Why are there so many volcano's in New Zealand?

Answer 1

New Zealand lies across two tectonic plates, the Pacific and the Indo-Australian. This is a convergent boundary, where the Pacific Plate dives under the I-A one. As the ocean floor descends into the earth, it heats up and is melted. The molten portions sometimes force their way to the surface as a volcano. [Ignoring Fiordland for the moment]

In addition to the volcanoes on the main islands, there are a couple of active volcanoes, just offshore, White Island and Mayor Island.

In New Zealand's wider territories, are included Raoul Island, a quite active volcano, and in the Ross Dependency in the Antarctic is Antarctica's only active volcano, Mt Erebus.

In the North Island are Ruapehu, Tongariro, Ngaruahoe, and Taranaki, all considered to be active, though Taranaki may be dormant. Time will tell.

The same subduction process are responsible for a number of hot springs and geothermal areas. Some of the geothermal areas have their steam used for electric power generation.

In the South island are a number of dormant, or more probably extinct, volcanoes.

Answer 2

New Zealand is part of the the Pacific "Rim of Fire", or "Ring of Fire" which, in simple terms, is characterised by movement of tectonic plates beneath the Earth's surface. One end of this region of high sesmic and volcanic activity begins at New Zealand, heading northwest to Indonesia (completely bypassing Australia) and then west to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, northeast along the Asian coastline, east to North America and then south along the western North American coastline. Volcanoes are the result of molten liquid pushing up from subterranean areas through to the Earth's surface, venting as volcanoes. It just so happens that the islands of New Zealand sit firmly on the active boundary of the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates. Roughly horse-shoe shaped, the Ring of Fire extends about 40,000km long, and volcanic and seismic activity can be generated anywhere along this rim.

Answer 3

New Zealand sits on the boundary of two tectonic plates which causes intense geological activity, leading to the formation of numerous volcanoes. The country's location on the Ring of Fire, a region prone to volcanic and seismic activity, is another factor contributing to its high number of volcanoes.