page_title: Geology of New Zealand
section_title: Extinct volcanoes
hierarchical_section_title: Geology of New Zealand / Volcanic activity / Extinct volcanoes
caption_attribution_description: English: Underwater volcanic eruptions near Oamaru
context_page_description: The geology of New Zealand is noted for its volcanic activity, earthquakes and geothermal areas because of its position on the boundary of the Australian Plate and Pacific Plates. New Zealand is part of Zealandia, a microcontinent nearly half the size of Australia that broke away from the Gondwanan supercontinent about 83 million years ago. New Zealand's early separation from other landmasses and subsequent evolution have created a unique fossil record and modern ecology.
  New Zealand's geology can be simplified into three phases. First the basement rocks of New Zealand formed. These rocks were once part of the super-continent of Gondwana, along with South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, Antarctica and Australia. The rocks that now form the, mostly submerged, continent of Zealandia were then nestled between Eastern Australia and Western Antarctica. Secondly New Zealand drifted away from Gondwana and many sedimentary basins formed, which later became the sedimentary rocks covering the geological basement. The final phase is represented by the uplift of the Southern Alps and the eruptions of the Taupo Volcanic Zone.
context_section_description: The South Island has no currently active volcanoes.  However, in the late Cretaceous (100–65 Ma), there was widespread volcanic activity in Marlborough, West Coast, Canterbury and Otago; and in Eocene times (40 Ma), there was volcanic activity in Oamaru.  The most well known Miocene volcanic centres are the intra-plate Dunedin Volcano and Banks Peninsulas. The Dunedin Volcano which later eroded to form Otago Peninsula near Dunedin was built up by a series of mainly basaltic intra-plate volcanic eruptions in Miocene times (16–10 Ma). Banks Peninsula near Christchurch was built from two mainly basaltic intra-plate volcanoes in Miocene times (12–6 Ma and 9.5–7.5 Ma), corresponding to the Lyttelton and Akaroa Harbours. Southland's Solander Islands were active around 1 to 2 million years ago. There are also minor volcanic from a similar time period throughout Canterbury, Otago and also on the Chatham Islands.
  Intra-plate basaltic volcanic eruptions also occurred in the North Island, near the Bay of Islands in Northland, in the Late Miocene (10 Mya), and again more recently (0.5 Mya).  The South Auckland volcanic field was active in Pleistocene times (1.5–0.5 Ma).  The Auckland volcanic field started erupting around 250,000 years ago. It includes around 50 distinct eruptions, with most of the prominent cones formed in the last 30,000 years, and the most recent eruption, which formed Rangitoto Island, around 600 years ago. The field is currently dormant and further eruptions are expected. Over time the volcanic field has slowly been drifting northwards.
  Volcanism in the North Island has been dominated by a series of volcanic arcs which have evolved into the still active Taupo Volcanic Zone. Over time, volcanic activity has moved south and east, as the plate boundary moved eastward. This started in Miocene times (23 Ma) when a volcanic arc became active to the west of Northland, and gradually moved South down to New Plymouth, where Taranaki is still active. It produced mainly andesitic strato-volcanoes. The Northland volcanoes include the volcanoes that produced the Waipoua Plateau (site of the Waipoua Forest) and the Kaipara Volcano. The Waitakere Volcano (22–16 Ma) has mainly been eroded, but conglomerate from the volcano forms the Waitākere Ranges, and produced most of the material that makes up the Waitemata sandstones and mudstones. Lahars produced the coarser Parnell Grit. Notable visible volcanoes in the Waikato include Karioi and Pirongia (2.5 Ma). The volcanoes off the West coast of the North Island, together with Taranaki and the Tongariro Volcanic Centre, are responsible for the black iron sand on many of the beaches between Taranaki and Auckland.
  Shortly after (18 Ma), a volcanic arc developed further east to create the Coromandel Ranges and undersea Colville Ridge.  The initial activity was andesitic but later became rhyolitic (12 Ma).  In the Kauaeranga Valley, volcanic plugs remain, as does a lava lake that now forms the top of Table Mountain.  Active geothermal systems, similar to those that now exist near Rotorua, were present around 6 Ma, and produced the gold and silver deposits that were later mined in the Coromandel gold rush.  Later (5–2 Ma), volcanic activity moved further south to form the Kaimai Range.
caption: Ancient underwater volcanic eruptions (pillow lava) near Oamaru.
exif: {"Image Make": "Panasonic", "Image Model": "DMC-TZ10", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Ver.1.1", "Image DateTime": "2011:03:19 05:26:10", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "642", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 14, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Image Tag 0xC6D2": "[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ... ]", "Image Tag 0xC6D3": "[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "11764", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9737", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/30", "EXIF FNumber": "33/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:03:19 05:26:10", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:03:19 05:26:10", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "86/25", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "41/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2560", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1920", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "11240", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0/0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "25", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}