earth science

Pūtauaki

Pūtauaki 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 Pūtauaki rather than just read about it. In short: Pūtauaki, known in English as Mount Edgecumbe, is a dacite volcanic cone in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. A King of the Mountain race was run on Pūtauaki as part of the international King of the Mountain series between 1955 and 2020, and proceeds were donated to charity.

Key takeaways

Pūtauaki 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 Pūtauaki to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pūtauaki from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pūtauaki, known in English as Mount Edgecumbe, is a dacite volcanic cone in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. A King of the Mountain race was run on Pūtauaki as part of the international King of the Mountain series between 1955 and 2020, and proceeds were donated to charity.

Geography Located 50 km (31 mi) east of Rotorua and three kilometres east of Kawerau, it is the easternmost vent of the Taupō Volcanic Zone adjacent to the Ōkataina volcanic centre. The mountain rises to 821 m (2,694 ft) above sea level, and is visible from the waters of the Bay of Plenty, 30 km (19 mi) to the north.

Geology The composite volcano is located towards the centre of the onshore portion of the very geologically active Whakatāne Graben in the northeastern aspect of the young, modern Taupō Rift. There were several periods of dome growth and collapse between about 8350 and 2400 years BP. The last substantial volcanic eruption occurred at 540 ± 130 BCE, producing a cubic kilometre of lava. There was a previous eruption dated to 1380 ± 50 BCE. The volcano produced the Edgecumbe Formation which are pyroxene-bearing andesite to dacite lava flows (up to 67 wt% SiO2), domes and minor pyroclastic tephra. Although classified by some as part of the Ōkataina volcanic centre system, compositional studies reveal important differences in the depth of accumulation and fractionation of the magma of the Pūtauaki system consistent with separate plumbing.

History Captain James Cook named the mountain "Mount Edgecumbe" on 2 November 1769, possibly in honour of John Edgecombe, the sergeant of marines on his vessel, the Endeavour. In 1925 the mountain was gazetted with two official names: Putauaki and Mount Edgecumbe. The New Zealand government took part of the mountain from the Ngāti Awa people in the 1880s as part of a series of North Island land confiscations, supposedly for the purposes of military settlement. In a 1999 report the Waitangi Tribunal declared the confiscation illegal because there was no prospect of placing settlers on the mountain.

Legendary source of name Māori legend tells of a love affair that Pūtauaki had with Whakaari / White Island. Another version of the legend is that Pūtauaki was lonely after losing a fight for Pīhanga (another mountain) so when he met Tarawera he decided to start a relationship with her. After raising a son and years of a troubled marriage, Pūtauaki cast his eye out towards the sea, where the very beautiful Whakaari was. The two would call out to each other at night while Tarawera slept. One night Pūtauaki could not contain his love any longer and decided to travel out to be with Whakaari. It is said that a mountain can only move once in their life and only at night so Pūtauaki had to travel across the land fast. Little did he know, his son had awoken and was following him. He heard the little whimper from his son and turned around. He tried to tell his son to stay with Tarawera but the little mountain would not leave his father. Then the sun rose and froze the two mountains where they were. When Tarawera awoke she saw that her husband had left and she started to weep, thus creating the Tarawera Falls and river. Until this day Tarawera still cries and Whakaari still calls out for her lover, who is frozen to the spot near Kawerau.

Transmitter Pūtauaki is home to a major FM radio transmitter for the eastern Bay of Plenty. Prior to digital television transition in December 2013, the transmitter was also the main analogue television transmitter for the area.

Gallery

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pūtauaki

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pūtauaki 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 Pūtauaki 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 Pūtauaki 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 Pūtauaki

In research: Pūtauaki 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 Pūtauaki 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: Pūtauaki is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Holocene lava domes, Lava domes of New Zealand, Okataina Volcanic Centre, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pūtauaki 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 Pūtauaki in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pūtauaki 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 Pūtauaki out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pūtauaki in simple terms?

Why does Pūtauaki 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 Pūtauaki?

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 Pūtauaki.