Lake Okataina.

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Te Wairoa was a village close to the shore of Lake Tarawera near Rotorua, New Zealand. The village was buried by volcanic ash in the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera. It was later excavated and is now open as a tourist destination, the Buried Village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Ōkataina</span> Volcanic crater lake in New Zealand

Lake Ōkataina is the northernmost and largest of four smaller lakes lying between Lake Rotorua and Lake Tarawera in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. The others are Lake Rotokakahi, Lake Tikitapu, and Lake Ōkareka. All lie within the Ōkataina caldera, along its western edge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Rotomahana</span> Lake in the North Island of New Zealand

Lake Rotomahana is an 800-hectare (2,000-acre) lake in northern New Zealand, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Rotorua. It is immediately south-west of the dormant volcano Mount Tarawera, and its geography was substantially altered by a major 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera. Along with the mountain, it lies within the Ōkataina Caldera. It is the most recently formed larger natural lake in New Zealand, and the deepest in the Rotorua district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Tarawera</span> Lake in New Zealand

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Frying Pan Lake is the world's largest hot spring. It is located in the Echo Crater of the Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley, New Zealand and its acidic water maintains a temperature of about 50 to 60 °C (122–140 °F). The Lake covers 38,000 square metres in part of the volcanic crater and the shallow lake is only 5.5 metres (18 ft) deep, but at vents, it can go down to 18.3 metres (60 ft).

The region around the city of Rotorua, in New Zealand's North Island, contains several lakes. From biggest to smallest, these are Lake Rotorua, Lake Tarawera, Lake Rotoiti, Lake Rotoma, Lake Okataina, Lake Rotoehu, Lake Rotomahana, Lake Rerewhakaaitu, Lake Rotokakahi, Lake Okareka and Lake Tikitapu. There are also four smaller lakes: Lake Okaro/Ngakaro, Lake Rotokawa, Lake Rotokawau and Lake Rotongata. Most of the lakes have formed due to volcanic activity. The region is part of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, the world's most active area of explosive silicic volcanic activity in geologically recent time.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera</span> Volcanic eruption in New Zealand

The 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera was a violent volcanic eruption that occurred in the early hours of 10 June 1886 at Mount Tarawera, near Rotorua on New Zealand's North Island. The eruption reached an estimated Volcanic Explosivity Index of 5 and killed an estimated 120 people, making it the largest and deadliest in New Zealand during the past 500 years, a period that includes the entirety of European history in New Zealand. The eruption began at roughly 2:00 a.m. and lasted for approximately six hours, causing a 10-kilometre-high (6.2 mi) ash column, earthquakes, lightning, and explosions heard as far away as Blenheim in the South Island – more than 500 kilometres away. A 17-kilometre-long (11 mi) rift formed across the mountain and surrounding area during the eruption, starting from the Wahanga peak at the mountain's northern end and extending in a southwesterly direction, through Lake Rotomahana and forming the Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley. This rift is where the basaltic dyke that fed the eruption reached the surface.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ōkataina Caldera</span> Volcanic caldera in New Zealand

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ōkareka Embayment</span> Volcano in North Island, New Zealand


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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Rotomakariri</span> Historic lake in the North Island of New Zealand

Lake Rotomakariri was a lake which formerly existed in the basin that is now occupied by Lake Rotomahana, in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The lake's name was in contrast to the nearby Lake Rotomahana, which prior to the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera, was a shallower warm water lake. Prior to this eruption, Lake Rotomakariri sat in a shallow basin surrounded by marshes, draining into Lake Tarawera by Awapurohe Creek and Rotomahana's outflow of Kaiwaka Stream. The eruption of Mount Tarawera initially destroyed Lake Rotomakariri and its lakeside village with the loss of 19 lives, though water entering the new crater gradually refilled Lake Rotomakariri after volcanic activity subsided. As water accumulated over the decade after the eruption, Lake Rotomakariri was absorbed by the larger Lake Rotomahana, which eventually rose to about 36–48 m (118–157 ft) above its pre-eruption level due to the previous outflow of the basin being blocked by ashfall.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 White, P; Toews, M; Tschritter, C; Lovett, A (2016). "Nitrogen discharge from the groundwater system to lakes and streams in the greater Lake Tarawera catchment GNS Science Consultancy Report 20151108" (PDF). Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Lowe, D.J.; Green, J.D. (1987). Viner, A.B. (ed.). Inland waters of New Zealand. Wellington: DSIR Science Information Publishing Centre. pp. 471–474. ISBN   0-477-06799-9.
  3. 1 2 3 "Lake Rerewhakaaitu". Land, Air, Water Aotearoa (LAWA). Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Lake Rerewhakaaitu Recreation Reserve: Nature and Conservation" . Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  5. Lowe, David; Ilanko, Tehnuka (2023). "Pre-conference tephra data workshop – Hands-on session II: tephra excursion, Okareka Loop Road (29 January 2023)". University of Waikato. p. 15. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  6. Froggatt, P. C.; Nelson, C. S.; Carter, L.; Griggs, G.; Black, K. P. (13 February 1986). "An exceptionally large late Quaternary eruption from New Zealand". Nature. 319 (6054): 578–582. Bibcode:1986Natur.319..578F. doi:10.1038/319578a0. S2CID   4332421 . Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  7. McSaveney, Eileen; Stewart, Carol; Leonard, Graham. "Devastation caused by the Tarawera eruption". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  8. Thomas, A. P. W. (1888). Report on the Eruption of Tarawera and Rotomahana, N.Z. Wellington, New Zealand: Government Printer. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  9. "Lake Rerewhaikaaitu". NZFishing.com. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  10. Dawson, Kyra. "Dogs on best behaviour". Rotorua Daily Post. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  11. "Ministry of Education School Profile". educationcounts.govt.nz. Ministry of Education.
  12. "Education Review Office Report". ero.govt.nz. Education Review Office.