Photo by Krzysztof Golik via Wikimedia Commons
Photo by Krzysztof Golik via Wikimedia Commons

The supervolcano under Lake Taupō is pushing the lakebed around

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Peer-reviewed: This work was reviewed and scrutinised by relevant independent experts.

The bed of Lake Taupō is rising and falling as magma moves around in the active volcano lurking below. Researchers looked at 42 years of measurements recording miniscule changes in the lakebed, finding the northern end of the lake had sunk by 14mm. However that has been interrupted by 16cm of uplift, which the researchers say is possibly due to magma moving closer to the surface during periods of unrest.

Journal/conference: New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics

Link to research (DOI): 10.1080/00288306.2022.2089170

Organisation/s: Victoria University of Wellington

Funder: This work was supported by Earthquake Commission [grant number 3185]; Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment [grant number ECLIPSE/3487].

Expert Reaction

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Dr Finnigan Illsley-Kemp, Postdoctoral Fellow in Volcano Geodynamics, School of Geography, Environment, and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington

Lake Taupō conceals one of the world’s most active caldera volcanoes, which last erupted 1,800 years ago. Movements of magma and tectonic faults beneath the surface frequently cause the ground surface above the volcano to uplift and subside. In 1979 we began a novel surveying technique which uses the lake surface to detect small changes, with 4 surveys made every year since. In this paper we summarise this 42 years of data to show that within the lake, near Horomatangi Reefs, the volcano has caused 160 mm of uplift, whereas north of the lake the tectonic faults have caused 140 mm of subsidence. This shows that Taupō is an active and dynamic volcano which is intimately connected with the surrounding tectonics.

Last updated: 08 Jul 2022 11:02am
Declared conflicts of interest:
Dr Illsley-Kemp is a co-author on this paper. He is based in the UK so email contact is best.

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