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Volcano Expedition

The past month has seen a major research expedition clambering over Egmont Volcano, studying the potentally dangerous site.

Egmont is an active volcano, a fact which is becoming increasingly recognised amongst scientists and planners, notes Dr Corinne Locke, an Auckland University geophysicist and joint team leader.

"The aim of the year's work is to expand the geophysical database so that the volcano's internal structures can be investigated more fully," she says. "This will help us understand how the volcano behaved in the past, and perhaps predict its future behaviour."

The expedition was a follow-up to a 1990 visit, where scientists were suprised to find that the upper part of the volcano's cone was much younger than previously thought, probably having developed over a short period.

The visit was funded by Earthwatch, an international organisation which recruits enthusiastic volunteers from around the world to work on environmentally important projects. Fourteen volunteers from the US, Canada, Britain and Japan joined the team, as well as four New Zealanders sponsored by ICI (NZ).