Is mount egmont dormant

Answer 1

Mt Taranaki, also known as Mt Egmont, has for the last 200 years shown little or no sign of volcanic

Research by Dr Shane Cronin, of the Institute of Natural Resources at Massey, indicated the last major eruption was in 1655 with smaller eruptions recorded in 1755 and possibly the early 1800s.

He suggests it has erupted at least once every 90 years on average for the past 9000 years, with a major eruption every 500 years.

Dr Cronin, who completed the research with PhD student Michael Turner, extracted and analysed core sediment samples from Lake Umutekai, about 25km northeast of the volcano.

The mountain's smaller eruptions were similar to that of Mt Ruapehu in 1995-96 and would have showered New Plymouth with pumice and rock fragments the size of raisins.