Big King scoria cone

Originally named Three Kings Volcano by surveyor Felton Mathew because he could only see three scoria cones from the top of Mt Eden. There were however five large scoria cones and many smaller ones inside the 1 km diameter Three Kings explosion crater and tuff (layered ash) ring. The crest of the tuff ring can be viewed from the top of Big King, running clockwise approximately along the line of Landscape Rd, St Andrews Ave, Mt Albert Rd, Simmonds Ave and Scout Ave. The tuff ring in the vicinity of Duke St is not present because it was breached here by lava which flowed down the valleys to the NW as far as Western Springs.
Three Kings Volcano began with large explosive eruptions of ash and base surges that built the tuff ring around it. As the groundwater was used up in these wet eruptions the style switched to fountaining of frothy lava which built the scoria cones above a number of smaller vents inside the crater. Then molten lava was exuded out into the explosion crater creating a crater lava lake which cooled and solidified creating the flat ground to the south and east of the scoria cones and now underlying parts of the Three Kings shopping mall, Smallfield Ave, Graham Breed Drive, Three Kings School, Mt Eden Rd, Kingsway and Queensway.
Big King Reserve was donated to the nation as a reserve by the Wesleyan Native School in 1927. A plaque about the school can be found in McCulloch Avenue.

On your way up to the summit of Big King you will see some terraces and pits. How and when were these made?
Why is there a water reservoir on the top of Big King? Do you think this had anything to do with Big King not being quarried away?
See if you can trace the extent of the tuff ring crest around the perimeter of the Three Kings crater when viewing from the summit of Big King.