Lexi Webster
Australia is home to nearly 150 volcanoes, but none of them have erupted for about 4,000 to 5,000 years. The Australian mainland is situated in the middle of the Indo-Australian Plate, which means it is removed from any major geological faults. However, Australia's external territories, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, are home to the continent's only active volcanoes.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of volcanoes in Australia | Nearly 150 |
| Number of active volcanoes in Australia | 4 |
| Number of Holocene volcanoes in Australia | 4 |
| Number of Pleistocene volcanoes in Australia | 9 |
| Location of active volcanoes | Heard and McDonald Islands |
| Location of the most recent eruptions | Mount Schank and Mount Gambier |
| Number of vents in the volcanic field | Nearly 400 |
| Number of extinct volcanoes in Western Australia | 19 |
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What You'll Learn
Australia's mainland has no active volcanoes
Australia is home to nearly 150 volcanoes, but none of them have erupted in thousands of years. The Australian mainland has no active volcanoes. This is due to the island's location in relation to a tectonic plate and the two layers of the Earth's crust, or lithosphere. These plates move, float, and sometimes fracture, causing volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and continental drift. The mainland of Australia is situated in the middle of the Indo-Australian Plate, far from the edges of the Indian-Australian plate, and is thus removed from any major geological faults.
Volcanoes are vents in the Earth's crust that transfer molten rock from depth to the Earth's surface through eruptions. The molten rock within and below the Earth's crust is called magma, and the molten rock that has been erupted is called lava. Volcanoes are generally found close to the major tectonic plate boundaries, and their style of eruption depends on how easily magma can flow or trap gas, which is controlled by the chemical composition of the magma. If magma is viscous, it can trap a large amount of gas and produce explosive eruptions. If it is less viscous, the gas escapes easily, resulting in a gentler eruption called effusive.
Volcanic activity has occurred in Australia, with evidence of volcanism throughout geological time found in every Australian state and territory. The most recent eruptions in Australia were at Mounts Schank and Gambier in the Newer Volcanic Province of Victoria and South Australia. South Australia's volcanoes are the youngest in the country, with eruptions within the memory of local Indigenous peoples. These volcanoes are all found in the Limestone Coast region, in the Mount Burr Range. There are also nineteen small extinct volcanoes in the valley of the Fitzroy River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Australia's volcanoes are not related to the subduction zones that produce volcanoes in New Zealand, the Kermadec Islands, Tonga, Samoa, and Indonesia. Instead, they define several chains with progressively younger volcanoes to the south, suggesting that a hot spot feeds magma to the volcanoes. As the Australian continent moved northward over this hot spot, it formed volcanoes further to the south, resulting in the rocks of central volcanoes down the east coast becoming younger as you move southward.
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The last volcanic eruption was thousands of years ago
Australia has 4 Holocene volcanoes and 9 Pleistocene volcanoes. While there are no volcanoes on the Australian mainland that have erupted since European settlement, the last volcanic eruption in Australia is estimated to have occurred thousands of years ago. This eruption could have been witnessed by Aboriginal people, although there is no evidence of this. The most recent eruptions took place at Mount Schank and Mount Gambier in an area known as the Newer Volcanics Province in southeast Australia. Mount Schank and Mount Gambier are part of a volcanic field that covers a broad 15,000 square kilometres in southeast Australia. This volcanic field contains nearly 400 vents, with late-Pleistocene to Holocene eruptions producing scoria cones, maars, tuff rings, and valley-filling lava flows.
The Newer Volcanics Province includes the lake-filled Tower Hill maar, which has bedded pyroclastic layers exposed on its walls. The most recent eruptions in this province were thousands of years ago, with the exact timing unknown. These eruptions produced scoria cones, maars, tuff rings, and valley-filling lava flows that contributed to the region's landscape. The volcanic activity in this area is believed to have been caused by the movement of the Australian continent over a hot spot, which melted through the plate to form a chain of volcanoes. As the continent moved northward, the stationary hot spot created volcanoes further south.
In addition to the Newer Volcanics Province, other volcanic regions in Australia include the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland, which has some of the youngest extinct volcanoes in the country. One of these volcanoes, Mount Quincan, last erupted about 7,000 years ago. While there are no currently active volcanoes on the Australian mainland, there are active volcanoes in the Heard and McDonald Islands. These islands are located in the southern Indian Ocean, with the historically active Mawson Peak forming the high point of Heard Island.
The possibility of future volcanic eruptions in Australia has been a topic of discussion, with some scientists claiming that the country is overdue for volcanic activity. While the exact timing of any future eruptions is uncertain, the presence of dormant volcanoes and the dynamic volcanic history of the country highlight the importance of reducing volcano risk to the community.
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Australia's volcanoes are not related to subduction zones
Australia is home to nearly 150 volcanoes, but none of them have erupted for about 4,000 to 5,000 years. The lack of volcanic activity is due to the country's location in relation to a tectonic plate and the two layers of the Earth's crust (or lithosphere). These plates move, float, and sometimes fracture; when they shift, they can cause natural occurrences like volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and continental drift.
