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.