RUAPEHU ACTIVE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21878, 14 August 1934, Page 8

RUAPEHU ACTIVE

HUGE COLUMN OF STEAM TOTAL HEIGHT OF 700 FT. FIRST FOR 39 YEARS SEVERAL MINUTES' DURATION [from OUR OWN" correspondent] THE CHATEAU, Monday A column of steam was thrown 300 ft. above the highest peak of Mount Ruapeliu in an outbreak of volcanic activity from the crater lake at about 5 o'clock on Saturday morning. The disturbance, which is the first of its kind recorded from Ruapeliu for 39 years, was witnessed by a party of about 20 persons who had just set out from the Chateau for the ski grounds on Scoria Flat. Members of the party were a considerable distance away but they estimated that the column of steam rose about 700 ft. above the surface of the crater lake. Owing to the absence of wind the column remained suspended in the air for above five or six minutes, the top spreading out and giving the appearance of a giant mushroom. " Against a blue sky and in the stillness of early morning, the eruption presented a wonderful and unforgetable sight," said an eye-witness of tho spectacle. Three mountaineers who ascended Ruapehu to-day found the crater lake still showing unmistakeable signs of the disturbance. The waters, instead of being their normal blue, streaked with sulphur, were the muddy brown colour of a river in flood. However, the sides of the crater bore no evidence of the unusual activity. Last Recorded Instance

The last recorded instance of a volcanic outburst from Ruapehu was in 1895, when steam rose to a height of 6000 ft. and was witnessed from as far away as the Taupo district. It was described as a magnificent sight. In this case also the sides of the crater were

not affected but in a previous eruption, in 1886 —the first actually recorded in the history of the mountain —the walls of ice were spattered with blue clay and mud.

Saturday's disturbance is the first sign of volcanic activity witnessed at National Park for about six weeks. Ngauruhoe was then active. Early in June, during exceptional thermal activity at the park, the crater lake on Ruapehu was observed to be steaming violently all over. Fatality Recalled

Normally the crater lake, which is roughly circular and about threequarters of a mile in diameter, comprises alternate streams of fairly hot and very cold water. On several occasions it has been crossed by swimmers. The highest point df the crater rim is about 400 ft. above the surface of the lake and the descent to the shores presents a difficult task, as ice cliffs have to be negotiated in places. On a recent occasion, when a young man was killed as a result of falling from the crater rim, mountaineers who went down to recover the body were afraid to talk owing to the risk that the echo of their voices might bring down masses of overhanging ice.