AUCKLAND VOLCANIC FIELD
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(Redirected from Auckland Volcanic Field)
The 'Auckland volcanic field' is a monogenetic volcanic field in the North Island of New Zealand. Basaltic in nature, it underlies much of the metropolitan area of Auckland. The field's many vents have produced a diverse array of explosion craters, scoria cones, and lava flows. Currently dormant, the field is likely to erupt again within the next "hundreds to thousands of years" (based on past events), a very short timeframe in geologic terms.[1]
The first vents erupted at the Domain, Albert Park and St Heliers between 60,000 and 140,000 years ago. 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 (about 600 years ago and within historical memory of the local MÄori iwis) was of Rangitoto, an island shield volcano just east of the city, erupting 2.3 cubic kilometres of lava only centuries ago. Each volcanic eruption has tended to be bigger than the previous, with Rangitoto making up almost 60% of the field's entire volume of erupted material. All of the volcanoes are relatively small, most being less than 150 meters in height.
The field has produced voluminous lava flows, which cover much of the Auckland isthmus. One of the longest runs from Three Kings northward, almost crossing the Waitemata Harbour to form Black Reef. More than 50 lava tubes and other lava caves have been discovered, including the 290 metre long Wiri Lava Cave.[2]
Several of the volcanic cones were occupied by substantial MÄori pa before European settlement, and many terraces and other archeological remnants are still visible. Many of the cones have been levelled or strongly altered - in small part due to the historical MÄori use, but mostly through relatively recent quarrying of construction materials (especially scoria). However several of the remaining volcanoes are now preserved as landmarks and parks.
In March 2007, New Zealand submitted the volcanic field, with several specifically named features, as a World Heritage Site candidate based on its unique combination of natural and cultural features.[3] At that time, only 2% of more than 800 World Heritage Sites worldwide were in this "mixed" category.
Since the field is not extinct, new volcanic events may occur at any time, though the usual period between events averages between hundreds and thousands of years. However, the effects of such an event, especially a full-scale eruption, would be substantial. With a warning period of possibly only a couple days, avoidance of loss of life is the immediate goal, but the effects of an eruption - ranging from lava bombs, ash falls, venting volcanic gas to lava flows - might continue for several months and cause substantial destruction and disruption. These might range from burial of substantial tracts of residential or commercial property to mid-to-long-term closures of major parts of the country's infrastructure, such as the Port of Auckland, the State Highway network or the Auckland International Airport.
Various operative structures, plans and systems have been set up to prepare responses to renewed volcanic activity within the urban areas, mainly coordinated in the 'Auckland Volcanic Field Contingency Plan' of the Auckland Regional Council, which provides a framework for interaction of civil defense and emergency services during an eruption. Auckland also has a net of Seismic Monitoring Network (with 5 main stations and 3 repeaters within the Auckland Region) that will pick up the small tremors likely preceding any such volcanic activity.
The volcanoes within the field include:
★ Albert Park
★ Ash Hill
★ Browns Island
★ Crater Hill
★ Duders Hill
★ Green Hill
★ Hampton Park
★ Hopua
★ Kohuora
★ Lake Pupuke
★ Little Rangitoto
★ Mangere Lagoon
★ Mangere Mountain
★ Manurewa
★ Matakarua
★ Maungataketake
★ McLennan Hills
★ Mount Albert
★ Mount Cambria
★ Mount Eden (''Mangawhau'')
★ Mount Hobson (''Remuwera'')
★ Mount Richmond
★ Mount Roskill
★ Mount Saint John
★ Mount Smart
★ Mount Victoria
★ Mount Wellington
★ North Head
★ One Tree Hill (''Maungakiekie'')
★ Onepoto
★ Orakei Basin
★ Otara Hill
★ Otuataua
★ Panmure Basin
★ Pigeon Mountain
★ Pukaki
★ Pukeiti
★ Pukekawa (Auckland Domain volcano)
★ Pukekiwiriki
★ Puketutu Island
★ Rangitoto
★ Robertson Hill
★ Saint Heliers
★ Styaks Swamp
★ Tank Farm (also known as 'Tuff Crater')
★ Taylor Hill
★ Te Pouhawaiki
★ Three Kings
★ Waitomokia
1. Contingency Plan for the Auckland Volcanic Field (from the Auckland Regional Council website)
2. ''Cave New World'' - David Lomas, ''Heritage New Zealand'', Winter 2006. Accessed 2007-05-04.
3. Auckland Volcanic Fields submission (from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2007-03-30. Accessed 2007-05-04)
★ ''Lava and Strata: A guide to the volcanoes and rock formations of Auckland'' - Homer, Lloyd Homer; Moore, Phil & Kermode, Les; Landscape Publications and the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, 2000. ISBN 0-908800-02-9.
★ ''Probabilistic assessment of future vent locations and eruption styles for the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand'' - Magill, Christina R; McAneney, K.J.; Proceedings of the International Association for Mathematical Geology 2003, Portsmouth, UK, September 7-12, 2003.
★ Volcanic risk ranking for Auckland, New Zealand. I: Methodology and hazard investigation - Magill, Christina R.; Blong, Russell; ''Bulletin of Volcanology'', Volume 67, Issue 4, Apr 2005, Pages 331 - 339, DOI 10.1007/s00445-004-0374-6, accessed 2006-07-14.
★ ''City of Volcanoes: A geology of Auckland'' - Searle, Ernest J.; revised by Mayhill, R.D.; Longman Paul, 1981. First published 1964. ISBN 0-582-71784-1.
★ ''Facies analysis of pyroclastic deposits within basaltic tuff-rings of the Auckland volcanic field, New Zealand (abstract)'' - Sharon R. Allen, Vivienne F. Bryner, Ian E. M. Smith, Peter F. Ballance, ''New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics'', 1996, Vol. 39: 309-327.
★ NZ Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Auckland Volcano page
★ Auckland Regional Council - The Volcanoes of Auckland
★
★ University of Auckland's Geology of Auckland page (with interactive maps, requiring Apple QuickTime).
A 1859 German map of the field.
The 'Auckland volcanic field' is a monogenetic volcanic field in the North Island of New Zealand. Basaltic in nature, it underlies much of the metropolitan area of Auckland. The field's many vents have produced a diverse array of explosion craters, scoria cones, and lava flows. Currently dormant, the field is likely to erupt again within the next "hundreds to thousands of years" (based on past events), a very short timeframe in geologic terms.[1]
| Contents |
| Volcanic features |
| Volcanoes |
| Lava flows |
| Human context |
| Usage |
| Dangers |
| List of volcanoes |
| References |
| External links |
Volcanic features
Volcanoes
The first vents erupted at the Domain, Albert Park and St Heliers between 60,000 and 140,000 years ago. 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 (about 600 years ago and within historical memory of the local MÄori iwis) was of Rangitoto, an island shield volcano just east of the city, erupting 2.3 cubic kilometres of lava only centuries ago. Each volcanic eruption has tended to be bigger than the previous, with Rangitoto making up almost 60% of the field's entire volume of erupted material. All of the volcanoes are relatively small, most being less than 150 meters in height.
Lava flows
The field has produced voluminous lava flows, which cover much of the Auckland isthmus. One of the longest runs from Three Kings northward, almost crossing the Waitemata Harbour to form Black Reef. More than 50 lava tubes and other lava caves have been discovered, including the 290 metre long Wiri Lava Cave.[2]
Human context
Usage
Several of the volcanic cones were occupied by substantial MÄori pa before European settlement, and many terraces and other archeological remnants are still visible. Many of the cones have been levelled or strongly altered - in small part due to the historical MÄori use, but mostly through relatively recent quarrying of construction materials (especially scoria). However several of the remaining volcanoes are now preserved as landmarks and parks.
In March 2007, New Zealand submitted the volcanic field, with several specifically named features, as a World Heritage Site candidate based on its unique combination of natural and cultural features.[3] At that time, only 2% of more than 800 World Heritage Sites worldwide were in this "mixed" category.
