Steam rises from the crater of White Island, one of the most active volcanoes of New Zealand. The small, uninhabited 2 x 2.4 km wide island lies 50 km north of North Island. Frequent small-to-moderate explosive eruptions have been recorded since the beginning of the historical record in 1826, and Maori legends speak of earlier eruptions. This view from the SE shows the two overlapping 0.4 x 1.2 km wide craters at the summit of the largely submerged volcano.

Copyrighted photo by Stephen O'Meara.

Photos in the Types and Processes Gallery

This 4-m-wide, water-filled impact crater was formed when the block in background, with volcanologist Ian Nairn providing scale, was ejected during a strombolian eruption from White Island in New Zealand in late March 1977. The block, composed of pre-existing wall rock of the crater, bounced, forming the impact crater, and then slid to its present location, 250 m from the source vent.

Photo by Bruce Houghton, 1977 (Wairakei Research Center).

Additional Photos

White Island, seen here from the NE, is a low (321-m-high), 2 x 2.4 km wide, uninhabited island off the coast of New Zealand's North Island. White Island is one of New Zealand's most active volcanoes; frequent explosive eruptions recorded since 1826 have deposited tephra over the island, preventing the growth of vegetation in all but a few small areas along the coast.

Copyrighted photo by Stephen O'Meara.

An ash eruption from White Island on February 12, 1977 is viewed from off the NE coast. The eruption column originates from the Christmas Crater vent, formed the previous year, shortly after the start of the eruption on December 18. The first 20th century eruption of White Island to produce new magmatic material took place a month after the date of this photo. Intermittent phreatomagmatic eruptions continued until late 1981.

Photo by Simon Nathan, 1977 (New Zealand Geological Survey).

The small hills in the foreground are debris-avalanche hummocks from a landslide in September 1914. The landslide occurred when part of the crater rim collapsed in the absence of any eruptive activity. The high-velocity avalanche swept across the crater floor, destroying the buildings of a sulfur-mining plant and burying 11 workers. The large hill in the background to the SE is not an avalanche hummock but a remnant of the outer crater wall.

Photo by Richard Waitt, 1986 (U.S. Geological Survey).

Sulfur encrusts the margins of fumarole vents on White Island volcano, and steam rises above a larger vent in the background. This photo was taken shortly after the beginning of an explosive eruption in February 1986 that lasted until July 1994.

Photo by Richard Waitt, 1986 (U.S. Geological Survey).

An ash-laden eruption column billows from the crater of White Island on March 25, 1988. This was one of many phreatomagmatic and magmatic eruptions that took place from 1986 to 1994 from the small island volcano 50 km north of New Zealand's North Island. Large eruptions on March 14 and April 27, 1988, produced 3.5-km-high columns.

Photo by Ian Nairn, 1988 (New Zealand Geological Survey).

A New Zealand Geological Survey volcanologist on the crater floor of White Island volcano observes an ash-laden eruption column on February 9, 1989. This was one of many small-to-moderate explosive eruptions that took place between 1986 and 1994.

Photo by Ian Nairn, 1989 (Geological Survey of New Zealand).