Raoul Island

Anvil-shaped Raoul Island ("Sunday Island"), the largest and northernmost of the main Kermadec Islands, (located at coord|29|15|S|177|55|W|, 900 km SSW of 'Ata Island of Tonga and 1100 km NNE of New Zealand's North Island), has been the source of vigorous volcanic activity during the past several thousand years that was dominated by dacitic explosive eruptions.

The area of the island, including fringing islets and rocks mainly in the northeast, but also a few smaller ones in the southeast, is 29.38 km². The highest elevation is Moumoukai peak, at an elevation of 516 m.

Considering offshore islets and rocks, the northernmost island of New Zealand is Nugent Island, about 100 metres in diameter, located 3.6 km northeast of Raoul Island. The coordinates of the northernmost point are coord|29|13|52|S|177|52|09|W. Napier Island stretches almost as far north as Nugent Island, which reaches just a few metres further north.

History

Stone implements of the Polynesian type have been found on Raoul Island, but the island is now uninhabited.

The permanently manned Raoul Island Station, has been maintained since 1937. It includes a government meteorological and radio station and hostel for Department of Conservation (DOC) officers and volunteers. The station stands on the northern terraces of the island, about 50 m in elevation above the cliffs of Fleetwood Bluff. Raoul Island Station represents the northernmost outpost of New Zealand.

2006 eruption

On March 17, 2006 at 8:21 a.m. NZDT, a 40-second long volcanic eruption occurred at the Green Lake. At the time, Mark Kearney, a 33-year-old DOC worker, was at the crater taking water temperature measurements. A five-hectare area around Green Lake was affected with ash, mud and boulders. Two DOC workers were forced to turn back after going to the crater to search for Kearney.

Following the eruption, DOC decided to evacuate the remaining five staff members. A Mil Mi-8 helicopter and Piper PA-31 Navajo aircraft took off from Taupo at 11 a.m. that morning. [cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10373133|title=DoC evacuates as Raoul Island erupts, 'one missing'|publisher=New Zealand Press Association|date=17 March 2006] They arrived at the island in the late afternoon and undertook a 45 minute search for Kearney but no sign was seen. The evacuated staff members were brought back to Auckland that evening.

A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3 Orion made an overflight on 21 March to provide further information on how safe it is to approach Green Lake. The Volcanologists aboard decided the area was still unsafe, and that the crater lake had risen by about 8 metres compared to footage taken on 17 March. There was no cloud or ash plume. [cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3611628a11,00.html|title=Raoul crater ruled unsafe|publisher=The Press|date=22 March 2006]

A group of police, the five evacuated workers, three other DOC staff and scientific staff left Tauranga on 18 March for the three-day boat trip to Raoul aboard the RV "Braveheart" to recover Kearney's body. [cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3609389a10,00.html|title=Raoul five return to look for mate|publisher=The Dominion Post|date=20 March 2006] They were able to undertake a limited search, but decided that it was extremely unlikely that Kearney survived given the amount of devastation in the area around Green Lake. The "Braveheart" began the journey back to the mainland on 25 March, with three of the DOC workers staying on the island to continue research. [cite news|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200603251658/1424cc35|title=DOC searchers on Raoul Island to head home|publisher=Radio New Zealand|date=25 March 2006] The three were joined by the other four evacuated workers at the start of May 2006. Two of the three will return to the mainland after the handover. [cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3655085a7693,00.html|title=Raoul survivors return to island|publisher=NZPA|date=25 March 2006]

Five hours after the eruption, the Aura satellite passed over and found an estimated 200 tonnes of sulfur dioxide had been released. [ [http://data.geonet.org.nz/geonews/sab/2006/03/alert-bulletin-raoul-island-volcano-24.html Alert Bulletin, Raoul Island volcano] , 24 March, 2006] This confirmed that there were magmatic gases in the eruption, and the presence of degassing magma within the volcano. By the end of April, the activity in the area had decreased significantly and the "Alert Level" was lowered to 1. [ [http://data.geonet.org.nz/geonews/sab/2006/04/alert-bulletin-raoul-island-volcano-26.html Alert Bulletin, Raoul Island volcano] , 26 April, 2006]

As a geographically active 'hotspot', the Kermadec Islands also experience frequent earthquakes, the most recently significant of which occurred at 22:39 NZST on May 16, 2006. [ [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/usmuah.php Magnitude 7.4 - KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION] , United States Geological Survey] The epicentre was approximately 290 km SSW from Raoul and measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, and as such is classified as a 'major' earthquake by the United States Geological Survey. It was felt as far away as Christchurch, New Zealand some 1500 km from the epicentre. Also of note on January 31, 2007 at 4:15:55 NZST a Magnitude 6.5 (Strong) earthquake shook the island. The epicenter was approximately 40 km (25 miles) S of Raoul and 10 km below the seabed. On December 9th 2007 at 8.28pm NZST a magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook the area, centered approximately 350km north of Raoul Island at a depth of 188km. [ [http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/2833367g.html] ] More recently on September 30, 2008 at 3:19:31 NZST a magnitude 7.0 earthquake centered 70 km (45 miles) S of Raoul occurred, with an approximate depth of 35 km (22 miles). [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008xna6.php#details]

HMNZS "Te Mana" left for Raoul on 24 August 2006 on a resupply mission. Also on board were Kearney's sister, Merryn McDermott; three representatives of the Ngāti Kurī iwi; and Chris Carter, the Minister of Conservation. During a service held on 28 August, the Ngāti Kurī representatives performed a tapu lifting ceremony. [cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3777336a10,00.html|title=A place of death, and reconnection|date=2006-08-26|accessdate=2006-08-26|publisher=Dominion Post] A plaque was erected to honour Kearney. "Te Mana" also allowed some volcanic monitoring to be undertaken using its SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopter. During a dawn flight, sample bottles were filled with crater lake water. [cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3774998a11,00.html|title=Frigate leaves for Raoul Island|date=2006-08-24|accessdate=2006-08-26|publisher=Dominion Post]

