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

Northland Region The Northland Region ( mi, Te Tai Tokerau) is the northernmost of New Zealand's 16 local government regions. New Zealanders sometimes refer to it as the Winterless North because of its mild climate all throughout the year. The main population ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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. State Highway 1 passes through Ōkaihau making it fairly busy. Ōkaihau has a primary school (Ōkaihau Primary School) and a secondary scho ...

to Kerikeri and north to

Whangaroa Whangaroa 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 north-west of Kerikeri. The harbour is almost landlocked and is popular both as a fishing spot in its o ...

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 predomi ...

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 conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

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 A cinder cone (or scoria cone) is a steep conical hill of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic clinkers, volcanic ash, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions ...

, and a

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

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 260 km from Auckland. It is the largest inland town and highest community above sea level in the Northland Region. With a population of over ...

. 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 Whangarei 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 collectively 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 Whangarei with a total ...

. 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 in

Zealandia Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori) or Tasmantis, is an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust that subsided after breaking away from Gondwanaland 83–79 million years ago.Gurnis, M., Hall, C.E., and Lavier, L.L., ...

List of volcanoes

The volcanoes in the southern part of the field include: *

Kaikohe Hill Kaikohe Hill (also Tokareireia) is a 282 m high basaltic scoria cone in the Kaikohe-Bay of Islands volcanic field in New Zealand. It is on the western edge of the town of Kaikohe Kaikohe is the seat of the Far North District of New Zealand, ...

Maungaturoto Maungaturoto is a small town in the Northland Region of New Zealand. The township is located close to the Otamatea River, an estuarial arm of the Kaipara Harbour 25 kilometres north of Wellsford and 45 kilometres south of Whangārei. The New ...

Pouerua Pouerua is a 270 m 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 i ...

Putahi Putahi is a 381 m high rhyolite dome, in the Kaikohe-Bay of Islands volcanic field in New Zealand. To the north of Putahi is Lake Ōmāpere. To its north east are the volcanoes of Tarahi and Te Ahuahu. It was the site of the first, successfu ...

* Tarahi * Tauanui *

Te Ahuahu Te Ahuahu is a 373 m high basaltic scoria cone, in the Kaikohe-Bay of Islands volcanic field in New Zealand. It was the site of Hone Heke's pā that was the scene of the Battle of Te Ahuahu during the Flagstaff War The Flagstaff War, als ...

Te Puke Te Puke is a town located 18 kilometres 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, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa, and Maketu, whi ...

– last erupted 1300 to 1800 years ago

References

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