Long Lost Terraces Were Found

The White and Pink Terraces that were once located on Lake Rotomahana in New Zealand, were often referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World.

These Terraces were silica deposits; scientists suspect that the Pink Terraces obtained their color from either the elements such as iron and manganese dissolving in the hot spring waters, or from a type of bacteria that thrives off of hot water, and typically lives in warm pools.

In June of 1886, volcanic activity near Mount Tarawera altered the landscape and raised the water level of the lake drastically, and destroyed these Terraces. The molten rock generated steam explosions that blasted holes into the bottom of Lake Rotomahana. This caused rock and sediment debris to block the stream flowing from the lake, which resulted in water levels rising nearly 100 meters.

Cornel de Ronde, a New Zealand geologist, along with his research team, recently completed a field expedition that discovered remnants of the Terraces. During the two week field study, the team used an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to probe the lake. This AUV was essentially a torpedo filled with sensors and equipped with a camera, and scanned the lake using sonar technology. It discovered long crescent-shaped objects nearly 60 meters deep, in an area where the Terraces were once located. For New Zealanders, this discovery was equivalent to the discovery of the Titanic.

The expedition discovered no signs of the upper levels of Pink Terraces or any of the White Terraces. Researchers believe that they were either destroyed in the volcanic eruption, or they are now covered in sediment, which was too thick for sonar to detect.

I chose this article because I was familiar with the once existing White and Pink Terraces, and was curious as to what researchers found in their expedition. I also found the method in which scientists used to find these Terraces to be quite fascinating. The data collected during this expedition could possibly be used to aid future researchers in understanding hot springs and geysers, and help them respond to geological disasters such as the one at Lake Rotomahana in 1886.

Source: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/02/new-zealands-lost-and-found-pink.html