White Island was named by Captain Cook as he only sailed past it and didn’t explore it further as he would have found an active, stratovolcano created by pyroclastic lava flows and lahars. By visiting the volcano, one is able to stand on some of the newest continental crust on the earth which consists mostly of andesite and tefron deposits. White and yellow patches likened to a pie (cool crust and a hot center) dot the landscape and these colors are due to gypsum and sulfur, respectively. Fumaroles are also strewn across the island the mouth of the volcano has a dynamic lake that has dropped 30 meters in the span of 6 weeks. The lake is quite dynamic with its color changing constantly and its temperature ranging from 30-70◦C depending on its height. Due to the high concentration of hydrochloric and sulfuric acids, the lake has a pH of -0.6. The water in the lake comes from steam cooling and the lake can be a concern as if it rises too high and spills into the ocean, the abundant and diverse marine life surrounding the nutrient rich island would be damaged. The volcano was mined for its sulfur in the early 20th century and is now studied and monitored by scientists with a seismograph and web cameras located on the island and also by monitoring gas emissions. On the volcanic alert level that scales from 0 to 5, White Island volcano is given a 1. The highest point on the volcano is 321 meters high and is named Gismund Point.