Green Lake was formed in a roughly circular crater and is some 100 metres in diameter. It takes its name from its distinctive colour, which is considerably greener and darker than that of Rotomahana. The lake formed after the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera. Prior to the eruption, a small (~12m diameter) lakelet also known as Green Lake (Lake Rotopounamu) had existed to the north of Lake Rotomahana in Waikanapanapa Valley but this was exhumed during the Tarawera eruption. After the eruption, water flowed into the new Green Lake crater, which was given the same name as the older lake. Other pre-eruption lakes and lakelets about Lake Rotomahana included Lakes Rotomakariri, Rangipakaru, Ruahoata and Wairake. The shape, location and orientation of Lake Makariri in Cole, 1970 (cited herein) is incorrect. He followed August Petermann's flawed map. Hochstetter shows the lake axis lay at an azimuth of 355 degrees. Recent research into these lake levels gave insight into changes at Lake Rotomahana in the lead-up to the eruption.