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Macauley Island

Macauley

Caldera · New Zealand · 238m

The submersible vessel Pisces V surfaces in the foreground after a dive in front of Macauley Island during a 2005 New Zealand-American NOAA Ocean Explorer research expedition to the Kermadec Arc. This view from the NW shows a prominent white band in the cliff face that is made of dacite pyroclastic flow deposits. The 3-km-wide Macauley Island is a remnant of the rim of a large submarine caldera centered 8 km to the NW and has a low, gently sloping surface truncated by steep cliffs.
The submersible vessel Pisces V surfaces in the foreground after a dive in front of Macauley Island during a 2005 New Zealand-American NOAA Ocean Explorer research expedition to the Kermadec Arc. This view from the NW shows a prominent white band in the cliff face that is made of dacite pyroclastic flow deposits. The 3-km-wide Macauley Island is a remnant of the rim of a large submarine caldera centered 8 km to the NW and has a low, gently sloping surface truncated by steep cliffs. · Photo: Image courtesy of NOAA, 2005 (http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/05fire). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Caldera
Country
New Zealand
Region
Tonga-Kermadec Volcanic Regions / Middle Kermadec Volcanic Arc
Elevation
238m
Coordinates
-30.210, -178.475
Last eruption
-4360
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Landform
Caldera
Major rock type
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Geological summary

Macauley Island is a rim remnant of a large submarine caldera centered 8 km to the NW. The 2-km-diameter island consists of a low, gently sloping surface of rhyolitic pumice from the caldera-forming eruption truncated by steep cliffs formed of underlying basaltic lava flows. The pre-caldera edifice consisted of two generations of shield volcanoes separated by a period of pyroclastic cone growth. Eruption of the voluminous Sandy Bay Tuff about 6,300 years ago truncated the NW side of the Annexation shield volcano and formed a 12-km-wide, 1.1-km deep caldera. Following formation of the caldera and substantial marine erosion, a partly submarine and partly subaerial eruption centered about 2 km N of present-day Macauley Island produced basaltic scoriae and lava flows. A reported possible eruption in 1825 from "Brimstone Island," 45 km W of Macauley at a location with a depth of about 2,000 m and SW of Giggenbach submarine volcano, is likely a location error and could refer to an eruption from the submarine flank of Macauley caldera (Lloyd et al., 1996).

From Wikipedia

Macauley Island is a volcanic island in New Zealand's Kermadec Islands, approximately halfway between North Island of New Zealand and Tonga, in the south-west Pacific Ocean. It is part of a larger submarine volcano that features a 10.5-by-7-kilometre wide underwater caldera northwest of Macauley Island. Two islets, Haszard Island and Newcome Rock, lie east offshore of Macauley Island. The island is mostly surrounded by high cliffs that make it difficult to access; the inland parts are mostly gently sloping terrain covered with ferns and grasses.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
4360 BCE~4152 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 61679~1887 · 2 eruptions · max VEI 04360 BCE2902 BCE1236 BCE2211679

Detailed timeline

  1. 1887VEI 0Geological estimate
    1887-12-01 – Ongoing
    22 km NNE of Macauley Island
  2. 1825VEI 0Geological estimate
    1825-09-06 – Ongoing
    "Brimstone Island," W of Macauley Island
  3. 4360 BCE (±200 yrs)VEI 6Geological estimate
    BCE 4360 – Ongoing

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.