Waitonga Falls in the Tongariro volcanic chain

Waitonga Falls cuts deeply into andesitic lava and plunges 39 m into a bowl-shaped pool. The creek originates from the southwestern slopes of Mount Ruapehu volcano in the Tongariro National Park in New Zealand.
During the last ice ages the landscape of the Tongariro volcanic chain was strongly reshaped by the erosive forces of glaciers. They cut deep U-shaped valleys into the rock and grinded down the lava flows. After the ice age cycles about 18.000 years ago, numerous streams cut deep V-shaped gorges into the volcanic rocks, once again altering the glacial erosion structures in the valleys. The sparse vegetation in the Tongariro landscape allows to explore the geological structures left behind in the rock.