13 Facts About Mount Ruapehu

Mount Ruapehu is an active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone and North Island volcanic plateau in New Zealand.

Mount Ruapehu's glaciers are situated at the northern limit for the formation of permanent ice in New Zealand, and thus they are extremely sensitive to changes in climate.

Mount Ruapehu is a composite andesitic stratovolcano located at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone and forming part of the Tongariro Volcanic Center.

Volcanism at Mount Ruapehu is caused by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Australian Plate at the Hikurangi Trench to the east of the North Island.

Mount Ruapehu has erupted from multiple craters over its lifetime only one crater is presently active, a deep crater at the southern end of the summit plateau which is filled with hot, acidic water, dubbed Crater Lake.

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Mount Ruapehu sits on a basement of Mesozoic greywacke overlain by a thin layer of sediments of the Wanganui Basin, composed of sands, silts, shell beds, and limestone.

Mount Ruapehu has been built in four distinct stages of relatively intense eruptive activity followed by periods of relative quiet.

On Mount Ruapehu, lava was erupted from Saddle Cone—a flank crater on the northern slopes—and from another crater on the southern slopes.

Past 2,000 years, activity at Mount Ruapehu has been largely focused through a crater lake at the summit.

Mount Ruapehu entered an eruptive phase in March 1945 after several weeks of volcanic tremors.

Mount Ruapehu saw a period of heightened activity between 1966 and 1982, with multiple small eruptions occurring in Crater Lake and two larger eruptions in 1969 and 1975, which ejected rocks across the summit region and produced significant lahars.

GNS Science continuously monitors Mount Ruapehu using a network of seismographs, GPS stations, microphones and webcams.

Mount Ruapehu has two commercial ski fields, Whakapapa on the northern side and Turoa on the southern slope.