[Rockhounds] Major 'magnetic anomaly' discovered deep below New Zealand's Lake Rotorua

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

New maps have revealed a hidden hydrothermal system beneath a legendary
lake in New Zealand, which serves as the setting for a famous Māori love
story.

Lake Rotorua sits at the heart of a massive ancient crater
<https://www.space.com/2452-giant-crater-tied-worst-mass-extinction.html> of
a dormant volcano on New Zealand's North Island. The lake has a storied
history: it is where the daughter of an influential chief is said to have
overcome *forbidden love*
<https://whakarewarewa.com/how-hinemoas-unrelenting-love-for-tutanekai-conquered-all/>
by
swimming across the lake to be with a young warrior.

The Rotorua area is also well known for hydrothermal activity, with
the *Tourism
New Zealand* <https://www.newzealand.com/uk/feature/lake-rotorua/> website
stating that clouds of steam drift around the lake's shore, and that sulfur
gives a "magical green-blue" color to the water.

Researchers at GNS Science, a research institute in New Zealand, have now
mapped Lake Rotorua's floor in never-before-seen detail, revealing eruption
craters, an ancient river and a large magnetic anomaly in the southern part
of the lake. These new maps prove for the first time that Rotorua's
mainland hydrothermal systems extend into the lake's hidden depths.

*Cornel de Ronde*
<https://www.gns.cri.nz/about-us/staff-search/cornel-de-ronde/>, a
principal scientist at GNS Science, told Live Science that seeing the maps
was like wearing glasses for the first time when you didn't realize you
needed them. "You finally put those glasses on, and you can see the fine
print," he said.

https://www.space.com/bizarre-magnetic-anomaly-discovered-deep-below-new-zealands-lake-rotorua