Waikato really DOES have scenery!!

[saraian]

It's ok, I believe you :icon_biggrin:

[jamesthecarman]

I got this really cool pic of one of the mountains around Ruapahu coming out of the morning dew....I'll try to get it up this weekend.

[MotherBear]

Ah yes, Mt Ruapehu... ?Waikatos very own snow-capped peak!

Albeit an active volcano, but we wont mention that:

OK, Taffy, we won't mention it.

Alert remains at Ruapehu after quake
3.15pm Thursday October 5, 2006

? ?

Scientists have been unable to confirm if an eruption occurred during last night's volcanic earthquake at Mt Ruapehu, GNS Science says.

An alert was activated shortly before 10.30pm yesterday, which raised the lahar alert level to one, which meant signs of volcanic unrest. ?The alert level remains at one.

GNS Science duty vulcanologist Steve Sherburn said staff were working with the Department of Conservation (DOC) to try to establish if there had been a lahar or if an earthquake had set the system off.

However, an attempt this morning to view the crater lake area from an aircraft failed due to the bad weather, he said.

GNS Science volcanologist Craig Miller said he had hoped to see if the lake was surrounded by blackened snow. "All we could see was cloud," he said.

Mr Sherburn said the cause of the alert would remain uncertain until the weather cleared and there could be a proper examination.

"Part of the DOC lahar monitoring system appears to have been damaged at the time of the earthquake which suggests there may have been an eruption, but other monitoring data says that any eruption must have been relatively small," he said.

- ?NZPA

[MotherBear]

Scientists confirm 'small scale' Mt Ruapehu eruption
1.00pm Saturday October 7, 2006

Scientists have confirmed a small eruption which may have sent a water plume about 200 metres into the air above Mt Ruapehu after a trip to the mountain top today.

The eruption caused waves about six metres high in the volcanic lake but was a relatively small event which happened reasonably regularly, said Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) coordinator of volcanic surveillance Brad Scott.

He said the scientific team spent some time today on the mountain top. "There is confirmation as we expected of a very small scale eruption."

Mr Scott said there was no sign of a lahar when volcanic material flows down the mountainside after an eruption. He said Mt Ruapehu was an active volcano but there had been no similar small scale events for a long time. In the 1980s and 1990s it happened reasonably regularly.

He said the eruption happened last Wednesday night in the middle of a bad storm. "It would have been a geyser-type eruption. It would have domed up water in the lake and lifted it maybe a couple of hundred of metres high. That would have fallen back in the lake and generated waves out across the lake."

Mr Scott said Ruapehu was very active and people had been advised not to go to the summit.

- ? NZPA

[jamesthecarman]

I got this really cool pic of one of the mountains around Ruapahu coming out of the morning dew....I'll try to get it up this weekend.

Or I'll have it up within 2 years ;D

[MotherBear]

Or I'll have it up within 2 years ?;D

Aw, and to think I've been sitting here waiting all that time just to see that pic. ::)

2 years? OK, we'll hold you to that. :D