The Red Crater
MIND The EDGE - look close and you will see some nasty ice spikes on the white crater wall- wind blown spikes of ice rather than soft snow !
Red Crater and Mt Ngauruhoe are the most recently formed features on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing with Red Crater formed about 3000 years ago. It lies within a scoria cone which rests on top of the older Tongariro lava flows. The red colour is due to the presence of oxidised iron in the rock. The volcanic activity from Red Crater was reported between 1855 and 1890. The dike on the Southern Wall has been exposed by erosion; lava would have flowed through this dike and poured into the Oturere Valley.
The Red Crater
MIND The EDGE - look close and you will see some nasty ice spikes on the white crater wall- wind blown spikes of ice rather than soft snow !
Red Crater and Mt Ngauruhoe are the most recently formed features on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing with Red Crater formed about 3000 years ago. It lies within a scoria cone which rests on top of the older Tongariro lava flows. The red colour is due to the presence of oxidised iron in the rock. The volcanic activity from Red Crater was reported between 1855 and 1890. The dike on the Southern Wall has been exposed by erosion; lava would have flowed through this dike and poured into the Oturere Valley.