New Zealand: Geothermal mineral deposit

Last week you saw some boiling mud at Wai-O-Tapu in the geothermal zone near Rotorua. From the same place on February 24th, here’s a mineral deposit whose textures and colors wouldn’t let me pass by without photographing them. The forms at the left are a miniature version of the Pancake Rocks that appeared here a month ago.

© 2015 Steven Schwartzman

New Zealand: Boiling mud eruption

Speaking of strange shapes reminiscent of objects in Surrealist paintings, how about this eruption in a pool of boiling mud? I took the picture on February 24th at Wai-O-Tapu*, which is in an active geothermal area in the vicinity of Rotorua on the North Island. The sputtering of the boiling mud was unpredictable, so I set my camera to 1/500 sec. and tried to press the shutter release at the first hint of a splatter. Many of my attempts didn’t succeed, but this photo did a pretty good job of capturing the phenomenon.

Today’s image of a geothermal feature is the first one from my New Zealand trip to appear here, but it won’t be the last.

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* After I prepared this post I saw that the Wai-O-Tapu website says TripAdvisor calls the location “One of the 20 Most SURREAL Places in the World.”

© 2015 Steven Schwartzman