Mt Roskill/Puketapapa

BY BRUCE HAYWARD (GEOLOGIST)
Accessibility: WHEELCHAIR ACCESS
Artificial concrete lava flow with columnar cooling joints alongside SW Motorway.at Mt Roskill.
A double scoria cone with lava flows to the north and northwest. One of Auckland's 53 volcanoes.
Mt Roskill/Puketapapa Volcano, 2009. Photo Bruce Hayward.
The cone was formed by fire-fountaining from two vents that produced an oval double cone. The lower northern cone and its crater is partly covered by the younger and larger southern cone and crater. Lava poured out from around the base of the cones and flowed north and west down shallow valleys to now underlie Stoddard Rd and parts of the SW Motorway nearly as far west as the Westmere tunnel mouth.
The main crater of the larger southern cone was excavated out and a large concrete reservoir buried in it in 1961-1962. The upper carpark is now located on top of the reservoir.
In 1928 George Winstone donated Mt Roskill to Mt Roskill Borough Council to become a Recreation Reserve.
Mt Roskill/Puketapapa Volcano, 2009. Photo Bruce Hayward.
Mt Roskill is the second most western volcano in Auckland - can you see and name the western-most?
On the crest of the larger cone are pits - how were they formed?
Can you see the terracing down the outer slopes what were they built for and by whom?
What were the cones made of - you can see some of this frothy rock in the cutting beside the access road up the cone.
Directions/Advisory

The main entrance is off Dominion Rd where you can drive in and up to the carpark on the top of the cone. Walking access is also available off Roseman Ave, at its end and between numbers 9 and 11.

Steep grassy slopes can be slippery when wet. Watch for cars in the carpark and access road.

Google Directions

Click here for Google driving directions

Accessibility: WHEELCHAIR

Drive to the top. Sealed cycle and walking path along the northern side beside the motorway.

Features
Volcanic Landform Matauranga Maori
Geological Age
Late Pleistocene, erupted about 100,000-110,000 years ago.
Zealandia Evolution Sequence
Pākihi Supergoup: 5 million years ago – present
Links
Hayward, B.W. 2019. Volcanoes of Auckland: A field guide. Auckland University Press: p.152-155. https://aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/volcanoes-of-auckland-a-field-guide/ See Hayward;B.W.;Murdoch;G.;Maitland;G.;2011. Volcanoes of Auckland: The Essential Guide. Auckland University Press. p. 146-148.;