By Adam Ray
An underwater exploration team may finally offer a definitive answer about what happened to the Pink and White Terraces.
Submersible vehicles are being used to map the bottom of Lake Rotomohana - where the terraces stood until Mt Tarawera erupted in 1886.
It looks like a torpedo but the only purpose of the submersible is scientific, patrolling the depths of Lake Rotomahana for remnants of what was said to be the eighth wonder of the world.
“What we're here to do is try and find out what happened to the Pink and White Terraces,” says GNS scientist Cornel de Ronde.
The terraces were a tourist mecca until Mt Tarawera erupted, destroying some if not all of them and covering the area in mud, which was then flooded as the lake rose.
The Pink Terraces were about 100 metres from the shoreline, the White Terraces, a few hundred metres beyond a prominent peninsula in the area.
Some of the geothermal activity that helped created the terraces can still be seen, but most of it is underwater.
Scientists are now measuring the geothermal activity using sensors carried by the two American submersibles.
The vehicles were developed primarily for the US navy for military purposes but they are also ideal for scientific missions.
“This whole project is really about the AUV’s. It’s about getting sophisticated technology that can map the lake floor,” says Mr de Ronde.
A team from GNS, Waikato University and US institutions are working in New Zealand.
Once the lake floor is mapped seismic tests can be done to detect what is under the mud, that may finally tell if any of the terraces are still intact and down there.
Maori and tourism operators both want to know. They says it’s either a big hole or big springs or the terraces.
Scientists say they should know in about 12 months from now.
3 News
For more information on the project visit the GNS website
source: newshub archive
