New Zealand is an interesting country for a couple of reasons. Not only is it extremely biodiverse because of its extreme remoteness but because of the way the plates move that it is situated on it has so interesting geographical features. Because it sits on two plates that converge it has a large mountain range called the Southern Alp’s on its southern island.

While on the Second Island there sits a super volcano. The Caldera is called Taupo volcano and because of past major eruptions from it a large portions of the rocks and Plateau is of volcanic materials. Taupo has erupted multiple times in history and because it is a Rhyolite Caldera its eruptions are very large and explosive. Its most recent eruption happened approximately 22,600 years ago, and it created approximately 1170 cubic kilometers of tephra. Now in the crater created by its eruptions sits Lake Taupo. Also on the Northern Island is Mount Raupehu which is its largest mountain and a cone volcano. This Volcano though is considered to be a weaker type though because its eruptive material has a lower viscosity.

Works Cited

"Fire Earth." Greece «. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. <http://feww.wordpress.com/tag/greece/>.

"Global Volcanism Program | Taupo | Summary." Global Volcanism Program | Taupo | Summary. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. <http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0401-07=>.

"Mt Cook Southern Alps Lake Pukaki Scenery Canterbury New ZealandPhoto & Vacation Spot." Mt Cook Southern Alps Lake Pukaki Scenery Canterbury New Zealand. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. <http://www.new-zealand-pictures.co.nz/photo/mt-cook-southern-alps-lake-pukaki-scenery-canterbury-new-zealand-2233.htm>.

"New Zealand Geography." New Zealand Geography. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. <http://www.new-zealand-nz.net/geography.html>.