Mount Taranaki: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Taranaki
Taranaki
Elevation:	2,518 m (8,261 ft)
Latitude:	39° 18′ 0″ S
Longitude:	174° 4′ 0″ E
Location:	New Zealand
Range:
Type:	Stratovolcano

Mount Taranaki is a dormant volcano located in the west of New Zealand's North Island.

The 2518 metre high mountain, which is reasonably close to a perfect ash cone in shape, is geologically young, having commenced activity approximately 135,000 years ago.

Weather on the mountain can change rapidly, catching unexperienced trampers unawares. A number of people have died on the mountain after being caught unprepared in bad weather.

The most recent volcanic activity was a moderate ash eruption about 1755. Mount Taranaki is considered unusual in that it has experienced at least five of its major eruptions by the method of cone collapse. Few volcanoes have undergone more than one cone collapse. There is also evidence of lahars being a common result of eruption.

The mountain is revered by Maori who tell and retell a legend about its origins.

For many centuries the mountain was called Taranaki by Maori, but this was changed to Mount Egmont by Captain Cook after the Earl of Egmont. This was later changed as it seemed inappropriate to have renamed it after a British noble who had never set foot in New Zealand.