No latest activity reported for Okataina.

Below is a summary of eruption dates and Volcanic Explosivity Indices (VEI).

The following references are the sources used for data regarding this volcano. References are linked directly to our volcano data file. Discussion of another volcano or eruption (sometimes far from the one that is the subject of the manuscript) may produce a citation that is not at all apparent from the title. Additional discussion of data sources can be found under Volcano Data Criteria.

Alloway B V, Pillans B J, Carter L, Naish T R, Westgate J A, 2005. Onshore-offshore correlation of Pleistocene rhyolitic eruptions from New Zealand: implications for TVZ eruptive history and paleoenvironmental construction. {Quat Sci Rev}, 24: 1601-1622

Darragh M, Cole J, Nairn I, Shane P, 2006. Pyroclastic stratigraphy and eruption dynamics of the 21.9 ka Okareka and 17.6 ka Rerewhakaaitu eruption episodes from Tarawera Volcano, Okataina Volcanic Centre, New Zealand. {New Zeal J Geol Geophys}, 49: 309-328

Houghton B F, Wilson C J N, Del Carlo P, Coltelli M, Sable J E, Carey R, 2004. The influence of conduit processes on changes in style of basaltic Plinian eruptions: Tarawera 1886 and Etna 122 BC. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 137: 1-14

Houghton B F, Wilson C J N, McWilliams M O, Lanphere M A, Weaver S D, Briggs R M, Pringle M S, 1995. Chronology and dynamics of a large silicic magmatic system: Central Taupo Volcano Zone, New Zealand. {Geology}, 23: 13-16

IAVCEI, 1973-80. Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. {IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome: Internatl Assoc Volc Chemistry Earth's Interior}.

Jurado-Chichay Z, Walker G P L, 2000. Stratigraphy and dispersal of the Mangaone Subgroup pyroclastic deposits, Okataina volcanic centre, New Zealand. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 104: 319-383

Jurado-Chichay Z, Walker G P L, 2001. The intensity and magnitude of the Mangaone subgroup plinian eruptions from Okataina volcanic centre, New Zealand. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 111: 219-237

Leonard G S, Cole J W, Nairn I A, Self S, 2002. Basalt triggering of the c. AD 1305 Kaharoa rhyolite eruption, Tarawera volcanic complex, New Zealand. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 115: 461-486

Macpherson C G, Chiang K K, Hall R, Nowell G M, Castillo P R, Thirlwall M F, 2010. Plio-Pleistocene intra-plate magmatism from the southern Sulu Arc, Semporna peninsula, Sabah, Borneo: implications for high-Nb basalt in subduction zones. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 190: 25-38

Manning D A, 1996. Middle-late Pleistocene tephrostratigrapy of the eastern Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. {Quat Internatl}, 34-36: 3-12

Nairn I A, 1989. Mount Tarawera. {New Zeal Geol Surv}, 1:50,000 geol map sheet V16 AC and 55 p text

Nairn I A, 1991. Volcanic hazards at Okataina Volcanic Centre. {New Zeal Ministry Civil Defense, Volc Hazards Inf Ser}, 2: 1-29

Nairn I A, Cole J W, 1975. New Zealand. {Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields}, Rome: IAVCEI, 22: 1-156

Nairn I A, Hedenquist J W, Villamor P, Berryman K R, Shane P A, 2005. The ~AD1315 Tarawera and Waiotapu eruptions, New Zealand: contemporaneous rhyolite and hydrothermal eruptions driven by an arrested basalt dike system?. {Bull Volc}, 67: 186-193

Nairn I A, Self S, Cole J W, Leonard G S, Scutter C, 2001. Distribution, stratigraphy, and history of proximal deposits from the C. AD 1305 Kaharoa eruptive episode at Tarawera volcano, New Zealand. {New Zeal J Geol Geophys}, 44: 467-484

Nairn I A, Shane P R, Cole J W, Leonard G J, Self S, Pearson N, 2004. Rhyolite magma processes of the ~ AD 1315 Kaharoa eruption episode, Tarawera volcano, New Zealand. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 131: 265-294

Sable J E, Houghton B F, Wilson C J N, Carey R J, 2006. Complex proximal sedimentation from Plinian plumes: the example of Tarawera 1886. {Bull Volc}, 69: 89-103

