The recently active basaltic Kaikohe-Bay of Islands volcanic field in the

Northland region Northland (), officially the Northland Region, is the northernmost of New Zealand's 16 regions of New Zealand, local government regions. New Zealanders sometimes refer to it as the Winterless North because of its mild climate all throughout t ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

is associated geographically with an older region of extinct volcanism to its north the Wairakau Volcanic Centre, meaning eruptions in this region have occurred over the last 20 million years. All the cones older than 2 million years have eroded away, leaving plateaus from

Ōkaihau Ōkaihau is a small town in the Northland Region of New Zealand's North Island, just north of Kaikohe. New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1 passes through Ōkaihau making it fairly busy. Ōkaihau has a primary school (Ōkaihau Primary ...

Kerikeri Kerikeri () is a town in the Bay of Islands, in the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the head of Kerikeri Inlet, a northwestern arm of the Bay of Islands, where fresh water of the Kerikeri River enters the Paci ...

and north to

Whangaroa Whangaroa, also known as Whangaroa Village to distinguish it from the larger area of the former Whangaroa County, is a settlement on Whangaroa Harbour in the Far North District of New Zealand. It is 8 km north-west of Kaeo and 35 km ...

from the old

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

es of the Wairakau Volcanic Centre and the ten million year old or more recent volcanoes in field towards the south. In the southern part of the field, around 12 small basaltic scoria cones, and a

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture (geology), texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained matri ...

dome erupted in the last 500,000 years around

Kaikohe Kaikohe is the seat of the Far North District of New Zealand, situated on State Highway 12 about from Auckland, and about from Whangārei. It is the largest inland town and highest community above sea level in the Northland Region. With a pop ...

. The field is considered dormant, rather than extinct.

Tectonics

The field is part of the eastern Northland volcanic belt which extends south to the Whangārei volcanic field near

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the largest settlement of the Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, created in 1989 from the former Whangarei City, Whangarei County and Hikurangi Town councils to admi ...

and the south east volcanics of the Taurikura volcanic complex as found in the Hen of the

Hen and Chicken Islands The Hen and Chicken Islands, usually known as the Hen and Chickens, lie to the east of the North Auckland Peninsula off the coast of northern New Zealand. They lie east of Bream Head and south-east of Whangārei with a total area of . H ...

. In the north this belt extends towards the Three Kings Ridge. As such, a large number and types of volcanics are adjacent. It is arc related to the continent-backarc transform Vening Meimesz fault zone to the east of the present Northland land mass which is the eastern boundary of the

Northland Allochthon New Zealand's Northland Region is built upon a Basement (geology), basement consisting mainly of greywacke rocks, which are exposed on the eastern side of the peninsula. In-place Eocene coal measures crop out at Kamo, near Whangārei, and Oligoc ...

Zealandia Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori language, Māori) or Tasmantis (from Tasman Sea), is an almost entirely submerged continent, submerged mass of continental crust in Oceania that subsided after breaking away from Gondwana 83� ...

List of volcanoes

The volcanoes in the southern part of the field include: * Kaikohe Hill * Maungaturoto *

Pouerua Pouerua is a high basaltic scoria cone, in the Kaikohe-Bay of Islands volcanic field in New Zealand. It is in the locality of Pakaraka and was the site of a pā that was studied during a major archeological project in the 1980s. Pouerua is reg ...

* Putahi * Tarahi * Tauanui * Te Ahuahu *

Te Puke Te Puke ( ) is a town located southeast of Tauranga in the Western Bay of Plenty of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for the cultivation of kiwifruit. Te Puke is close to Tauranga and Maketu, which are both coastal towns/cities, a ...

– last erupted 1300 to 1800 years ago

References

{{Authority control Volcanism of New Zealand Far North District Landforms of the Northland Region Bay of Islands Volcanoes of the Northland Region