Plate tectonics, volcanoes and earthquakes
The Earth rumbles and a hiss of steam issues from the top of Mt Ruapehu. Are these two events related? Is the earthquake caused by the volcano? Or is the steam caused by the earthquake?
Volcano map of New Zealand
There are many different types of volcanoes around New Zealand. This interactive map shows where the major volcanoes are, the types of volcanoes and various facts such as when they last erupted. Select a label to find out more.
Tectonic plates
When Alfred Wegener first proposed the idea of continental drift (the precursor idea to plate tectonic theory), it didn’t quite explain the full story. While he correctly showed that Africa and South America fitted together, his model wasn’t able to explain the violent forces that occur around the Earth’s crust.
Plate tectonics
Professor Richard Price describes the theory of plate tectonics. He talks about the history of the ideas that make up the theory and describes how these ideas relate to volcanology.
It wasn’t until the 1960s that a full explanation began to develop – the theory of plate tectonics. This theory explained many pieces of the puzzle that scientists had observed, for example, continental fit, matching geology, past glaciation, movements of the ocean floor and the location of fossils of ancient animals and plants.
Scientists now believe that the crust of the Earth consists of rigid interconnecting plates (6 major plates and a few smaller ones). Plates are thought to float on the partially molten mantle, moving away from oceanic ridges where new plate material is produced and moving past each other or colliding along plate boundaries. Earthquakes and volcanoes are related to this movement.
Explore plate tectonics further.
Pieces in a puzzle
The Earth’s crust is made up of large tectonic plates that fit together like enormous puzzle pieces.
Colliding plates
Where plates come into contact, energy is released. Plates sliding past each other cause friction and heat. Subducting plates melt into the mantle, and diverging plates create new crust material.
Subducting plates, where one tectonic plate is being driven under another, are associated with volcanoes and earthquakes. This activity is focused along the edge of the plate boundary where two plates come into contact, forming regions such as the Pacific Ring of Fire – a chain of earthquake and volcanic activity around the edge of the Pacific Ocean – which generates 75% of the world’s volcanoes and 80% of the world’s earthquakes.
Diverging plates
When plates move away from each other, the space between them gets filled with material, which rises to the surface, cools and forms mid-oceanic ridges. The Pacific Ocean is growing wider by about 18 cm per year as the plates diverge and the mid-oceanic ridge is built up.
Subducting plates and volcanoes
Plate material that is produced along the ocean floor is generally quite dense and relatively heavy. Continental plates don’t tend to get subducted. When oceanic plate is pushed from the mid-ocean ridge towards a plate boundary with a continental plate, it tends to subduct or dive below the continental crust. In this process, water is also being subducted with the oceanic plate. Friction increases the heat along such boundaries, which causes this material to melt and mix the oceanic plate material, the continental plate material and the water.
Andesite volcanoes tend to form at these subduction boundaries. This may have something to do with differences in plate densities and the release of gases, such as water vapour. As more heat is being produced through the subduction process, the mix of more and less volatile ingredients causes changes in density and pressure, which are linked to volcanic activity.
New models for volcanoes
Professor Richard Price describes how New Zealand scientists are rewriting the textbooks on how volcanoes are understood. Studying andesite volcanoes, they have discovered that all volcanoes may not form the same way.
Volcanoes and earthquakes
Volcanoes and earthquakes are often found in the same place, but are they related? Does one trigger the other? The answer seems to be yes – but not always. They are sometimes linked but are often independent events.
When a volcano erupts, the pressure of the rising magma forcing its way through the crust to the surface will often trigger earthquake activity. Scientists have been able to demonstrate this link and also know what type of earthquake to look for.
Conversely, an earthquake may trigger subsequent eruptions. As the crust changes and moves in a major earthquake, fissures or cracks can form that may act as pipelines for magma and future volcanoes. This is harder to monitor and test and is an area of active research.
Related content
Use the teaching resource Earthquakes New Zealand to learn about seven activities designed to help students develop an understanding about earthquakes in New Zealand, including why we get them and how we measure them.
There are many volcanoes in the Pacific, including the very large Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapa underwater one. Read about the devastating Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapa volcanic eruption in January 2022, the tsunami that followed, and what we might expect next? This article looks at what we’ve learnt a year later about this violent eruption and predicting future submarine volcanic eruptions.
Realistic contexts connect students to authentic scientific processes and purposes, it's all explained in:
Earthquakes is a collection supports the House of Science Earthquakes resource kit – but it is also useful for anyone exploring Rūaumoko, what's inside the Earth, plate tectonics, seismic waves and engineering designed to keep us safe.
