earth science

Mahuika crater

Mahuika crater is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mahuika crater rather than just read about it. In short: Mahuika crater was a hypothesized impact crater named after the Māori god of fire. It was described as being about 20 ± 2 km (12.4 ± 1.2 mi) wide and over 153 meters (502 ft) deep and on the New Zealand continental shelf at 48.3 South and 166.4 East, to the south of The Snares.

Key takeaways

Mahuika crater belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mahuika crater to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mahuika crater from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mahuika crater was a hypothesized impact crater named after the Māori god of fire. It was described as being about 20 ± 2 km (12.4 ± 1.2 mi) wide and over 153 meters (502 ft) deep and on the New Zealand continental shelf at 48.3 South and 166.4 East, to the south of The Snares. A 2017 survey of the purported site found no evidence supporting the existence of the crater.

Initial claims of discovery The crater was reported and named by Dallas Abbott and her colleagues from the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. Based on elemental anomalies, fossils, and minerals, which are interpreted to be derived from the impact, found in an ice core from the Siple Dome in Antarctica, it is argued that the impact which created the Mahuika crater occurred around 1443 AD, but other sources have placed the date as 13 February 1491 AD. Some evidence suggests that the tsunami it caused was observed by Aboriginal Australians and entered into their oral traditions.

Doubts over existence In 2010 a paper was published in Marine Geology which critically analysed Abbott's claims regarding the origin of the Mahuika crater. The researchers determined that there was no evidence to indicate a comet created the crater, and therefore the possibility of an impact causing the tsunami was highly unlikely. A 2017 survey by the NIWA research vessel, RV Tangaroa, using a multibeam echosounder and a sub-bottom profiling system show no evidence for any crater-like feature in the position reported by Abbott and her colleagues. Instead, the site is typical flat continental shelf lying in 160 meters (528 ft) of water. Subsequent bathymetric data compilation and analysis, as part of The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, shows no crater-life features on the continental shelf of southern New Zealand.

See also Burckle crater List of possible impact structures on Earth

References

External links Abstract of Geological Society of America talk by Andrew K. Matzen on tektites from Mahuika crater Archived 2015-05-02 at the Wayback Machine …and the Fire from Heaven 2004 article disputing Mahuika impact origin of 15th century tsunami Expedition hunts giant meteor by S. Collins. Newspaper article about ongoing Mahuika impact research.

Further reading Hostile Shores:Catastrophic Events in Prehistoric New Zealand and their Impact on Maori Coastal Communities, Bruce McFadgen, 2007, Auckland University Press. ISBN 978-1-86940-390-4

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mahuika crater

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mahuika crater claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mahuika crater before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mahuika crater ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mahuika crater

In research: Mahuika crater appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mahuika crater in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mahuika crater is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Geography of the New Zealand seabed, Geology of New Zealand, Holocene impact craters, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mahuika crater outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mahuika crater in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mahuika crater means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mahuika crater out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mahuika crater in simple terms?

Why does Mahuika crater matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mahuika crater?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mahuika crater.