Mt Eden

The Auckland volcanic field is comprised of monogenetic volcanoes. This means it is unlikely that Mt Eden or any of the existing volcanoes will erupt again. The next eruption will probably occur in a new location. Mount Eden is a complicated scoria cone structure with 3 main craters in a row, giving an oval shape. Basaltic lava flowed in all directions to cover an area of 5.6 square kilometres.

Use and value

In 1840 the cone was one of 3 boundary points marking the original land purchase for Auckland: it was named Mt Eden after George Eden (Lord Auckland). Some of Auckland's older buildings and most of the basalt kerb stones that line the city streets were constructed using dressed stone quarried from lava flows at Mt Eden. These quarries were operated for many years, but had closed down by 1928. The summit is used as a key lookout point. Mt Eden is a popular park and key stop on Auckland tourist routes. The cone complex is protected as both an archaeological and a geological feature in the Auckland City Isthmus District Plan.

Maori name: Maungawhau, 'Hill of the Whau Tree'.
Location: Auckland City, map reference NZMS 260: R11/677790.
Height: 196m.
Age: Formed 20,000-30,000 years ago.
Volume lava: 162 million cubic metres (equivalent to 32,400 Olympic sized swimming pools).

Maunga-whau

Mt Eden is one of Auckland's most famous landmarks. As the highest volcano on the Auckland isthmus it provides good views over the city and the Waitemata Harbour. Close to the centre of the city, Mt Eden is a constant reminder that Auckland is situated on a potentially active volcanic field.

Formation

The lava filled valleys and depressions and caused considerable landscape changes. Lava flowing towards Khyber Pass and Newmarket piled up to form a thick base to the mountain. This is today exposed in the quarries below Auckland Grammar School.

Occupation terraces (as shown opposite), storage pits and house sites are evidence of former Maori settlement. They have sculpted the natural form of the cones. Residential areas of the city now cover the extensive lower slopes of the volcano. The large crater is known as Te Ipu a Mataahou (the food bowl of Mataahou, the Maori god. Maungawhau was one of the most important centres of Maori occupation in Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland Isthmus). Maori lived there from the earliest times (about 800 years ago) up until the 1700s when the pa (fortification) was abandoned.

Groundwater soaks through Mt Eden's porous basaltic lava flows and resurfaces at Western Springs. The resulting lake was used as one of Auckland's earliest public water supplies between 1877 and 1910. Following water shortages in 1994 the groundwater supply was investigated as a potential emergency resource.

Key facts

Maori name: Maungawhau, 'Hill of the Whau Tree'.
Location: Auckland City, map reference NZMS 260: R11/677790.
Height: 196m.
Age: Formed 20,000-30,000 years ago.
Volume lava: 162 million cubic metres (equivalent to 32,400 Olympic sized swimming pools).