Magret Damaschke

Citation

Thesis Title
High-precision tephrochronology: Tracking the time-varying eruption pulse of Mt. Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Stratovolcanoes, such as Mount Taranaki, are highly hazardous volcanic systems due to their irregular eruption patterns and styles, which remain inexplicably diverse and poorly predictable. Even a minor eruption from Mount Taranaki would have a devastating impact on several prime regional industries, and the communities and infrastructure that service them. Therefore, it is very important to understand the past eruption behaviour of Mount Taranaki so as to quantify future volcanic hazard. To do this, long and continuous volcanic eruption history records need to be built. Ms Damaschke constructed a high-precision composite record of 272 large- and small-scale eruptions from Mount Taranaki spanning the last 30,000 years. The identification of many new ash-fall units show how much more frequently active Mount Taranaki has been and also point to atypical long repose periods that may have implications on subsequent volcanic hazard assessments.

Supervisors
Professor Shane Cronin
Professor Mark Bebbington
Dr Katherine Holt
Professor Georg Zellmer Fhea