The beautiful Champagne Pool in New Zealand

Champagne Pool is a hot spring located within the Waiotapu geothermal area in North Island of New Zealand. The name Champagne Pool is derived from the constant efflux of carbon dioxide gas, similar to a glass of bubbling champagne. The vibrant colours come from a rich deposition of minerals and silicate. The silicate structures around the edge of the pool are teeming with microbial lives.

The hot spring was formed some 900 years ago by a hydrothermal eruption, resulting in a crater 62 m deep and 65 m in diameter. Coloured water percolates up from underground, full of carbon dioxide, which forms bubbles near the surface where the water temperature is 74°C. At the edges of the pool, silica is lined with bright orange from antimony rich deposits that solidify out of the cooler water. Mercury, thallium, gold and silver are also deposited in the rocks.

Excess water flow out of the Champagne Pool to feed another geothermal pool called Artist's Palette, which is yellow in colour because of sulphur deposit. From there the water flows over silica mud flats to Primrose Sinister Terrace and down Primrose Terrace forming beautiful and fragile silica deposits.