Dr Bruce Hayward – Volcanos of Auckland

Auckland is built over and out of a field of 53 young volcanoes, all of which have erupted just once within the last 200,000 years. They erupted in three styles, producing three types of volcanic rock and volcanic landforms. Many cones have been quarried away and craters filled in, but the remains of the majority can still be seen throughout our City of Volcanoes. The field is considered to be dormant and the source of the magma is monitored full time for any signs of the next eruption that will trigger evacuation of maybe 40% of the city. The last eruption was 600 years ago, and we have no way of predicting when the next will be.

Dr Bruce Hayward is a semi-retired geologist and marine ecologist. He has authored/co-authored 25 books on aspects of New Zealand’s fossils, geology, marine ecology, archaeology and history. Among his books are two on the Volcanoes of Auckland. He is a past President of the Geological Society of New Zealand and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. He was made a Companion of the NZ Order of Merit for services to Geology and Micropaleontology, in the 2026 New Year’s Honours.