The Auckland Volcanic Field is made up of 53 volcanic centres scattered across New Zealand's largest city.

The Auckland Volcanic Field is an area of about 360 km2 centred on Auckland city; within this field over 53 volcanic centres are recognised. During the 193,000 years of their history, Auckland’s volcanoes have totally changed the Auckland landscape. Volcanoes in Auckland include small cones less than 150 m in height and explosion craters. The style of volcanic activity in Auckland means each eruption has occurred at a new location; the eruptive centres feed from a potential zone of partial melt about 70-90 km below the city. Many of the volcanoes today have been quarried or become public parks. Auckland’s existing volcanoes are unlikely to become active again, but the Auckland Volcanic Field itself is young and still active. An eruption in the Auckland Volcanic Field is a low probability event on human timescales but would have high consequences.

Most Recent Eruption

When

around 600 years ago

Where

Rangitoto

Effects

Of all Auckland’s eruptions, Rangitoto was the only one witnessed by people. The eruption would have been extremely violent, as the lava came into contact with sea water. Of note, Rangitoto alone produced a volume of lava equal to that erupted by the rest of the volcanoes in the volcanic field.