Auckland Field

Rangitoto shield volcano, the youngest volcanic center of New Zealand's Auckland volcanic field, forms a 5.5-km-wide island. The volcano, seen here from the NW, erupted about 600 years ago and is capped by a scoria cone containing a deep crater. The 140 sq km Auckland volcanic field contains more than 50 maars, tuff rings, and scoria cones. Of the 19 eruptions known to have occurred during the past 20,000 years, only Rangitoto has erupted during the Holocene.