Rangitoto Channel
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use New Zealand English Template:Infobox body of water
The Rangitoto Channel is an area of the Hauraki Gulf in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. The channel is north-east of the Waitematā Harbour, and is located between the North Shore and Rangitoto Island. The channel's traditional Ngāi Tai name is {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, and is an important deep water shipping channel to reach the Ports of Auckland.
GeographyEdit
The Rangitoto Channel is located in Auckland, between the North Shore and Rangitoto Island.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the Last Glacial Maximum (known locally as the Ōtira Glaciation), the area was a valley for the Waitematā River, which when sea levels rose between 12,000 and 7,000 years ago became the Waitematā Harbour.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The channel is an important stretch of water as it is the only deep water approach to Auckland Port for large ships such as container cargo ships and passenger cruise liners.<ref name="LINZ">Land Information New Zealand Marine chart NZ532</ref>
HistoryEdit
The traditional Ngāi Tai name for the Rangitoto Channel is {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or "The Great Channel of Peretū", named after an early ancestor in Tāmaki Makaurau, who lived at Narrow Neck and kept a kākā parrot reserve on Rangitoto Island.<ref name="NgaiTaiValues">Template:Cite report</ref><ref>Template:Cite q</ref> The channel was visited by the Tainui migratory canoe after arriving in Tāmaki Makaurau.<ref name="ThematicReview1">Template:Cite report</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
During the Russian scare of the 1880s, coastal fortifications were built along the Rangitoto Channel, including a fort at North Head and a military camp, Fort Cautley, at Narrow Neck. These were upgraded during World War II, and further gun emplacements were constructed at Castor Bay and other East Coast Bays areas to the north.<ref name="Verran">Template:Cite q</ref>
The channel was last dredged from a depth of 11.2m to 12.5m in a two-stage process in 2004. The first stage involved the mechanical excavation of hard rock. Blasting was not required. This was followed by the removal of softer material. All dredged material was used in the reclamation at Fergusson wharf.<ref name="scoop">Rock removed from shipping lane</ref><ref name="Fletcher Construction">Rangitoto Shipping Lane Dredging & Wharf Reclamation</ref>
GalleryEdit
- Rangitoto Lighthouse.jpg
The Rangitoto Lighthouse is located along the Rangitoto Channel
- Auckland, New Zealand by Planet Labs (Rangitoto Channel).jpg
Satellite view of Rangitoto Channel
- Volcano Under the Pohutukawa (15358219635).jpg
View of Rangitoto Island from Milford Beach