A report by the New Zealand Department of Labour into the death was released on 14 October 2006. It cleared the Conservation Department and Geological and Nuclear Sciences of any negligence related to the death of Kearney. The report stated that the eruption was unpredictable and there was no indication of imminent seismic activity. [cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3827977a11,00.html|title=Family 'let down' by Raoul report|publisher=The Dominion Post|date=2006-10-14|accessdate=2006-10-21]

Geography

Two Holocene calderas are found at Raoul. The older caldera cuts the center of Raoul Island is about 2.5 x 3.5 km wide. Denham caldera, formed during a major dacitic explosive eruption about 2200 years ago, truncated the western side of the island and is 6.5 x 4 km wide. Its long axis is parallel to the tectonic fabric of the Havre Trough that lies west of the volcanic arc. Historical eruptions at Raoul during the 19th and 20th centuries have sometimes occurred simultaneously from both calderas, and have consisted of small-to-moderate phreatic eruptions, some of which formed ephemeral islands in Denham caldera. A 240 m high unnamed submarine cone, one of several located along a fissure on the lower NNE flank of Raoul volcano, has also erupted during historical time, and satellitic vents at Raoul are concentrated along two parallel NNE-trending lineaments. The Denham caldera was named for the nearby Denham Bay, itself named by Capt M H Denham in HMS Herald came to complete a (chart) survey of the island July 2 1854, his son Fleetwood James Denham (16yrs) died from a tropical fever, and was buried near the beach at the head of Denham Bay, where a number of the grass-grown graves of former settlers were. The brass plaque heading this grave has been preserved.

Three small lakes, Blue Lake (1.17 km², about 40 % overgrown), Green Lake (160,000 m²) and Tui Lake (5,000 m², drinking water quality) are located in the Northern caldera of Raoul Island. The plains surrounding the lakes are called Pumice Flats.

Flora and fauna

The scientific categorisation of the flora and fauna of the island began in 1854, when "HMS Herald", captained by Henry Mangles Denham arrived to complete the charting of the island. He arrived on the 2nd and was occupied till the 24th July, during which time he frequently had to move the ship on account of the rough weather experienced. William Grant Milne and John MacGillivray, naturalists on board the "Herald", made a small collection of plants on Raoul. This was forwarded by Captain Denham to Sir W. Hooker, and was described by Sir Joseph Hooker in the "Journal of the Linnean Society" for 1857.

Raoul is part of the Kermadec Islands subtropical moist forests ecoregion, and is largely covered with closed-canopy forest, predominantly of the evergreen tree "Metrosideros kermadecensis" and the islands' endemic palm, "Rhopalostylis cheesemanii", which is now classified as "R. baueri". The island has no native land mammals, and was formerly home to vast colonies of seabirds who nested in the forests. The islands may once have had a species of megapode (based on early settler records) as well as a subspecies of Kereru;, [Tennyson, A. & Martinson, P. (2006) "Extinct Birds of New Zealand" Te Papa Press,Wellington ISBN 978-0-909010-21-8] currently native landbirds on the island include a subspecies of the red-crowned Parakeet, Australasian Harriers, Pukekos, Tui and several introduced species. [C. R. Veitch, C. M. Miskelly, G. A. Harper, G. A. Taylor, and A. J. D. Tennyson (2004) "Birds of the Kermadec Islands, South-west Pacific" "Notornis" 51(2): 61–90] Polynesian visitors introduced Polynesian Rats in the 14th century, and norway rats, cats, and goats were introduced by European and American visitors in the 19th and 20th centuries. The rats and cats greatly reduced the seabird colonies, which mostly withdrew to offshore islets, and although the goats did not eliminate the tree canopy as they did on other islands, they greatly reduced the understory vegetation.

Goats were removed from the island in 1984; in 2002 rats, and probably also cats, were successfully eradicated from the island. A large scale weeding programme has also been under way for a number of years involving teams of DOC workers and volunteers. The island is part of the Kermadec Islands Marine Reserve, New Zealand's largest marine reserve, which was created in 1990.

atellite islands and rocks

The two largest satellite islands are North Island and South Island of Meyer Islands
* Islands and Rocks in the Northeast of Raoul Island
** Fishing Rock
** Egeria Rock
** Meyer Islands
*** North Island
*** South Island
** Napier
** Nugent (northernmost island of New Zealand)
** Herald Islets
*** Dayrell Island
*** Chanter Islands
**** Chanter (North) Island
**** South Island
**** West Island
* Islands and Rocks in the Southwest of Raoul Island
** Milne Islands
** Dougall Rocks

Notes

References

* Oliver, R., 'The Vegetation of the Kermadec Islands'. "Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand", Volume 42, 1909, p.121. URL: [http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_49/rsnz_49_00_003860.html RSNZ] , accessed 3 January 2007.
* [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-BesPoly-t1-body-d1-d4.html Polynesian stone implements]
*

External links

* [http://www.seafriends.org.nz/issues/res/kermadec/ A visit to Raoul in 2002 by Dr. Floor Anthoni]
* [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-MorCrus.html A history of the Bell family who lived on Raoul/Sunday Island from 1878 to 1914]
* [http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/podcover.aspx?id=33862 Kermadec Islands Marine Reserve (New Zealand Department of Conservation)]
* [http://ortho.linz.govt.nz/nz_offshore_islands/raoul_high_res.jpgHighly detailed map]