The mainland of Australia is situated in the middle of the Indo-Australian Plate, which is a stable continent, and therefore removed from any major geological faults. The country is not on the famous Pacific 'Ring of Fire' that produces numerous volcanoes and earthquakes. This is because Australia is not situated near a destructive boundary (also known as a convergent boundary) where tectonic plates are moving towards each other. Volcanoes can form at subduction zones, which are a type of destructive boundary where one plate descends beneath the other. This process is called subduction and creates distinctive types of volcanoes depending on the setting. For example, ocean-ocean subduction produces an island-arc volcano.
The east coast of Australia, from North Queensland to Tasmania, is characterised by numerous volcanoes that have erupted over the past few million years. The most recent of these is just a few thousand years old. The activity of these volcanoes was far less intense than that of other notorious volcanoes on Earth, and hence they currently mostly look like hills or normal mountains. The younger, thinner east coast of Australia allows for the emergence of volcanoes as enriched mantle material bubbles to the surface.
The volcanic activity in this region can be explained by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Australian Plate. As the material reaches large depths of 400-500km, it increases in temperature and is re-elevated to the surface through the relatively thinner east Australian coast. The rocks that are pushed beneath the Australian Plate are hydrous and rich in carbon, a fact that makes the zone prone to potentially explosive materials. This process of subduction is not unique to the Australian east coast.
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The volcanoes extend 4,400 km from Maer Islands to Tasmania
Australia is home to nearly 150 volcanoes, but none of them have erupted in thousands of years. The volcanoes in the Australian mainland have been dormant for 4,000 to 5,000 years, with no eruptions since European settlement. However, some eruptions in Victoria, South Australia, and North Queensland may have been witnessed by Aboriginal people several thousand years ago. The lack of volcanic activity in Australia is due to its location in relation to a tectonic plate. Since the mainland of Australia is situated in the middle of the Indo-Australian Plate, it is removed from any major geological faults that could cause volcanic eruptions.
Australia's external territories, the Heard and McDonald Islands, are home to the continent's only active volcanoes. These volcanoes are the youngest in Australia and are located in the Limestone Coast region, in the Mount Burr Range. The volcanoes in the Heard and McDonald Islands are part of a volcanic region that extends 4,400 km from the Maer Islands to Tasmania. This volcanic region includes the volcanoes of northern Tasmania, located in the Launceston area, and the Maer Islands, which are located off the coast of Tasmania. The Maer Islands are a group of three small islands that are remnants of an ancient volcano.
The volcanoes of northern Tasmania are characterized by basaltic lava flows that drain into the Bass Strait. The basalts in this region extend from 600 m above sea level to below sea level over a distance of 20 km. Tasmania's volcanic activity is believed to be related to the movement of the Australian continent over a hot spot, which melted through the plate to form a chain of volcanoes. This hot spot theory helps explain the extensive volcanism along Australia's east coast during the past 60 million years.
In addition to the active volcanoes in the Heard and McDonald Islands and the volcanic region in northern Tasmania, there are also several extinct volcanoes in Australia. Western Australia, for example, is home to nineteen small extinct volcanoes in the valley of the Fitzroy River in the Kimberley region. The Kimberley region also boasts several groups of hot springs, which may be connected to the volcanic activity that produced the extinct volcanoes.
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Australia's Heard and McDonald Islands have active volcanoes
Australia is home to nearly 150 volcanoes, but none of them have erupted for about 4,000 to 5,000 years. The Australian mainland is situated in the middle of the Indo-Australian Plate, which is removed from any major geological faults. However, Australia's Heard Island and McDonald Islands, which are located 4,000 kilometres southwest of the mainland, are home to the country's only two active volcanoes. The volcanoes on these islands are Australia's highest peaks and are located thousands of miles away from the mainland.
Heard Island and McDonald Islands were first sighted in 1833 and 1853, respectively. The islands were used as a base for seal hunting until the 1880s, after which they were abandoned. The United Kingdom formally claimed the islands in 1910 and they were transferred to Australia in 1947. Today, the territory is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a marine nature reserve managed by the Australian Antarctic Division.
Heard Island is a heavily glaciated, subantarctic volcanic island. Eighty per cent of the island is covered in ice, with glaciers descending from 2,400 metres to sea level. The island is dominated by the active volcano Big Ben, which rises to 2,745 metres above sea level at its summit, Mawson's Peak. Mawson's Peak is higher than any mountain in all other Australian states, territories, or claimed territories, except for some in the Australian Antarctic Territory, a territorial claim that is not recognised by most countries. Mawson's Peak has erupted several times since 2013, most recently in May 2023.
The McDonald Islands are a small group of islets and rocks located 27 miles (43 kilometres) west of Heard Island. They are part of a mostly submerged volcanic peak. The volcano on McDonald Island, after being dormant for 75,000 years, became active in 1992 and has erupted several times since, most recently in 2005. Mawson's Peak and the McDonald Island volcano are the only two active volcanoes in Australian territory.
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Frequently asked questions
There are nearly 150 volcanoes in Australia, but none of them have erupted for about 4,000 to 5,000 years. The most recent eruptions took place at Mount Schank and Mount Gambier in the Newer Volcanics Province of Victoria and South Australia.
There are no active or dormant volcanoes in Western Australia, but there are a number of extinct ones. Australia's external territories, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, are home to the continent's only active volcanoes.
The volcanoes in Australia extend 4,400 km from the Maer Islands in the north to Tasmania in the south. The volcanic field contains nearly 400 vents, with late-Pleistocene to Holocene eruptions producing scoria cones, maars, tuff rings, and valley-filling lava flows.
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