Magma build-up near Auckland could lead to birth of new volcano
Formations found close to coastal New Zealand town, but eruption unlikely soon, scientists say
Scientists say they have discovered a magma build-up near a New Zealand town that explains a spate of recent earthquakes and could signal the beginnings of a new volcano – although they are not expecting an eruption anytime soon.
Geophysicist Ian Hamling said that since 1950, enough magma to fill 80,000 Olympic-size swimming pools has squeezed up beneath the surface near the coastal town of Matata, about 200km southeast of Auckland.
A paper published on Saturday in the online journal Science Advances outlines the findings. Hamling, the paper’s lead author, said that while other parts of New Zealand have active volcanoes, there have been none near Matata for at least 400,000 years.
“It was quite a big surprise,” he said.
Using GPS data and satellite images, the scientists say they discovered an area of land about 400 square kilometres has risen by 40 centimetres since 1950.
Hamling said a period of quick uplift between 2004 and 2011 likely triggered thousands of small earthquakes. Scientists had previously thought tectonic shifts caused the quakes.