More Than 40 New Volcanoes Discovered Near NZ

More Than 40 New Volcanoes Discovered Near NZ

Since 1990, about 40 new undersea volcanoes have been discovered not far from New Zealand in the so-called Kermadec Arc, part of the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’. More than a dozen of them are larger than Mt Tongariro.

The plate tectonic system they’re part of is what makes New Zealand regularly shake with earthquakes, such as the recent one in Te Anau.

Waikato University is offering a chance for the public to hear all about these submarine volcanoes in the Kermadec Arc which lies to the North-East of the Coromandel region.

Dr Ian Wright, from the ocean geology group at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, will give a talk on the subject during the annual Hochstetter Lecture, the most prestigious address in the Geological Society of New Zealand’s annual calendar.

The public lecture will be held in room MSB1.05 in the Waikato Management School building at 7.30pm on Monday 15 September, and all are welcome to attend.

Adam Vonk, a PhD student in Waikato University’s Department of Earth Sciences, says: “The lecture will give people a good understanding of why there is so much volcanic and earthquake activity in our part of the world.

“As the recent big shake in Te Anau shows, the plate tectonic system and volcanoes close to New Zealand are a very real issue for all of us.”

An additional public lecture by Dr Wright will be given in the Department of Earth Sciences, at the School of Science and Technology, at 2.00pm in room F2.11 on Monday 15 September. This talk will highlight some of the advances in marine sea-floor imaging technology that has enabled these volcanoes to be discovered.

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