DEtermining VOlcanic Risk in Auckland-DEVORA

29/10/2026

🎃 A solved mystery, just in time for spooky season! 🎃

DEVORA programme manager and researcher Dr Elaine Smid and DEVORA research assistants Thomas Stolberger, Annahlise Hall, and Meegan Soulsby teamed up with heritage experts to solve a mystery hiding in plain sight in Auckland Central.

Using geochemical detective work, the team traced the volcanic origins of Tāmaki Makaurau's historic 1881 Bluestone Wall to the likely volcano it was sourced from! 🔎

The ~1800 blocks in the Wall were painstakingly mapped and moved ~1 meter to the east during the City Rail Link construction, a massive engineering feat in and of itself. Heritage architect Jane Matthews of Matthews & Matthews Architects provided our team key information and several of the blocks for analysis.

Thanks to the foundation of decades of research on the Auckland Volcanic Field, built in part and consolidated by DEVORA, we had a comprehensive geochemical database to compare our new data to - and found a match to a Rangitoto quarry in DEVORA MSc Andrew Needham's 2009 thesis! Information from historian Lisa Truttman about which quarries were active at the time the Wall was built clinched our hypothesis.

This story is a wonderful example of how data collected decades ago can contribute to answering a new question today, and how different disciplines can come together to solve a puzzle.

Thanks go to the City Rail Link, DEVORA partners Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake and Auckland Council, the Learned Australasian Volcanological Association (LAVA) NZ, Timespanner, Dr Bruce Hayward, and UoA XRF technician Dr Harpreet Singh Kainth.

Read the full story here: 👇

Mystery solved: Rangitoto confirmed by researchers as source of rock for Auckland's Bluestone Wall when it was built 145 years ago.

23/10/2026

Volcanic ash isn't just a deposit, it's a geological clue 🌋🕵🏼‍♀️
Let's explore how with our Hidden Eruptions fact sheet

The Auckland region has a long history of volcanic eruptions. The region has experienced at least 53 eruptions from the Auckland Volcanic Field (AVF) in the past 200,000 years, and it has been covered by ash from central North Island volcanoes at least 300 times during that period. To determine exactly how often the Auckland region has been affected by eruptions, scientists study ash layers preserved in lake beds.

What can ash layers tell us? 🤔
By studying the pattern of ash layers in lake sediment cores, we can determine whether there was an increase in eruption frequency (ash layers close together) or a long time gap between eruptions (large gaps between ash layers). The colour of an ash layer also tells us whether the ash came from a larger, more distant volcano, such as Taupo (white ash layer) or from a smaller, local Auckland volcano, such as Maungarei / Mt. Wellington (black ash layer).

👉🏼 Ash fact!
The last time ash fell on Tāmaki Makaurau was when Ruapehu erupted in 1995. Ash shut down the airport, costing the city millions of dollars.

📖 🌋 To download Hidden Eruptions (and our other, just as great, fact sheets), visit our website https://www.devora.org.nz/.../facts-of-the-volcano-matter/

23/10/2026

Observations now confirm weak, ongoing eruption from Whakaari/White Island. Volcanic Alert Level raised to 3; Aviation Colour Code is raised to Orange. Read the full bulletin here: https://www.geonet.org.nz/vabs/3OXECxH2jkS4Z7ePrTNCnN.

09/10/2026

Kia ora koutou! We are starting a new series called 🌋

DEVORA has developed a range of fact sheets covering the Auckland Volcanic Field (AVF), potential volcanic hazards, and their impacts. Featuring fun illustrations and informative content, they are great resources for classrooms, workplaces, and sharing with friends and whānau to build our knowledge about the AVF and improve preparedness for a future eruption.

Let's dive in and explore our most recent fact sheet 🔎
Eruption Impacts – How would an eruption in Tāmaki Makaurau impact the city?

A future eruption from the AVF could produce a mix of hazards, including ash, lava, base surges, ballistics, ground deformation, earthquakes, gases, secondary fires, and even volcanic lightning! The location of a future eruption is important because the type of eruption and the hazards it produces will depend on the environment (e.g., the presence of water and rock type) through which the magma erupts. If magma interacts with water, it can cause an explosive eruption that produces ballistic projectiles, widespread base surges, and potentially tsunamis. If magma rises through dry crust, it would generate a more 'gentle' eruption with fire-fountaining, scoria cone formation, and lava flows.

Each of these hazards has impacts that vary by location and intensity, but generally, the farther away it is from a vent, the less intense it will be. This means that during an AVF eruption, we could expect its impacts to be isolated to only a portion of the city. Despite the localised impacts of an eruption, economic modelling estimates that the cost of a future eruption could range from around NZ$1 billion in the least damaging scenario to over NZ$60 billion in the most damaging scenario. While scientists can't predict exactly when or where the next eruption will occur, we can model different scenarios to assess potential impacts and strengthen our preparedness.

📖 🌋 To download Eruption Impacts (and our other, just as great, fact sheets), visit our website https://www.devora.org.nz/communications-and-education/facts-of-the-volcano-matter/

01/10/2026

Thank you to everyone who came to see us at the Auckland Heritage Festival on Sunday! We had fun playing with our new additions - a microscope and a seismometer. Be sure to come see it at future events 🌋🔬

30/09/2026

20/09/2026

11/09/2026

From the field to emergency response!🌋

What would happen if volcanic unrest began in the Auckland Volcanic Field? This year’s postgraduate geohazards students got to find out!💡👀

Over two action-packed days, students from the School of Environment, The University of Auckland, took their learning beyond the classroom and into the Auckland Volcanic Field. Visiting several of Tāmaki Makaurau’s volcanic centres, they explored the challenges of assessing volcanic hazards and managing risk in one of the world’s few cities built across a potentially active volcanic field.

The field trip also provided an opportunity to learn more about the cultural significance and history of our maunga. A huge thank you to Mangere Mountain Education Centre for welcoming us to Te Pane o Mataaho / Māngere Mountain and sharing the stories and knowledge connected to one of the city’s most special and best-preserved volcanic centres. 🏔️

Then it was time to put that knowledge to the test! Back at the University the next day, students took on the roles of scientists, emergency managers and other key decision-makers in a simulated Auckland Volcanic Field unrest situation. As the scenario unfolded, they had to respond to new information, make difficult decisions, work together under pressure and coordinate an emergency response. 🧠🚨

After a fast-paced day filled with plenty of discussion, difficult decisions and a healthy dose of chaos, the students successfully navigated the scenario and evacuated the public to safety in time! 🤝

It was a fantastic two days of field-based learning, teamwork and critical thinking, giving students a glimpse into the complex challenges involved in preparing Auckland for its next volcanic event.

📸 Click through the photos below to see what the students got up to!

28/08/2026

Dr. Alutsyah Luthfian's ('Fian') PhD thesis titled "Shallow Crustal Structural Controls on Vent Location in the Auckland and Whangārei Volcanic Fields" is now available to read online 🎉

Fian's research, supervised by Dr. Jennifer Eccles (UoA) and Dr. Craig Miller (ESNZ), used geophysical methods to uncover valuable insights into these volcanic fields, helping to enhance Auckland's preparedness for future eruptions. Congratulations Fian 🌋🙌

Check it out: https://hdl.handle.net/2292/76299

📸: Fian carrying out his gravimetry fieldwork in Devonport.