Rotorua Lakes Map collection

Overview

These maps contain smaller maps and seismic cross sections. Smaller maps detail free air gravity, magnetic and heatflow data, and locations where plumes of gas bubbles have been recorded. These maps shows lake floor features and other subtleties that have not been seen for more than a century.

Lake Rotorua

This map poster shows a detailed view of the lake floor bathymetry in Lake Rotorua at a scale of 1:17,500. There are also three smaller maps detailing free air gravity, total magnetic intensity and conductive heat-flow over the lake. The map shows what appears to be an ancient river that runs from offshore Sulphur Point to west of Mokoia Island towards Mourea in the NE of the lake. Immediately offshore Sulphur Point are numerous craters that are host to several hydrothermal vents that are discharging hot, acidic, fluid. The lake floor is covered by thousands of pockmarks, some up to 50 m in diameter, which are thought to be caused by gas discharge. This is the fourth, and largest in the Rotorua Lakes Map Series. Access the digital version(external link)(external link)  and the print version(external link).

Lake Rotomahana

Among other details of the lake floor, this map also shows the likely locations of the remnants of the Pink Terraces and the White Terraces, with the latter largely destroyed during the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera. This map is the first in the Rotorua Lakes map series. Access the digital version(external link) and the print version(external link).

Lake Rotoiti

The main map shows lake floor features and other subtleties that have not been seen for centuries. This includes a prominent volcanic crater with numerous nested hydrothermal eruption craters in the south, and an equally prominent ‘canyon’ in the northwest of the map. This map is the second in the Rotorua Lakes Map Series. Access the digital version(external link) and the print version(external link).

Lake Tarawera

This map includes prominent ridges that strike into the lake from the west and southwest and the extension of lava flows from Mt. Tarawera in the southeast and the large lava domes in the north into the lake. The centre of the lake is largely flat while pockmarks locally dot the margins of the lake, representing gas discharge. This map is the third in the Rotorua Lakes Map Series. Access the digital version(external link) and the print version(external link).

Lake Rotomā

This map includes a detailed bathymetry of Lake Rotomā that shows the lake is made up of two smaller basins: one in the north and one in the south. The gravity data suggest the basement greywacke is dipping under the lake, while the magnetic data clearly demarcates the volcanics on the eastern side of the lake from the southern basin. This map is the fifth in the Rotorua Lakes map series. Access the digital version(external link) and the print version.(external link)

Cite as: See specific map for details.