Jun 22, 2026 · 27 min · 10 segments
New Zealand is a land formed by volcanoes, including some still active. Claire Concannon meets a researcher analysing ash deposits to determine if a future eruption might have dangerous levels of…
Claire ConcannonHost
Jenny HopkinsGuest
Ian SchipperGuest
[gentle music] New Zealand is a nation of volcanoes, some long extinct, such as the two that, millions of years ago, formed Banks Peninsula outside of Christchurch.
Auckland City is built on a group of over 50 volcanic cones and craters, with lava caves networked below the streets, houses, and greens.
In the Taupō Volcanic Zone, many are still active, such as Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe.
Whether active or extinct, volcanoes have determined not just the topography of our landscapes through their distinctive shapes, but the surrounding environments too, through their lava and their ash.
If that gets deposited on the land, it can either help fertilize the land, but also it can, the chemicals themselves can cause hazards.
But first, Dr. Jenny Hopkins, a senior research fellow at Victoria University of Wellington, has long been interested in volcanic ash, or tephra as it's sometimes referred to.
Read the full transcript.
Create an account to read the whole episode, search across every transcript, and follow the shows you care about.
