New Zealand Volcanoes

New Zealand lies at the south-west end of a vast 40,000 km belt surrounding the Pacific Ocean, known at the Ring of Fire. The majority of Earth’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur within this boundary and New Zealand is no exception.

The country is perched precariously at the ends of two plates with the Pacific plate being subducted below the Australian Plate. This process enables the rise of magma to the surface and is the making of many of New Zealand’s volcanoes.

Three main types of volcanoes exist including volcanic fields (Auckland being the best example), stratovolcanoes (Ruapehu and Taranaki) and caldera volcanoes (Taupo, being the most violent). Many of the country’s volcanoes are millions of years old and long extinct, however some are frequently active or remain dormant.