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Geologists And Tourists At The Taupo Volcanic Zone ( Tvz ), Lake Taupo, And Mt Ruapehu Essay

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Introduction In this report, I will be explaining two surface features which are visually interesting to geologists and tourists in the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ), Lake Taupo, and Mt Ruapehu. Lake Taupo is a main tourist attraction as it is the largest lake in New Zealand with a beautiful scenery perfect for activities like recreational fishing and sky diving. Furthermore, it generates electrical energy via the Waikato river that is used by people all around waikato. Mt Ruapehu is also a tourist attraction as the highest peak on the North Island with two major ski-fields and only glaciers on its slopes. Creation Believe it or not, both surface features are active volcanoes. Lake Taupo a caldera, and Mt Ruapehu a stratovolcano. These volcanoes were formed because TVZ is a convergent plate boundary where the Pacific (Oceanic) plate which is more dense ,is getting subducted under the Australian (Continental) crust which is less dense. This is being driven by a force called convection which happens in the asthenosphere which is fluid. It is when the fluid near the core heats up, and rises due to it’s low density compared to the surrounding fluid. This fluid then cools down and sinks due to it’s high density compared to the surrounding fluid. It therefore gets near to the core again and so, repeats the cycle. The direction of the convection can cause plate boundaries- opposite and away from each other will result in divergent plate boundaries and opposite but towards each

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