Lake Whangape
| Lake Whangape | |
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 Lake Whangape
Lake Whangape is in the Waikato Region of the North Island.
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| Location | Waikato District, Waikato Region, North Island |
| Coordinates | 37°28′S 175°03′E / 37.467°S 175.050°ECoordinates: 37°28′S 175°03′E / 37.467°S 175.050°E |
| Lake type | riverine lake |
| Primary inflows | Awaroa Stream (NB a different stream, with the same name, further south, flows into Lake Waahi) |
| Primary outflows | Whangape Stream |
| Catchment area | 310 km2 (120 sq mi) |
| Basin countries | New Zealand |
| Max. length | 7 km (4.3 mi) |
| Surface area | 1,450 ha (3,600 acres) |
| Average depth | 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) |
| Max. depth | 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) |
| Shore length1 | 29 km (18 mi) |
| Surface elevation | 5 m (16 ft) |
| Islands | Motukauere Is, Roaroa Is |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Lake Whangape (also written as Wangape, or Whangapae) is shallow, supertrophic,lateral and the second largest lake (after Lake Waikare) in the lower Waikato River basin. One source said the name translated to 'a large sheet of water', another that it was a chief's name.
From the 1860s the catchment has lost most of its forest cover and the lake has changed from clear and rich in aquatic vegetation to a murky, algal lake.
The lake is a lateral lake, dammed by a levee of the Waikato, probably built up as a result of sea-level rise and sediment from the Taupo Volcanic Zone about 2,000 years ago.
To the west of the lake the rocks are made up of the 30m year old (Tertiary) Whaingaroa and Glen Massey Formations, the Whaingaroan rocks of the Te Kuiti Group. The Karapiro Formation (part of the Walton subgroup) outcrops towards the east of the lake.
Two springs (ranging from 65 °C (149 °F) to 93 °C (199 °F) and many seepages occur along Te Maire Stream, a tributary of the main lake feeder, Awaroa Stream, about 9 km (5.6 mi) west of the lake. They are close to a contact between outcropping Early Jurassic “greywacke basement” and the overlying Tertiary rocks consisting of claystones, limestones and sandstones.
The springs have been named as Whangape, Awaroa, Naike, Waiora, Te Maire, or Te Puia. In the 1890s boat trips were made to the springs from Rangiriri. In 1868 the temperature was measured at 168 °F (76 °C). A 1905 earthquake enlarged the main spring. The springs are on private land and not now open to the public.
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Wikipedia