Leaders: Simon Barker, Colin Wilson, Finn Illsley-Kemp, Graham Leonard, Bubs Smith, Gert Lube

Duration: 5 day (4 nights)

Fitness level: A medium level of fitness is required for access to some locations with some short distance hiking.

Summary:  This post-conference field trip will focus on the volcanic history of the central Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ). This is an area which is characterized by a globally extreme heat flow, multiple supereruptions and a high frequency of young silicic volcanism, producing a diverse range of volcanic deposits with excellent field exposures. Travelling from Rotorua through to Taupō, on day one we will be visiting key stops to talk about the broad eruptive stratigraphy and the modern setting of the central TVZ. On the second day we will focus on the deposits of the 350 ka Whakamaru, the 25.4 ka Oruanui supereruption and the 232 AD Taupō eruption and highlight the contrasting deposits of three voluminous pyroclastic flow units. This day will also include a hike to a viewpoint for an overview of the modern TVZ and Lake Taupō. On day three we will explore deposits to the north of Taupō and discuss faulting, subsidence histories, post-eruption floods and rare basaltic volcanism. On day four we will focus on young activity from Taupō caldera by visiting key sites within Lake Taupō Forest to look at detailed Holocene eruptive stratigraphy of explosive rhyolitic eruptions of varying size and style and we will also discuss the world-renowned 232 AD Taupō ignimbrite. On day five we will travel back towards Rotorua and see a range of lava domes and exposures of multiple ignimbrite units along the way.