Do you know about the 8th wonder of the world??

HOCKEN COLLECTIONS, OTAGO UNIVERSITY

                                  The 8th Wonder of the world

Scientists believe they have finally discovered the "Eighth Wonder Of The World" in New Zealand, buried by a massive volcanic eruption. Now, 131 years since the natural wonder of the world disappeared, scientists have likely found the location of New Zealand's magical pink and white terraces of Lake Rotomahana.

The terraces are the largest silica deposits of their kind but were thought destroyed and buried after the 1886 volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera. However, with a bit of luck, scientists were able to pinpoint almost exactly where the terraces once were using notes from a 19th century field diary.

The terraces of pink and white deposits were global attractions in the mid 19th century, whereby tourists around the globe would travel to see this natural wonder of the world. In fact, one of the researchers notes that shiploads of tourists made the voyage from the UK, Europe, and America to see the terraces and bathe in the springs. Unfortunately, despite the popularity of the terraces, the exact location was never thoroughly described. This, in combination with the change in local landscape due to the Mount Tarawera's eruption, made it incredibly difficult to locate in modern day.

Disappearance Of Pink And White Terraces

Near Lake Rotomahana in the North Island there were pink and white silica terraces, a scenic concoction of rice field terraces and Yellowstone thermal pools.

Wikipedia

Location of the pink and white terraces.

The terraces formed due to sinter deposits whereby hot spring water laden with minerals cools and deposits those minerals at the edges of the pool. Eventually, these deposits build up to form a barrier or bank along the pool. As the pool spills out, it flows down to another lower location and eventually forms another barrier or bank. This creates terraces of mineral rich hot springs.

The terraces were both white and pink colored due to their specific mineralogy and bacterial colonies. The pink hue in some of the terraces is believed to be due to pink colored bacteria that thrive in hot mineral rich water. A modern-day analogue is Yellowstone's Grand Prismatic Spring, which ranges from blue to green to red.

The white terraces covered approximately 20 acres and included about 50 terraces. Whereas the pink terraces were relatively smaller but more often used as bathing pools for tourists in the 19th century due to the clearer water.

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The terraces were then lost after the volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886. Some scientists hypothesized that the terraces were destroyed or pushed to the bottom of the lake during the eruption. However, recent research suggests that the terraces are relatively intact but simply hidden underneath up to 50 feet of ash and mud.

Using an old field notebook from geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter, scientists were able to pinpoint where the terraces are located within approximately 115 feet. The findings were published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand along with detailed illustrations and forensic work on how they deduced the location of the terraces.

As of now, the scientists are waiting on the approval of the local government to begin excavating the site to reveal the long-lost pink and white terraces, the eighth natural wonder of the world.