Shane P, Hoverd J, 2002. Distal record of multi-sourced tephra in Onepoto Basin, Auckland, New Zealand: implications for volcanic chronology, frequency and hazards. {Bull Volc}, 64: 441-454

Shane P, Martin S B, Smith V C, Beggs K F, Darragh M B, Cole J W, Nairn I A, 2007. Multiple rhyolite magmas and basalt injection in the 17.7 ka Rerewhakaaitu eruption episode from Tarawera volcanic complex, New Zealand. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 164: 1-26

Shane P, Smith V C, Nairn I A, 2005. High temperature rhyodacites of the 36 ka Hauparu pyroclastic eruption, Okataina volcanic centre, New Zealand: change in a silicic magmatic system following caldera collapse. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 147: 357-376

Smith V C, Shane P, Nairn I A, 2005. Trends in rhyolite geochemistry, mineralogy, and magma storage during the last 50 kyr at Okataina and Taupo volcanic centres, Taupo volcanic zone, New Zealand. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 148: 372-406

Smith V C, Shane P, Nairn I A, Williams C M, 2006. Geochemistry and magmatic properties of eruption episodes from Haroharo linear vent zone, Okataina Volcanic Centre, New Zealand during the last 10 kyr. {Bull Volc}, 69: 57-88

Spinks K D, Acocella V, Cole J W, Bassett K N, 2005. Structural control of volcanism and caldera development in the transtensional Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 144: 7-22

Spinks K D, Cole J W, Leonard G S, 2004. Caldera volcanism in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. {Geol Soc New Zeal, New Zeal Geophys Soc, 26th New Zeal Geotherm Workshop, 6th-9th Dec 2004, Great Lake Centre, Taupo}, Field Trip Guides, 7: 110-135

Vandemeulebrouck J, Hurst A W, Scott B J, 2008. The effects of hydrothermal eruptions and a tectonic earthquake on a cycling crater lake (Inferno Crater Lake, Waimangu, New Zealand). {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 178: 271-275

White J D L, Houghton B F, Hodgson K A, Wilson C J N, 1997. Delayed sedimentary response to the A.D. 1886 eruption of Tarawera, New Zealand. {Geology}, 25: 459-462

Wilson C J N, Gravley D M, Leonard G S, Rowland J V, 2009. Volcanism in the central Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand: tempo, styles and controls. {In}: Thordarson T, Self S, Larsen G, Rowland S K, Hoskuldsson A (eds), {Studies in Volcanology: The Legacy of George Walker}. Geol Soc London, p 225-247

Wilson C J N, Houghton B F, McWilliams M O, Lanphere M A, Weaver S D, Briggs R M, 1995a. Volcanic and structural evolution of Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand: a review. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 68: 1-28

Wilson C J N, Rogan A M, Smith I E M, Northey D J, Nairn I A, Houghton B F, 1984. Caldera volcanoes of the Taupo volcanic zone, New Zealand. {J Geophys Res}, 89: 8463-8484

The massive, dominantly rhyolitic Okataina Volcanic Centre is surrounded by extensive ignimbrite and pyroclastic sheets produced during multiple caldera-forming eruptions. Numerous lava domes and craters erupted from two subparallel NE-SW-trending vent lineations form the Haroharo and Tarawera volcanic complexes. Lava domes of the Haroharo complex, at the northern end of the Okataina Volcanic Centre, occupy part of the 16 x 26 km Pleistocene Haroharo caldera, which formed incrementally between 300,000 and 50,000 years before present (BP). The oldest exposed rocks on the caldera floor are about 22,000 years old. The Tarawera complex at the southern end of Okataina consists of 11 rhyolitic lava domes and associated lava flows. The oldest domes were formed as late as about 15,000 years BP, and the youngest were formed in the Kaharoa eruption about 800 years BP. The NE-SW Tarawera vent lineation extends from the two dacitic cones of Maungaongaonga and Mangakakaramea on the SW to Mount Edgecumbe on the NE. Construction of the Haroharo and Tarawera complexes impounded lakes Rotoiti, Totoehu, Okataina, and Tarawera against the outer margins of the Okataina ring structure. A major hydrothermal area is located at Waimangu; the world-renowned Pink and White Terrace siliceous sinter deposits were destroyed during the major basaltic explosive eruption of 1886.