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Wonders of Kermadec Islands

View in Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands
View in Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands / Lawrie Mead, Wikimedia Commons / public domain

WorldBlue  Highlights

Kermadec Islands are unique due to extreme volcanic and earthquake activity and many endemic species of plants and animals.

These islands are summits of volcanoes that are lined along a deep oceanic trench. Here oceanic earth crust slips under the Kermadec islands with an amazing speed. As a result here are located several quite active volcanoes and the largest island – Raoul Island – experiences almost daily earthquakes. These are the main reasons why islands are not inhabited by people. Maori lived here for a short time in the 14th – 15th centuries (there have been found stone adzes left by them) but left – most likely due to the catastrophic eruption.

White people did not have any more success – volcanoes, the remoteness of the islands and earthquakes have repeatedly driven away any inhabitants.

Map with the described wonders

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WorldViolet Top wonders of Kermadec Islands

Geological wonders

Curtis Island Volcano

This small (500 x 800 m, 137 m high) island represents the summit of an active volcano with fumaroles. The crater of this volcano is located approximately 10 m above sea level. The island is quickly rising – it elevated by 7 m between 1929 and 1964. Almost every day there are earthquakes.

Crater of Curtis Island, May 1999, Kermadec Islands
Crater of Curtis Island, May 1999 / , Wikimedia Commons / public domain
Hot springs of Oneraki Beach

Hot springs in the beach zone, the water sometimes is boiling.

Steaming Cliffs at Denham Bay

Cliffs at the beach of Denham Bay. Here rises steam due to volcanic activity.

Green Lake

Green-colored lake in a volcanic crater, with acidic water, formed in 1872. A sudden eruption on 17 March 2006 took the life of a worker measuring the temperature of water in the lake. Fumarolic activity around the lake and the water of the lake often changes color.

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