Browns Island, Auckland

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Browns Island from the west.

Another view from the north.

Browns Island at the centre right of this aerial photo.

Browns Island, or Motukorea, is a small Hauraki Gulf island north of Musick Point and one of the best preserved volcanoes in the Auckland Volcanic Field. It erupted some 8,000 to 12,000 years ago, exhibiting a range of activity including ash, lava and scoria eruptions. Due to centuries of cultivation, little native bush remains except on the north-eastern cliffs, leaving the volcanic landforms easily visible. The island consists of several scoria cones, a small remnant of a tuff crater, and the higher portions of the lava flows. The area was dry land when the eruptions occurred, but much of the lava is now submerged at high tide.

The European name is after William Brown who, along with John Logan Campbell, was the first European settler in Auckland. The two settled on the island on 13 August 1840 and started a pig farm.^[1]

There are three pa sites on the island, with the largest occupying the slopes of the main scoria cone. The island's highest point is 68 metres above sea level.

Browns Island is part of the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park. It is not served by ferries, so private boats are the main means of access.

A mineral found here, motukoreaite, has been named after the island.

[edit] References

Linda Bercusson. The Hauraki Gulf: From Bream Head to Cape Colville", Shoal Bay Press, 1999. ISBN 1-877251-01-1
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. (pages 28-29)