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Auckland Volcanic Field

Photo of this volcano
  • Country
  • Primary Volcano Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  •  
  • 36.89°S
  • 174.81°E

  • 260 m
    853 ft

  • 241020
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports for Auckland Volcanic Field.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Auckland Volcanic Field.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Auckland Volcanic Field.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 2 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

1446 ± 5 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Rangitoto, Rangitoto 2
1446 ± 5 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 1 Events for Episode 1 at Rangitoto, Rangitoto 2

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Tephra

1397 ± 7 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode Rangitoto, Rangitoto 1
1397 ± 7 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 4 Events for Episode 1 at Rangitoto, Rangitoto 1

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow Entered water.
   - - - -    - - - - Ash
Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Auckland Volcanic Field.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Auckland Volcanic Field.

Photo Gallery

Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, is constructed over the 600 km2 Auckland Volcanic Field. The field contains more than 50 maars, tuff rings, and scoria cones that were formed during eruptions over the past 193,000 years. Only one volcano was formed during the Holocene. About 620-570 years ago, two phases of eruptive activity formed a low shield volcano capped by a scoria cone at Rangitoto.

Photo by Jim Cole (University of Canterbury).
Rangitoto, a 6-km-wide island seen here from the NW, is the youngest feature of New Zealand's Auckland Volcanic Field. The volcano erupted at least twice, about 620 and 570 years ago, and is capped by a scoria cone containing a deep crater.

Photo by Jim Cole (University of Canterbury).
Motukorea (also known as Brown's Island) in Waitemata Harbour, New Zealand, is composed of a remnant tuff ring (right side), scoria cones (center), and lava flows that form the flat peninsula in the foreground. It is one of more than 50 Pleistocene-to-Holocene centers in the Auckland Volcanic Field. The low-angle slopes of lava flows from Rangitoto are visible to the north in the background.

Photo by B. Thompson (published in Green and Short, 1971).
New Zealand's largest city, Auckland / Tamaki Makaurau, is built on the 600 km2 Auckland Volcanic Field. This view looking SW from the summit of Rangitoto volcano shows cones on a peninsula extending into Waitemata Harbor with the city center behind it. North Head (left) and Mount Victoria (right) on the peninsula are two of the more than 50 maars, tuff rings, and scoria cones that have formed in the past 193,000 years. Rangitoto is the only known Holocene volcano.

Photo by Ichio Moriya (Kanazawa University).
Mangere Lagoon is a tuff ring within the Auckland Volcanic Field, seen here from the south in 2018, with the Mangere Mountain scoria cone to the upper right. Rangitoto is in the distance.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
Mangere Lagoon is a tuff ring that formed during a phreatomagmatic eruption in the Auckland Volcanic field. The activity has been linked to the Mangere scoria cone behind it (immediately to the upper left). Rangitoto is to the upper left of this 2018 view from the SW.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
Mangere Mountain is a monogenetic cone within the Auckland Volcanic Field with spatter and scoria components, and several craters with extensive lava flows. The Mangere Lagoon tuff ring is to the upper right in this 2018 view from the NE.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
Maungawhau or Mount Eden is seen here in 2018 with the Auckland city center in the background. It is a scoria cone with a 50-m-deep crater and surrounding lava flows, and is one of around 50 vents within the Auckland Volcanic Field.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
Ōhinerau or Mount Hobson is seen here from the west in 2018. The morphology has been extensively modified by pre-European Māori settlement that was later damaged by quarrying and reservoir construction.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
Mount Roskill or Pukewīwī / Puketāpapa is one of around 53 volcanic centers in the Auckland Volcanic field, seen here in 2018 from the south. The scoria cone was a source of lava flows around 100 ka.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
Mount Victoria or Takarunga is a scoria cone with a horseshoe-shaped crater in the Auckland Volcanic Field, seen here in 2018 from the north with the Waitematā Harbour at the top of the photo.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
Mount Wellington or Maungarei is a scoria cone in the Auckland Volcanic Field with several summit craters that erupted around 10,000 years ago. This 2018 view from the NNW also shows the Panmure Basin or Te Kopua Kai-a-Hiku maar in the background.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
North Head or Maungauika is a scoria cone and tuff ring that formed in the Auckland Volcanic Field around 87 ka. This 2018 view from the east shows the Mount Victoria or Takarunga scoria cone to the upper right and the Auckland city center to the upper left.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
This 2018 photo from the SW shows the North Head or Maungauika scoria cone and Rangitoto in the background. Rangitoto is the largest volcanic feature in the Auckland Volcanic Field and unlike the other monogenetic centers, it formed over at least two eruptive episodes.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
The One Tree Hill or Maungakiekie scoria cone has several summit craters and formed extensive lava flows during one of the larger eruptions of the Auckland Volcanic Field. This 2018 view is looking towards the SE with the Auckland city center in the background.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
Pigeon Mountain or Ōhuiarangi is a scoria cone that has been modified by quarrying, seen in the triangular grassy area near the center of the photo. Rangitoto volcano is in the background of this 2018 photo showing part of the Auckland Volcanic Field.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
Pūkaki Lagoon or Te Pūkaki Tapu-o-Poutukeka is a maar crater within the Auckland Volcanic Field, seen here in 2018.

Photo by Bruce Hayward, 2018.
GVP Map Holdings

The maps shown below have been scanned from the GVP map archives and include the volcano on this page. Clicking on the small images will load the full 300 dpi map. Very small-scale maps (such as world maps) are not included. The maps database originated over 30 years ago, but was only recently updated and connected to our main database. We welcome users to tell us if they see incorrect information or other problems with the maps; please use the Contact GVP link at the bottom of the page to send us email.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Auckland Volcanic Field in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites