The 1886 Tarawera eruptive fissure, seen from the N, formed across lava domes of the 800-year-old Kaharoa eruption. The red and black rocks of the 1886 eruption, 20-30 m thick here, overlie white rhyolitic Kaharoa eruption deposits. This view shows a 2-km-long section of the 8-km en-echelon fissure with gray rocks of the Ruawahia lava dome appearing at the far end.

Photo by Bruce Houghton (Wairakei Research Center).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license terms.

Galleries: Craters | Fissure Vents

Keywords: fissure | vent | crater | stratigraphy | scoria | stratovolcano

Okataina