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Lake Taupo is a lake situated in the North Island of New Zealand. It has a perimeter of approximately 193 kilometres, a deepest point of 186 metres and a surface area of 616 square kilometres. The largest lake by surface area in the country, it is drained by the Waikato River. It is noted for stocks of short-finned eel and trout, the former a traditional delicacy and the latter a tourist attraction.
Lake formation The lake lies in a caldera created following a huge volcanic eruption (see supervolcanos) approximately 26,500 years ago. According to geological records, the volcano has erupted 28 times in the last 27,000 years. The largest eruption, known as the Oruanui eruption, ejected an estimated 1170 cubic kilometres of material and caused several hundred square kilometres of surrounding land to collapse and form the caldera. A Māori myth says that this eruption sent out so much ash into the atmosphere, that it blocked out the sun across the entire world for two weeks. The most recent eruption, which occurred in 181AD, is believed to have ejected 100 cubic kilometres of material, of which 30 cubic kilometres was ejected in the space of a few minutes. It is believed that the eruption column was 50 kilometres high, twice as high as the eruption column from Mount St. Helens in 1980. This makes it one of the most violent eruptions in the last 5000 years (along with Mount Tambora and Santorini). It was sufficiently large, due to the ash expulsion, to turn the sky red over Rome and China (as documented in Hou Han Shu). This eruption further expanded the lake. The volcano is considered to be dormant rather than extinct. It lies in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Tourism Tourism is now a major business for the area, attracting over 1.2 million tourists per year. The fact that the lake is the largest fresh water lake in Australasia, and approximately the same size as Singapore ensures it is a huge 'must do' component to many tourists. Christmas and New Year Holidays are an exceptionally busy time of the year for Lake Taupo, with holiday makers booking up to 12 months in advance to avoid missing out. The town of Taupo is hugely popular with events, one in particular that is held each year is the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge where cycling enthusiasts cycle around the lake, this usually take about 4-10 hours depending on the cyclist. Hundreds of volunteers from the Taupo township help out to ensure the famous event is a success. Taupo is host to the Oxfam Trailwalker, a charity ultra-challenge held annually on 100km course in April. Another activity the region is famous for is skydiving, a sport also heavily advertised. See also | |||||||||||||||||||||
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