Brian Cousens | Department of Earth Sciences

New Zealand is famous for its wines, the All Blacks, and the Lord of the Rings movie series.  But New Zealand is also famous for its volcanoes, most of which form due to subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the North Island.  One of the most famous hikes in the world, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, led this volcanologist across steaming volcanic vents, glittering blue hot water pools, and across the foot of Mt. Ngaurahoe, also envisioned as Mount Doom by Peter Jackson in the Lord of the Rings series.  My volcano tour of New Zealand also included Auckland, built on over 50 young volcanic vents, and the extinct volcano of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands.

Wednesday, January 13, 2016 in
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