Dangers
Since the field is not extinct, new volcanic events may occur at any time, though the usual period between events averages between hundreds and thousands of years. However, the effects of such an event, especially a full-scale eruption, would be substantial. With a warning period of possibly only a couple days, avoidance of loss of life is the immediate goal, but the effects of an eruption - ranging from lava bombs, ash falls, venting volcanic gas to lava flows - might continue for several months and cause substantial destruction and disruption. These might range from burial of substantial tracts of residential or commercial property to mid-to-long-term closures of major parts of the country's infrastructure, such as the Port of Auckland, the State Highway network or the Auckland International Airport.
Various operative structures, plans and systems have been set up to prepare responses to renewed volcanic activity within the urban areas, mainly coordinated in the 'Auckland Volcanic Field Contingency Plan' of the Auckland Regional Council, which provides a framework for interaction of civil defense and emergency services during an eruption. Auckland also has a net of Seismic Monitoring Network (with 5 main stations and 3 repeaters within the Auckland Region) that will pick up the small tremors likely preceding any such volcanic activity.
List of volcanoes
Mount Eden's crater.
The volcanoes within the field include:
★ Albert Park
★ Ash Hill
★ Browns Island
★ Crater Hill
★ Duders Hill
★ Green Hill
★ Hampton Park
★ Hopua
★ Kohuora
★ Lake Pupuke
★ Little Rangitoto
★ Mangere Lagoon
★ Mangere Mountain
★ Manurewa
★ Matakarua
★ Maungataketake
★ McLennan Hills
One Tree Hill with its obelisk.
★ Mount Albert
★ Mount Cambria
★ Mount Eden (''Mangawhau'')
★ Mount Hobson (''Remuwera'')
★ Mount Richmond
★ Mount Roskill
★ Mount Saint John
★ Mount Smart
★ Mount Victoria
★ Mount Wellington
★ North Head
★ One Tree Hill (''Maungakiekie'')
★ Onepoto
★ Orakei Basin
★ Otara Hill
★ Otuataua
★ Panmure Basin
★ Pigeon Mountain
★ Pukaki
★ Pukeiti
Rangitoto Island on the horizon.
★ Pukekawa (Auckland Domain volcano)
★ Pukekiwiriki
★ Puketutu Island
★ Rangitoto
★ Robertson Hill
★ Saint Heliers
★ Styaks Swamp
★ Tank Farm (also known as 'Tuff Crater')
★ Taylor Hill
★ Te Pouhawaiki
★ Three Kings
★ Waitomokia
References
1. Contingency Plan for the Auckland Volcanic Field (from the Auckland Regional Council website)
2. ''Cave New World'' - David Lomas, ''Heritage New Zealand'', Winter 2006. Accessed 2007-05-04.
3. Auckland Volcanic Fields submission (from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2007-03-30. Accessed 2007-05-04)
★ ''Lava and Strata: A guide to the volcanoes and rock formations of Auckland'' - Homer, Lloyd Homer; Moore, Phil & Kermode, Les; Landscape Publications and the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, 2000. ISBN 0-908800-02-9.
★ ''Probabilistic assessment of future vent locations and eruption styles for the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand'' - Magill, Christina R; McAneney, K.J.; Proceedings of the International Association for Mathematical Geology 2003, Portsmouth, UK, September 7-12, 2003.
★ Volcanic risk ranking for Auckland, New Zealand. I: Methodology and hazard investigation - Magill, Christina R.; Blong, Russell; ''Bulletin of Volcanology'', Volume 67, Issue 4, Apr 2005, Pages 331 - 339, DOI 10.1007/s00445-004-0374-6, accessed 2006-07-14.
★ ''City of Volcanoes: A geology of Auckland'' - Searle, Ernest J.; revised by Mayhill, R.D.; Longman Paul, 1981. First published 1964. ISBN 0-582-71784-1.
★ ''Facies analysis of pyroclastic deposits within basaltic tuff-rings of the Auckland volcanic field, New Zealand (abstract)'' - Sharon R. Allen, Vivienne F. Bryner, Ian E. M. Smith, Peter F. Ballance, ''New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics'', 1996, Vol. 39: 309-327.
External links
★ NZ Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Auckland Volcano page
★ Auckland Regional Council - The Volcanoes of Auckland
★
★ University of Auckland's Geology of Auckland page (with interactive maps, requiring Apple QuickTime).
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