Scientists may have found lost eighth wonder of the world in New Zealand
Researchers believe the terraces lay some 10-15 metres below surface
Pink and White Terraces (1886) by Charles Blomfield. PHOTO: GUARDIAN
More than a century after it was buried by a volcanic eruption, researchers from New Zealand believe the eighth natural wonder of the world may have been rediscovered.
The pink and white terraces of Lake Rotomahana in the North Island were a major tourist attraction in 1800s until the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886.
Using the field diaries of Ferdinand von Hochstetter, a German-Austrian geologist, the team claims to have found the resting place of the terraces in a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. They believe the terraces were buried on the foreshore of the lake and not destroyed as suggested by earlier research.
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“Our research relied on the only survey ever made of that part of New Zealand and therefore we are confident the cartography is sound,” said one of the team members, Rex Bunn. “Hochstetter was a very competent cartographer.”
“They [the terraces] became the greatest tourist attraction in the southern hemisphere and the British empire, and shiploads of tourists made the dangerous visit down from the UK, Europe and America to see them,” said Bunn. “But they were never surveyed by the government of the time, so there was no record of their latitude or longitude.”
Urging for a full archeological survey to excavate, the researchers who believe the terraces lay some 10-15 metres below surface – under layers of mud and ash, said the team will begin exploration once they achieve the funding of more than $50,000.
“We want to undertake this work in the public interest. And I have been closely liaising with the ancestral owners of the land, the Tuhourangi Tribal Authority, and they are supportive and delighted with the work,” said Bunn.
This article originally appeared on the Guardian
The pink and white terraces of Lake Rotomahana in the North Island were a major tourist attraction in 1800s until the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886.
Using the field diaries of Ferdinand von Hochstetter, a German-Austrian geologist, the team claims to have found the resting place of the terraces in a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. They believe the terraces were buried on the foreshore of the lake and not destroyed as suggested by earlier research.
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“Our research relied on the only survey ever made of that part of New Zealand and therefore we are confident the cartography is sound,” said one of the team members, Rex Bunn. “Hochstetter was a very competent cartographer.”
“They [the terraces] became the greatest tourist attraction in the southern hemisphere and the British empire, and shiploads of tourists made the dangerous visit down from the UK, Europe and America to see them,” said Bunn. “But they were never surveyed by the government of the time, so there was no record of their latitude or longitude.”
Urging for a full archeological survey to excavate, the researchers who believe the terraces lay some 10-15 metres below surface – under layers of mud and ash, said the team will begin exploration once they achieve the funding of more than $50,000.
“We want to undertake this work in the public interest. And I have been closely liaising with the ancestral owners of the land, the Tuhourangi Tribal Authority, and they are supportive and delighted with the work,” said Bunn.
This article originally appeared on the Guardian