Újzéland Egmont Nemzeti Park, Taranaki Csúcs

Taranaki and Egmont

New Zealand

The circular pattern of New Zealand’s Egmont National Park stands out from space as a human fingerprint on the landscape.

The park protects the forested and snow-capped slopes around Mount Taranaki (Mount Egmont to British settlers). It was

established in 1900, when officials drew a radius of 10 kilometers around the volcanic peak. The colors differentiate the protected

forest (dark green) from once-forested pasturelands (light- and brown-green).

Named by the native Maori people, Taranaki stands 2,518 meters (8,260 feet) tall, and it is one of the world’s most symmetric

volcanoes. It first became active about 135,000 years ago. By dating lava flows, geologists have figured out that small

eruptions occur roughly every 90 years and major eruptions every 500 years. Landsat 8 acquired this image of Taranaki and the

park in July 2014.