Auckland Volcanic Field
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Auckland volcanic field is a monogenetic volcanic field on the North Island of New Zealand. Basaltic in nature, it underlies much of the metropolitan area of Auckland.
The field began its volcanic life cycle between 60000 and 140000 years ago, when the first vents erupted at the Domain, Albert Park and Saint Heliers. Since then, some 49 vents have erupted, though each eruptive vent has generally only had a geologically short period of activity. The most recent eruption was at Rangitoto, an island shield volcano just east of the city of Auckland, erupting 2.3 cubic kilometres of lava only centuries ago.
Several of the volcanic cones were occupied by substantial Māori pa before European settlement, and many terraces and other archeological remnants are still visible today.
Local councils have made submissions to the New Zealand government that the volcanic field's unique natural and cultural features justify its inclusion in New Zealand's tentative list of World Heritage Site candidates. (Only 23 of more than 700 World Heritage Sites worldwide are in this "mixed" category.)
[edit] Volcanoes
The volcanoes within the field include:
- Lake Pupuke
- Tank Farm
- Onepoto
- Mount Cambria
- Mount Victoria
- Duders Hill
- North Head
- Albert Park
- Auckland Domain
- Rangitoto
- Browns Island
- Saint Heliers
- Taylor Hill
- Orakei Basin
- Little Rangitoto
- Mount Albert
- Mount Roskill
- Three Kings
- Mount Eden
- Te Pouhawaiki
- Mount Saint John
- Mount Hobson
- One Tree Hill
- Hopua
- Mount Smart
- Mount Wellington
- Panmure Basin
- Pigeon Mountain
- McLennan Hills
- Mount Richmond
- Mangere Mountain
- Mangere Lagoon
- Puketutu Island
- Waitomokia
- Pukeiti
- Otuataua
- Maungataketake
- Robertson Hill
- Pukekiwiriki
- Styaks Swamp
- Green Hill
- Otara Hill
- Hampton Park
- Pukaki
- Crater Hill
- Kohuora
- Matakarua
- Manurewa
- Ash Hill
[edit] References
- Lloyd Homer, Phil Moore and Les Kermode. Lava and Strata: A guide to the volcanoes and rock formations of Auckland, Landscape Publications and the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, 2000. ISBN 0-908800-02-9.
- Christina R. Magill and K.J. McAneney. Probabilistic assessment of future vent locations and eruption styles for the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand, Proceedings of the International Association for Mathematical Geology 2003, Portsmouth, UK, September 7-12, 2003.
- Christina R. Magill and Russell Blong. Volcanic risk ranking for Auckland, New Zealand. I: Methodology and hazard investigation, Bulletin of Volcanology, Volume 67, Issue 4, Apr 2005, Pages 331 - 339, DOI 10.1007/s00445-004-0374-6, URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00445-004-0374-6 accessed 2006-07-14.
- Ernest J. Searle, revised by R.D. Mayhill. City of Volcanoes: A geology of Auckland, Longman Paul, 1981. First published 1964. ISBN 0-582-71784-1.
- Sharon R. Allen, Vivienne F. Bryner, Ian E. M. Smith, Peter F. Ballance. Facies analysis of pyroclastic deposits within basaltic tuff-rings of the Auckland volcanic field, New Zealand, New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics abstracts, New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 1996, Vol. 39: 309-327 0028-8306/96/3902-0309 $2.50/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand 1996.
[edit] External links
- NZ Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Auckland Volcano page
- Auckland Regional Council - The Volcanoes of Auckland
- NZ Herald opinion column on World Heritage listing
- Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program - Auckland Field
- Facies analysis of pyroclastic deposits within basaltic tuff-rings of the Auckland volcanic field
- University of Auckland's Geology of Auckland page (with interactive maps, requiring Apple QuickTime).
