Rex Bunn 

Debate continues over the silica sinter Pink and White Terraces, the greatest tourist attraction of the southern hemisphere. The 1886 Tarawera eruption may or may not have destroyed them by burial or eruption. This research compiles surviving sinter. The volume is unexpectedly tiny, which bears on the debate. A database was developed including photography. A forensic approach was taken to atmospheric conditions which affected visibility. The eruption ejected ~ 0.5 km³ ash. Pink and White Terrace and other sinter occupied ~0.0003 km3 –0.0004 km3 of this. Finding sinter amongst the ejecta was unlikely. The probability of finding terrace sinter is ~0.03%–0.04%. This helps explain the small amount, presuming it existed. Many samples were unverified or lost. Surviving post-eruption samples are few. The scarcity is consistent with the terraces being buried and/or the vagaries of sample collection.