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Digital underwater photographs showing the intact Pink Terrace. - Source: Dan Fornari -
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Scientists are gearing up for another underwater exploration at Lake Rotomahana to try to find more of the famed pink and white terraces.
ONE News followed the scientists last year when they found the two bottom tiers of both terraces still intact - 60 metres below water.
Until then it was assumed the eighth wonder of the world had been totally destroyed in the fallout from the violent eruption of Mount Tarawera 125 years ago.
The scientists revealed images of the pink terraces last February, and in June they said a similar image shows the bottom two tiers of the white terraces are still there too as well as the ridge that ran alongside them.
At the time, GNS Science project leader Cornel de Ronde told ONE News it was a really significant find.
"What we'd like to do from this point on is penetrate through the lake floor and through the mud. Because what we've done so far only allows us to see what's on the lake floor."
De Ronde said most people thought the terraces were destroyed because of the devastating eruption but he said there was an enormous amount of material thrown out from the pre-existing Lake Rotomahana and tens of metres of mud covered the entire region.
"Possibly we're seeing the lower few terraces because there's been currents in the lake that have winnowed away the mud.
"We have the opportunity to rediscover and bring back into people's living rooms essentially some images of what the pink terraces look like today," de Ronde said.
This time the scientists have high tech devices which will allow them to map what is underneath the lake bed.
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