Banks Peninsula on New Zealand’s South Island Today’s Video of the Day from the European Space Agency features the Banks Peninsula on the South Island of New Zealand.

The peninsula was named after British biologist Joseph Banks who sailed with Captain Cook. It consists of two overlapping extinct volcanoes – the Lyttelton Volcano and the Akaroa Volcano. 

Banks Peninsula was formed by several volcanic eruptions that took place around eight million years ago.  the South American land was a small island in 1643, and Dutch cartographers subsequently renamed Tasman’s discovery Nova Zeelandia from Latin, after the Dutch province of Zeeland.

The city remained part of the colony of New South Wales until becoming the separate Colony of New Zealand on 1 July 1841.  In 1891 the Liberal Party came to power as the first organized political party. Generally snow season comes as early June until early October, though cold snaps can occur outside this season. Also the snowfall is common in the eastern and southern parts of the South Island and mountain areas across the country. Also The forests there  were dominated by birds, and the lack of mammalian predators led to some like the kiwi, kakapo, weka and takahē evolving flightlessness.

Video Credit: ESA

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer