Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187

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Geothermics
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/geothermics

The volcanic, magmatic and tectonic setting of the Taupo Volcanic

Zone, New Zealand, reviewed from a geothermal perspective
Colin J.N. Wilson a,∗ , Julie V. Rowland b
a
School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University, PO Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
b
School of Environment, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) in the North Island of New Zealand is one of the world’s most spectacular
Received 11 February 2015 and productive areas of Quaternary silicic volcanism and geothermal manifestations. The TVZ is only the
Received in revised form 14 May 2015 latest manifestation of NNE–SSW-orientated arcs that have migrated in step-wise fashion to the SSE over
Accepted 19 June 2015
the past ca. 16 Ma. The TVZ began erupting around 2 Ma, with early andesitic volcanism being joined and
Available online 11 July 2015
rapidly swamped by voluminous rhyolitic volcanism. The zone shows a pronounced segmentation into
northern and southern extremities with andesite composite cones, no calderas and only limited vent-
Keywords:
hosted geothermal systems, and a 125 km long rhyolite-dominated central segment. About four times
Taupo Volcanic Zone
Rifting
as much magma is trapped at depth below the central TVZ than is erupted, feeding heat, volatiles and
Volcanism chemicals into 23 geothermal systems with a total of ca. 4.2 GW thermal energy release. The modern
Geothermal system (post-61 ka) TVZ is an actively rifting arc, widening at 7 mm/year at the south end to 15 mm/year at the
Magmatism Bay of Plenty coastline, with an associated zone of young to active faulting (Taupo Fault Belt: TFB, or
Rhyolite the Taupo Rift), but the axes of the modern TFB and TVZ are offset by 15–20 km through much of the
central TVZ. Although there is a dominant NNE–SSW tectonic grain within the central TVZ, there are
also influences of deeper basement structures that sometimes extend outside the limits of the zone,
such as NW–SE, arc-perpendicular accommodation zones linking local domains of extension as well as
N–S orientated structures related to the Hauraki Rift that may control fluid flow into the roots of the
geothermal systems. Models for the geothermal systems favour either a source in a relatively shallow
localised magmatic intrusion (e.g., Kawerau, Ngatamariki) or treat the systems as reflecting large-scale
fluid dynamical instabilities from an evenly heated ‘hot plate’ at ∼7 km depth. Where controls from dating
of host lithologies are available, systems at Kawerau and Ngatamariki are seen to represent renewed
activity superimposed on a fossil system fed by past intrusions, and it is unclear what is meant by the
lifetime of any single geothermal system. TVZ geothermal systems appear in turn to react too sluggishly to
respond to disruptive episodes of volcanism, and recover within geologically short periods of time, as seen
at Waimangu and Taupo. In the central TVZ, there are complex inter-relationships between volcanism,
magmatism, and tectonism. Magmatism and volcanism are obviously linked, but it is uncertain why
intense magmatism at Taupo and Okataina should yield voluminous rhyolite volcanism, whereas more
intense magmatism in the Taupo-Reporoa Basin has not yielded significant silicic volcanism but instead
feeds multiple large geothermal systems. The central TVZ is unique for an arc segment in the intensity
of its magmatic-volcanic-geothermal flux (matching the Yellowstone system), and the cause(s) of this
uniqueness are not yet established. Any explanation needs to address the segmented nature of the zone,
and why the thermal flux should be so geographically and temporally constrained.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

The Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) represents the southernmost

∼300 km-long portion of the ∼2800-km-long Tonga-Kermadec arc
∗ Corresponding author. system where it intersects and terminates in the North Island,
E-mail addresses: colin.wilson@vuw.ac.nz (C.J.N. Wilson), within the continental crust of Zealandia (Cole and Lewis, 1981;
j.rowland@auckland.ac.nz (J.V. Rowland). Luyendyk, 1995; Mortimer, 2004; Smith and Price, 2006: Fig. 1).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2015.06.013
0375-6505/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187
Fig. 1. Current tectonic setting of northern New Zealand, annotated with loci of vol-
canism for three different time periods ± 0.5 Ma (Circles: black = 0 Ma, grey = 8 Ma,
white = 16 Ma) from Seebeck et al. (2014a), geodetic vectors of extension (double
arrows: Parson and Wright, 1996; Wallace et al., 2004) and relative plate motion
(single arrows: DeMets et al., 1994) in mm/year. Terrane suture in basement rocks
as inferred from magnetic anomaly = dotted line. Rotation of eastern North Island
shown for the period 3 Ma to present (Wallace et al., 2004). HR = Hauraki Rift;
HT = Havre trough; NIFS = North Island Fault System; VMFZ = Vening Meinesz Frac-
ture Zone (see text for context).
Although a small part of the Tonga-Kermadec arc – itself only a
fraction of the major subduction zones and arc systems encircling
the Pacific Ocean – the TVZ is recognised globally for its intense vol-
canic and geothermal manifestations. Within a ∼120 km × 60 km
central segment of the TVZ, rhyolitic volcanism is exceptionally
frequent and voluminous, and crustal magmatism and the mod-
ern geothermal systems are overwhelmingly concentrated (Wilson
et al., 1995). In particular, this central segment is host to an excep-
tionally vigorous active hydrothermal province which, coupled
with its volcanic output, puts it in the same class as the Yellow-
stone system (Christiansen, 2001; Hurwitz and Lowenstern, 2014).
The central TVZ has a present-day average heat flow of 700 mW/m2
and a total flux of 4.2 GW (Bibby et al., 1995; Hochstein, 1995),
together with a volcanic output of large caldera-forming erup-
tions alone exceeding 6000 km3 of rhyolitic magma during the
Quaternary (Wilson et al., 2009). The geothermal flux of fluids and
consequently heat is mostly concentrated at 23 highly active sys-
tems in this central area of the TVZ (Fig. 2), and these are the focus
of other papers in this volume. Other important geothermal sys-
tems occur in association with the andesite–dacite composite cone
volcanoes in the TVZ, and there is surficial evidence for recently
deceased (late Pleistocene to Holocene) systems in the form of fossil
sinter deposits.
Geothermal systems and fields of the central TVZ have played
an important role in the worldwide development of many con-
cepts around geothermal exploration and utilisation. In this paper
we follow the convention of using the term ‘system’ to refer to
the natural entity, and ‘field’ to refer to the geothermal resource
and the infrastructure associated with its utilisation. The Wairakei
Geothermal Field was one of the earliest areas globally to be
utilised for geothermal energy on a commercial scale for electricity
generation (e.g., Hunt et al., 2009). Studies of TVZ geothermal sys-
tems have contributed greatly to understanding of many related
important topics, for example, mineralogical alteration patterns
(Browne, 1978; Hedenquist and Browne, 1989; Hedenquist, 1990)
and numerical modelling of sub-surface fluid flow (e.g. Kissling and
Weir, 2005; Dempsey et al., 2012; Kaya et al., 2014), as well as
169
to geophysical exploration and monitoring techniques, especially
electrical resistivity (e.g. Bibby et al., 1998, 2008), magnetotel-
lurics (Bertrand et al., 2012) and microseismicity (Sherburn et al.,
2015). Other facets of the geothermal systems include their roles as
model settings for epithermal (Rowland and Simmons, 2012) and
porphyry copper systems of active mineralisation, such as White
Island for high-sulfidation epithermal (Hedenquist et al., 1993),
Ruapehu for sub-lacustrine vent-hosted systems (Christenson and
Wood, 1993), and Broadlands-Ohaaki (Brown, 1986; Simmons
and Browne, 2000) and Rotokawa (Krupp and Seward, 1987) for
epithermal gold. Geothermal systems in New Zealand, as globally,
are currently also the subject of much research on extremophile
microorganisms (e.g. McKenzie et al., 2001; Handley et al., 2005,
2008; Stott et al., 2008; Sharp et al., 2014).
In this paper we present a generalised overview of the tectonic,
magmatic and volcanic setting to the geothermal systems in the
central TVZ in order to provide a background to the other topic-
and field-specific papers in this volume. Although we deal with
many concepts that are still controversial or poorly understood,
we have tried to cite a wide cross-section of the relevant papers
for access into the literature. There are several key questions that
provide the impetus for this review and are addressed in this paper.
These include (but are not limited to) the following.
• The big picture behind the modern picture – why is there a cen-
tral TVZ with its accompanying extraordinary geothermal and
magmatic fluxes?
• Why is there the spatial separation of geothermal systems and
volcanism within the central TVZ and how does it reflect igneous
and tectonic processes?
• How stable are the geothermal systems in their positions? Once
established, are the systems rooted in the same place?
• How steady-state are the geothermal systems? Do they wax and
wane, and if so, what are the causes for these fluctuations?
We bring attention back to these four questions in the last sec-
tion of this paper.
2. Large-scale background to the TVZ
2.1. Tectonic setting in the North Island plate boundary
The genesis and evolution of the modern TVZ represents only the
latest stage of a long and complex history of interactions between
the Pacific and Australian plates over the past 25–30 Myr (e.g.,
Schellart et al., 2006; Mortimer et al., 2010; Schellart and Spakman,
2012; Reyners, 2013; Timm et al., 2014). The present-day configu-
ration of the subduction system with westwards-directed oblique
subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the Australian plate under
the North Island of New Zealand, transitioning south-westwards
into the strike-slip zone of the Alpine Fault, dates from ∼16 Ma
onwards. The relevance of this history from a geothermal perspec-
tive is because of its implications for the origins of major features of
the mid- to upper crustal structure and present-day tectonics in the
TVZ. Such features have fundamental importance in understanding
the deep structural controls in the modern TVZ, potentially con-
trolling rifting processes and the location and nature of large-scale
faults that may act as either barriers to, or pathways for, deep fluid
flow (Rowland and Sibson, 2004; Rowland and Simmons, 2012).
The principal tectonic elements that have played a role in the Late
Oligocene-to-present evolution of the plate boundary and which
likely have impacts on the structure of the TVZ are depicted in Fig. 1
and include:
170 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187

Fig. 2. Geology of the TVZ showing major units (after Grindley, 1960; Healy et al., 1964; Leonard et al., 2010). White regions represent rock types other than those indicated
(i.e., volcaniclastic rocks, lake sediments, reworked materials). Caldera boundaries are after Nairn et al. (1994), Gravley et al. (2007): KA – Kapenga, MO – Mangakino, OH
– Ohakuri, OK – Okataina, RE – Reporoa, RO – Rotorua, TA – Taupo, WH – Whakamaru. Boundaries of the TVZ are modified after Wilson et al. (1995) and Villamor and
Berryman (2001, 2006b). The young TVZ boundary is a composite of that defined on volcanic grounds (Wilson et al., 1995) and that defined on structural grounds (Villamor
and Berryman, 2001, 2006b). NIFS = North Island Fault System. Low-resistivity zones were used to delimit the geothermal fields (after Bibby et al., 1995). Major towns labelled.

(1) Vening Meinesz Fracture Zone, a complex and long-lived
WNW-striking transform composed of en echelon arrays of
splays and offsets that accommodated back arc opening north
of New Zealand (Herzer and Mascle, 1996). A broad swathe of
deformation parallel and oblique to this feature likely extends
well into continental northern New Zealand, in part reactiva-
ting Mesozoic and Cretaceous structural fabrics (Herzer et al.,
2009).
(2) Hikurangi Plateau, a portion of the ca. 122 Ma Ontong Java
Plateau (Chandler et al., 2012). This over-thickened piece of
oceanic crust is subducting at the Hikurangi subduction mar-
gin. Its western edge currently is inferred to lie at depths of
37–140 km based on the distribution of seismic velocities in
the top of the subducted Pacific plate, changes in the thickness
of the dipping seismic zone, and steepening of the subducted
plate down-dip of the buoyant plateau (Reyners et al., 2011).
However, the geochemistry of lavas from the southern Ker-
madec arc and Hikurangi plateau combined with satellite
gravity and bathymetry, led Timm et al. (2014) to propose that
the plateau was much larger than Reyners et al. (2011) envi-
sioned; in their view, the leading western edge of the Hikurangi
plateau currently must be well below the entire TVZ and south-
ern Kermadec arc.
(3) Hauraki Rift, an active NNW-trending rift that extends more
than 250 km from the northern Hauraki Gulf to an intersection
with the TVZ, where details of the junction are obscured by
young, post-350 ka ignimbrites (Hochstein and Ballance, 1993;
Leonard et al., 2010). The general trend of the Hauraki Rift is
at a high angle (60◦ ) to the TVZ, and parallels the orientation
of terrane sutures in the Mesozoic metasedimentary basement
rocks of the North Island (Fig. 1). In detail, there are border
faults that divide the rift into several west-facing half grabens
 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187
which zig-zag in orientation and comprise N- and NW-trending
segments (e.g., Kirkby, 2008). The age of the rift is not well
constrained. Hochstein and Ballance (1993) speculate that sed-
iment was probably accumulating in associated rift basins by
5–7 Ma.
(4) North Island Fault System (NIFS), an arcuate system of right-
lateral faults that are localised in part along inherited fabrics
within the Mesozoic metasedimentary basement rocks of the
North Island and which accommodate margin parallel motion
associated with oblique convergence at the plate boundary.
Activation of the NIFS may have commenced as recently as the
last 1–2 million years (Reyners, 2013), with high rates of strike-
slip (>10 mm/year) mostly limited to the southern half of the
zone (Nicol et al., 2007). Dip slip on the NIFS increases towards
the TVZ as displacement is transferred into the zone of rifting
(Mouslopoulou et al., 2007).
From ∼16 Ma onwards a single convergent plate boundary was
established, defined by a west-dipping subduction zone, and the
associated NNE-trending Colville Arc was continuous from New
Zealand through to Tonga (Herzer, 1995; Mortimer et al., 2007).
Slab roll-back and concomitant back-arc opening of the offshore
Havre Trough commenced at ∼6 Ma and led to the establish-
ment of the currently active Kermadec Arc (Wright et al., 1996).
Mechanisms by which the oceanic portion of the overriding plate
accommodated slab-roll back are documented (e.g., Delteil et al.,
2002; Campbell et al., 2007; Wysoczanski et al., 2010), but the
history of how the continental portion has behaved is less clear.
2.2. Countdown to TVZ: the migrating arc
Models for the behaviour of the migrating arc since ∼16 Ma, and
its associated magmatic, volcanic and geothermal activity within
the subaerial portion of the North Island of New Zealand have
tended to divide into two contrasting views. One model (e.g., Stern,
1987, 2009; Stern et al., 2006; Stern and Benson, 2011) focuses
on rotation of the arc in response to the well-established clock-
wise rotation of the eastern part of the North Island as a result of
oblique convergence of the Pacific and Australian plates (Wallace
et al., 2004; Lamb and Smith, 2013). The other, which we prefer,
considers the arc to have migrated to the southeast in parallel fash-
ion, based in large part on the coevality of volcanism in NNE–SSW
belts spanning the North Island (Herzer, 1995; Wilson et al., 2008a;
Seebeck et al., 2014a,b).
Andesitic volcanism associated with the Colville Arc extends
across the Coromandel Peninsula of northern New Zealand in a
series of SW-trending belts, as defined by groupings of age data
(Figs. 1 and 3). These belts young to the southeast and collectively
comprise the Coromandel Volcanic Zone (CVZ; Booden et al., 2012).
There is then a paucity of Miocene to early Pliocene volcanism
along strike in the subaerial western North Island, but numer-
ous large Miocene to Pliocene cone volcanoes (inferred to be or
demonstrably broadly intermediate in composition) occur along a
Colville-aligned trend and are now buried in the offshore area north
of Taranaki (Herzer, 1995; Giba et al., 2013). Younger (later Pliocene
to early Pleistocene) volcanoes of basaltic to dacitic composition
occur across the intervening region, but often show strong NW–SE
structural controls on their distribution, and their relationship to
the NNE–SSW arc structures remains uncertain, as it does also for
the broadly contemporaneous andesite–dacite volcanism at Little
Barrier Island (Fig. 3A: e.g. Briggs, 1986; Briggs et al., 1989; Briggs
and McDonough, 1990; Lindsay et al., 1999). Rhyolitic volcanism
commenced in Coromandel at ∼12 Ma and similarly appears to
have migrated to the southeast with time, but no rhyolitic prod-
ucts have been identified in the offshore-Taranaki volcanoes or the
intervening parts of the North Island (Fig. 3B). Epithermal mineral
171
deposits, which mark the position of paleo-geothermal systems and
thus regions of high natural heat output, also become younger to
the southeast (Fig. 3C: Christie et al., 2007; Mauk et al., 2011). A
major change in the interpretation of CVZ activity and its relation-
ship to the TVZ from that discussed by Wilson et al. (1995) is that
we here interpret the N–S orientation of the Coromandel peninsula
to be a feature imposed on the area by the faulting associated with
development of the Hauraki Rift and not a reflection of a fundamen-
tal N–S alignment of volcanic structures. Instead, we concur with
Seebeck et al. (2014a) that volcanism reflects the migration to the
south east of a NNE–SSW-trending arc structure, possibly mirroring
the opening of the Havre Trough and SSE-wards migration of the
active oceanic arc to the north into its present position along the
Kermadec Ridge (Reyners, 2013). Thus, the CVZ and TVZ, which are
contiguous through space and time, represent older and younger
versions, respectively, of the same evolving arc-related magmatic
province (Wilson et al., 2008a).
3. The TVZ in four dimensions
Over the last 20 years, geological and geophysical investigations
have significantly advanced our understanding of the lithospheric-
scale structure of the TVZ (that is, from the surface down to
200–300 km depth, including the crust and upper parts of the man-
tle, together with the down-going slab of the Pacific plate: e.g.,
Reyners et al., 2006), and in part have revealed structure at crustal
scale. Here we consider the structure of the TVZ over a range of
scales, the relevance of which is in what they tell us about mass
transfer processes (of magmatic and/or aqueous fluids) and the
pathways for transfer:
(1) The surface layout and structure of features that define the
geographic extent of geological components to the TVZ and its
geothermal systems;
(2) The lithospheric-scale of the subduction system to show the
extent of fluids rising in the mantle, provide a framework for
addressing why the central TVZ is so unusual, and place the
modern arc in a big-picture framework; and
(3) The crustal-scale structure below the TVZ, to summarise the
features that control the levels at which magmas stall and/or
accumulate, the mega-scale structures that determine the
depth to different isotherms (especially that at ∼350 ◦ C at the
base of the seismogenic zone), and the fracture patterns that
control fluid flow to levels that are accessible by drilling or
intersect the surface as faults.
3.1. Boundaries and subdivisions of the TVZ and its geothermal
systems
Early workers (e.g., Healy, 1962) demarcated the TVZ as an over-
all envelope encompassing a variety of features (volcanic cones,
geothermal areas). Some authors (e.g., Cole et al., 1995; Giggenbach,
1995; Stern and Benson, 2011) draw a distinction between an
andesite arc and a rhyolite-dominated back-arc, but this distinc-
tion is not reflected in the temporal or spatial distribution of vents
for these compositions (Wilson et al., 1995), and we consider the
TVZ to be a rifting arc structure. The volcanological definition for
the TVZ (e.g., Wilson et al., 1995) is an envelope drawn around
all vent sites known or inferred to have been active over a given
time period (Fig. 4A, see below). A structural definition has been
to draw the outer limits of faulting associated with the rifting
zone that lies along the TVZ, and is generally referred to as the
Taupo Fault Belt (Grindley, 1960) and more latterly, the Taupo Rift
(e.g., Fig. 4B; Villamor and Berryman, 2001, 2006a,b). In the mid-
dle and northern parts of the TVZ, the two boundaries are virtually
172 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187

Fig. 3. Miocene-to-present record of heat and mass transfer in northern New Zealand, as manifest by: (A) non-silicic arc volcanic centres and volcanoes, (B) silicic volcanic
centres, and (C) epithermal mineral deposits and prospects and geothermal systems (Wilson et al., 1995, 2009; Lindsay et al., 1999; Price et al., 1999; Christie et al., 2007;
Cameron et al., 2010; Booden et al., 2012 and references therein; Giba et al., 2013). Note that much of the CVZ comprises arc volcanic products but the age and extent of
discrete volcanic centres and vents are poorly known. Here we limit the data to those volcanic loci that are well constrained in age and subaerial position. On (A) are depicted:
the Hauraki Rift (HR, border fault shown by black line with ball on downthrown side, barbed dashed line shows approximate position of hanging wall flexure) and the Taranaki
Fault (thick barbed line), annotated with the northward limit of activity for different time periods (Stagpoole and Nicol, 2008). The boundary of the <2 Ma TVZ is shown on
all maps (grey dashed line). The western boundary to the Central Volcanic Region (CVR) is shown on (B) (white dashed line: Stern et al., 2010). CVZ = Coromandel Volcanic
Zone; LB = Little Barrier volcano; NIFS = North Island Fault System; TRL = Taranaki-Ruapehu Line (see text for context). Residual gravity map after Stagpoole and Bibby (1999).
 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187 173

Fig. 4. Definition envelopes for the TVZ and Taupo Fault Belt (TFB). (A) Definition of the TVZ (from Wilson et al., 1995), formed by envelopes that enclose all volcanic vent
structures known or inferred to have been active in the 2 Myr lifetime of the zone (old TVZ) and the last 350 kyr (Young TVZ). Major lakes outlined by thin black lines. (B)
Definition map of the envelopes enclosing the Modern (<26 ka), Young (340–26 ka) and Old (>340 ka) Taupo Fault Belt structural domains (from Villamor and Berryman,
2006b). Note that the age control used to define the Modern TFB differs from that used to define the Modern TVZ from the volcanic perspective (<61 ka: Wilson et al., 1995,
2007).

coincident, whereas to the south the structural envelope is substan-
tially wider than the zone of volcanism, and has a rhombohedral
termination. There is also a term, the Central Volcanic Region (CVR),
defined originally as the geographic area, which included TVZ and
flanking plateaux of welded ignimbrite, within which TVZ-derived
volcanic rocks formed mappable units (e.g., Thompson, 1964). This
use of CVR has disappeared in favour of a geophysical definition
(e.g., Stern, 1985, 2009; Stern et al., 2006) as a wedge-shaped area,
defined by areally restricted gravity data and limited age data,
which shares a common eastern boundary with TVZ but which
extends further to the northwest (Fig. 3B).
In terms of the present-day distributions of volcanic systems,
the TVZ has long been divided into three distinct segments (Fig. 2:
Healy, 1962; Cole, 1979; Wilson et al., 1995):
Northern TVZ, from the Kawerau area north out beyond White
Island to the edge of the continental shelf (and beyond to the
Kermadec Arc: Gamble et al., 1993). Arc volcanism is primarily
expressed by andesite–dacite composite cones. There is an intense
geothermal system at White Island, but in general there is at
present only low-level geothermal manifestations. The inferred
magma eruption rate is not known, but is likely to be less per unit
length of arc even than in the southern TVZ on the basis of the
limited number and volume of documented volcanoes.
Central TVZ, from Kawerau, south to Tokaanu at the southern end
of Lake Taupo. This area, the focus of this paper, is dominated
by silicic volcanism and magmatism with associated geothermal
activity and rift-related faulting.
Southern TVZ, from the Pihanga-Kakaramea chain of composite
cones to the isolated vents southwest of Ruapehu. This segment
is typical of most continental arcs, with large composite cones
dominated by andesite–dacite compositions (with little basalt and
no rhyolite), and limited expression of hydrothermal activity. The
magma eruption rate per kilometre of arc length in the southern
TVZ is about one third, and the hydrothermal output about one
fifth of that operating in the central TVZ.
In discussing the temporal evolution of the TVZ, there are three
divisions (Fig. 4A: Wilson et al., 1995):
Old TVZ: Volcanic systems active from ca. 2 Ma up to 350 ka, for
which most of the rocks and their source volcanoes have been
destroyed by erosion or burial, respectively. Products of this activ-
ity crop out mostly west of the TVZ, but are recorded in geothermal
drillholes at 1–3 km depth (Gravley et al., 2006; Wilson et al.,
2008b, 2010; Rosenberg et al., 2009; Eastwood et al., 2013; Milicich
et al., 2013a; Chambefort et al., 2014), and are abundantly present
in coeval sedimentary basins (Shane and Froggatt, 1991; Alloway
et al., 2004; Pillans et al., 2005) and in deep-sea cores (Carter et al.,
2003, 2004; Alloway et al., 2005; Allan et al., 2008). A comprehen-
sive stratigraphy and chronology within this period has yet to be
established.
Young TVZ: Volcanic systems active from 350 ka to about 61 ka
when the major structural features of the TVZ that control the
positions and nature of the TVZ geothermal systems were estab-
lished. The lower boundary for this time division is that defined
by the widespread and voluminous fall deposits and ignimbrite
collectively termed the Whakamaru Group (Leonard et al., 2010).
The eruption record for this period is partially complete, partic-
ularly for the larger-scale events (Manning, 1995, 1996; Wilson
et al., 2009) but many aspects of the local structural histories are
unknown.
Modern TVZ: Volcanic systems active since 61 ka. This period is
defined as that since the Rotoiti eruption, dated at 61 ka by Wilson
et al. (2007), but with an alternative age of 45 ka (Danisík et al.,
2012). The eruption record for the central TVZ from this time
174 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187
period is inferred to be complete (Vucetich and Howorth, 1976;
Wilson, 1993; Nairn, 2002; Jurado-Chichay and Walker, 2000)
and its deposits are marker planes for present-day tectonics in
the central North Island. The eruptive histories of the andesitic
volcanoes in the northern and southern segments are known in
variable amounts of detail only for the later part of this period
(e.g., Donoghue et al., 1995; Cronin and Neall, 1997; Cole et al.,
2000; Moebis et al., 2011; Pardo et al., 2012).
3.2. The modern lithosphere
Active and passive source seismic experiments (Harrison and
White, 2004, 2006; Stratford and Stern, 2004, 2006; Stern and
Benson, 2011), tomographic inversions and earthquake relocation
(e.g., Reyners et al., 2006, 2011; Eberhart-Phillips and Reyners,
2012; Eberhart-Phillips et al., 2013), and receiver function analyses
(Bannister et al., 2004; Salmon et al., 2011) constrain the first order
structure of the Hikurangi subduction margin and provide insight
to the localisation and mechanism of fluid migration within the
mantle wedge. Here we outline current understanding of crustal
rheology and thickness, properties of the mantle wedge, and the
peculiarities of the subducting slab.
Crustal thicknesses throughout the North Island are somewhat
debated, reflecting different methodologies and interpretive pre-
ferences. However, there is general agreement that immediately
east of the TVZ the crustal thickness averages ∼35 km (Bannister
et al., 2004; Reyners et al., 2006; Stern et al., 2006), much as
expected for normal continental crust. Thicker sectors occur south
of a prominent E–W-trending lineament in seismic and gravity data
at the southern tip of the TVZ: the Taranaki-Ruapehu line (Fig. 3A:
Salmon et al., 2011; Stern et al., 2013), and north of Taupo volcano
along the western shoulder to the Hauraki Rift. Thinning of the crust
occurs within the TVZ (25–30 km thick: Bannister et al., 2004; Stern
et al., 2006, 2011), and west of the Hauraki Rift (∼25-km-thick:
Bannister et al., 2004; Stern et al., 2006), though the exact value
attributed to the crust depends on which P-wave velocity is con-
sidered representative of the mantle (see also Reyners et al., 2006).
At crustal-scale, the seismic velocity structure of the TVZ is
best known in its central portion and to depths of 16 km (Fig. 5:
Harrison and White, 2004, 2006; Stratford and Stern, 2004, 2006;
Stern et al., 2006, 2010; Stern and Benson, 2011). Primary and sec-
ondary volcanic products with P-wave velocities of 2.0–3.5 km/s
reach a maximum thickness of 3 km beneath central TVZ. Material
with P-wave velocities of 5.0–6.5 km/s underlies these sediments
to a depth of 16 km and is interpreted as quartzo-feldspathic crust.
Similar velocities occur in crust to depths of 30 km and 25 km
to the east and west of the TVZ, respectively. In the 16–30-km
depth interval, P-wave velocities increase to 6.9–7.4 km/s and are
attributed to either heavily intruded or underplated lower crust
with high Poisson’s ratio (0.32), indicating the presence of at least
1% melt (Harrison and White, 2004, 2006; Stern and Benson, 2011),
or anomalous mantle at a depth of 20 km and associated under-
plating (Stern et al., 2006). A bright reflector at 30–35 km depth
beneath Taupo volcano is interpreted as either the base of the crust,
i.e., the Moho, (Harrison and White, 2006) or as a transient layer of
melt embedded in the mantle or the top of a rising asthenospheric
mantle diapir (Stratford and Stern, 2006; Stern and Benson, 2011).
The deeper lithosphere is imaged using 3-D tomographic inver-
sions of seismic velocity and attenuation, and associated relocation
of earthquakes. An especially anomalous zone of very high seis-
mic attenuation occurs from ca. 50–85 km depth in the mantle
wedge below central TVZ (Qp < 250), with the most anomalous zone
(Qp < 150) immediately west of Taupo volcano (Eberhart-Phillips
et al., 2008). The anomalous regions also are characterised by low
Vp and high Vp/Vs (Reyners et al., 2006). Together, these obser-
vations may be explained by the presence of high temperature
and partial melt (Eberhart-Phillips et al., 2008). Further, a recent
analysis of seismicity in the subducted slab of the Hikurangi
subduction margin demonstrates a link between slab seismicity
and zones of anomalous attenuation in the mantle wedge above.
Eberhart-Phillips et al. (2013) describe patches of abundant seis-
micity separated by low seismicity zones at depths where the slab
interacts with the mantle wedge. The largest and most active patch
occurs at a depth of 150–220 km below the pronounced low Qp zone
associated with Taupo volcano. These authors thus suggest a causal
link between melt production and regions of earthquake-induced
fracture permeability consequent on dehydration embrittlement
that promote upward migration of dehydration fluid from the
deeper portions of the slab.
Reyners et al. (2011) used a 3-D seismic velocity model coupled
with the distribution of relocated earthquakes to capture the mor-
phology of the subducting slab in exceptional detail, including the
position and shape of the leading edge of the Hikurangi plateau. Pro-
nounced variations in depth to the leading edge of the plateau occur
along the strike of the subduction zone, from <50 km at the latitude
of northern TVZ, to >100 km beneath central TVZ. Such variation is
a consequence of the plateau’s irregular shape. Relevant here, if the
Reyners et al. (2011) interpretation is valid, the slab beneath the
TVZ varies from typical oceanic lithosphere in the north (down-dip
of the Hikurangi plateau), to over-thickened oceanic plateau south
of the Okataina volcanic centre. Further, contrasts in buoyancy
between the plateau and the oceanic crust that adjoins it may pro-
mote distortion, or development of ‘step-faults’ where variations
in depth to the leading edge of the plateau are most pronounced,
with possible consequences of localised asthenospheric upwelling
and decompression melting (Reyners, 2013). A contrasting inter-
pretation of the shape and extent of the Hikurangi Plateau below
and north of the North Island is given in Timm et al. (2014).
In summary, the lithosphere beneath central TVZ can be divided
into 4 contrasting rheological and/or lithological packages (Fig. 5):
(1) and (2) a 16-km-thick quartzo-feldspathic layer that can be
divided on the basis of the distribution of shallow seismicity (Bibby
et al., 1995; Bryan et al., 1999), receiver function analyses (Bannister
et al., 2004) and thermal arguments (Bibby et al., 1995) into a <6-
km-thick brittle seismogenic zone, overlying a hot ductile zone;
(3) a 15-km-thick mafic layer extending from 16 to 30 km depth,
which may represent a modified mantle or heavily intruded lower
crust; and (4) the mantle wedge, extending from depths of 20
or 30 km, depending on the preferred interpretation (Stern et al.,
2006; Harrison and White, 2006; Reyners et al., 2006; Stern and
Benson, 2011), to the top of the slab at depths of ca. 75 km (Reyners
et al., 2006).
3.3. Crustal structure
The current structure of the TVZ results from the brittle response
to NW–SE-directed rifting of the order of 1 cm/year (Wallace et al.,
2004), and non-linear interplay between magmatic and tectonic
cycles, with the most complex array of feedback mechanisms and
resulting structure localised within central TVZ (Rowland et al.,
2010 and references therein). Within the brittle crust, fault-bound
basins formed in Mesozoic metasedimentary basement define sep-
arate rift segments (length: 20–30 km) that are generally oriented
perpendicular to the extension direction (Rowland and Sibson,
2001; Seebeck et al., 2014b), and which are linked along strike
via volcanic/magmatic centres (Taupo: Rowland and Sibson, 2001;
Okataina: Seebeck et al., 2010) and/or transfer zones that appear
to root onto inherited basement fabrics (Cochrane and Wan, 1983;
Rowland and Sibson, 2001, 2004; Seebeck et al., 2010; Rowland and
Simmons, 2012) (Fig. 6A).
In northern and southern TVZ, arc volcanism and tectonism
are aligned (Fig. 6B), and heat flow is an order of magnitude less
 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187
A B
Fig. 5. Lithospheric-scale velocity models (P-waves, values in km/s) and geological interpretations of central North Island interpreted by different workers. Length dimensions
are in kilometres. GKE = Mesozoic greywacke.
than in central TVZ (Hochstein, 1995). In these sectors, extension is
accommodated by development of half-grabens facing west and
associated subsidiary faulting (Taylor et al., 2004; Villamor and
Berryman, 2006a; Lamarche et al., 2006; Rowland et al., 2010).
Interaction with the right-lateral North Island Fault System imparts
complexity within the Whakatane graben of northern TVZ (Fig. 6B;
Mouslopoulou et al., 2007; Begg and Mouslopoulou, 2010). Here,
normal faults form en echelon arrays that are oblique to the
border faults that bound the graben and perpendicular to the
extension direction, which is rotated clockwise with respect to
the rest of the TVZ (Rowland and Sibson, 2001; Seebeck et al.,
2014b). Based on interpretations of offshore seismic reflection data,
Mesozoic metasedimentary basement rocks over much of north-
ern TVZ have subsided to depths of >1800 m (Davey et al., 1995;
Lamarche et al., 2006). However, interpretations of onshore seis-
mic and gravity profiles suggest that there is considerable relief
on the basement-cover contact, with localised zones of substantial
(<3000 m) subsidence adjacent to the North Island Fault System,
and basement highs – in a relative sense (depth to basement
<1000 m) – near the Okataina volcanic centre (Mouslopoulou et al.,
2008). In southern TVZ, the boundaries to the Taupo Rift are rhom-
bic in shape and appear strongly influenced by inherited fabrics
parallel to those visible in exposed basement rocks to the east of
the volcanic zone. Based on limited seismic refraction data (Sissons
and Dibble, 1981), Villamor and Berryman (2006a) infer that the
Mesozoic metasedimentary basement has subsided by <1000 m in
this sector of the TVZ. In comparison to central TVZ, the base of
the seismogenic crust, defined as the depth above which 80% of
175
earthquakes occur, is deeper by a kilometre or so in northern TVZ
(Bryan et al., 1999) and extends to depths of >20 km near Ruapehu
in southern TVZ (Reyners et al., 2007).
Central TVZ differs from the relatively simple geometry and
rheological structure described above for its northern and south-
ern continuations. In map view (Fig. 7) this sector comprises
two parallel subsiding (∼4 mm/year: Manville, 2001; Villamor
and Berryman, 2001) basins of contrasting character: the densely
faulted and seismically active Taupo Rift with its classic geomor-
phic expression to the west (Bryan et al., 1999; Rowland and Sibson,
2001), and the Taupo-Reporoa basin (TRB: Figs. 4 and 6) with little
topographic relief and exceptional (>2000 MWth ) heat throughput
to the east (Bibby et al., 1995; Downs et al., 2014a). In contrast
to northern and southern TVZ, the surficially obvious zone of tec-
tonism and faulting, the Taupo Rift, does not coincide with the
current region of greatest heat flow (Fig. 6B), although the pres-
ence of young (Late Pleistocene to Holocene) sinters attests to
recent hydrothermal activity (e.g. Henneberger and Browne, 1988;
Drake et al., 2014). The paired basins are separated in the north-
east by a high-standing fault-controlled range, the Paeroa Block
(Fig. 6), that appears to have been stable at least since eruption of
the youngest Whakamaru Group ignimbrites at ca. 340 ka (Wilson
et al., 2010; Downs et al., 2014a,b). Earlier studies of the kinematics
of the central TVZ (Acocella et al., 2003; Spinks et al., 2005) gave
a significant role to strike-slip activity, but this is now largely dis-
counted, at least in the form that was originally proposed (Rowland
et al., 2010; Seebeck et al., 2014b). Recent compilations of extension
directions across the paired basins based on focal mechanism and
176 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187

Fig. 6. (A) Kinematics of the TVZ and surrounds annotated on a DEM. Rift axes, defined by the change in facing direction of faults mapped within the modern Taupo Rift (after
Rowland and Sibson, 2001; Lamarche et al., 2006; Seebeck et al., 2014b) shown in red with representative extension direction arrowed (after Seebeck et al., 2014b). Major
faults shown in black with ball on downthrown side (dashed if mantled by volcanic products). Extension directions from focal mechanisms, where the measured location is
at the centre of the bar, are shown in yellow (from Seebeck et al., 2014b). Geodetic extension direction and rate in mm/year is shown by the ball and white arrow (Wallace
et al., 2004). North Island Fault System shown in blue and annotated with sense of shear. Faults of the Hauraki Rift are shown in white, with the along-strike continuation of
the rift as defined by a prominent step in the topography shown by white dashed line, ball on downthrown side. HR = Hauraki Rift; TRB = Taupo-Reporoa basin; tf = inferred
transfer zones (Rowland and Sibson, 2004). (B) Loci of current geothermal activity defined by the 30 ohm metre resistivity contour at <500 m depth (pink blobs) and <61 ka
volcanic vents (red box = basaltic, dike if linked by a bar; orange = andesitic; green = dacitic; white = rhyolitic), annotated on map showing the Taupo Rift (red are faults facing
SE, green are faults facing NW) (after Bibby et al., 1995; Rowland and Sibson, 2001; Wilson et al., 2009; Rowland et al., 2010). Faults bounding 1st order half grabens are
labelled: EFZ = Edgecumbe fault zone, PFZ = Paeroa fault zone, KFZ = Kaingaroa fault zone, RF = Rangipo fault (after Rowland et al., 2010). (For interpretation of the references
to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

fault slip data (Seebeck et al., 2014b), together with earlier geodet-
ically determined extension directions (Beavan et al., 2007), show
a small clockwise swing in extension direction across the Paeroa
block, best expressed in the northern half of the TRB (Fig. 6A). Thus,
the kinematics of the two basins may vary from predominantly
extensional in the Taupo Rift, to moderately transtensional in the
TRB. Under- and over-printing this first order tectonic structure are
at least 8 caldera centres, the modern representatives of which are
Okataina (Cole et al., 2014) and Taupo (Wilson, 1993; Wilson et al.,
2009), which delimit the northern and southern extents of central
TVZ, respectively.
Due to the attenuating nature of weak surficial layers within
central TVZ, active source seismic profiling has proven unsatisfac-
tory for imaging the upper crust. Reconstructions of subsurface
geology are based on correlations between geothermal drill hole
stratigraphy and surface exposures (e.g., Downs et al., 2014a;
Chambefort et al., 2014), and geophysical studies (Bibby et al., 1995
and references therein; Risk et al., 1999; Sherburn et al., 2003;
Heise et al., 2007, 2010; Seebeck et al., 2010; Bertrand et al., 2012).
Schematic profiles representing the major subsurface features of
central TVZ are depicted in Fig. 8 and are best constrained for the
Taupo-Reporoa Basin.
At the gross scale, a cover sequence comprising volcanic and
volcaniclastic rocks and their reworked equivalents overlies the
Mesozoic metasedimentary basement to depths of >3000 m in
places (Downs et al., 2014a). However, recognition of the extent of
basement and the basement-cover contact is challenging because
geophysical methods are subject to inherent ambiguity, the mate-
rial properties of the basement and the earliest basin fill are similar,
and there is little independent control, particularly within the
Taupo Rift. Nonetheless, for the TRB, stratigraphic relationships
within the cover sequence (Downs et al., 2014a), back-tilting (<6◦ :
Grindley, 1959) of ca. 340 ka deposits within the Paeroa Fault block,
and interpretations of geophysical data (Modriniak and Studt,
1959) are indicative of a gentle deepening to the southeast against
the Kaingaroa Fault zone (Henrys and Hochstein, 1990; Bibby et al.,
1998; Wood et al., 2001), as expected for a fault bound half-graben
(Fig. 8A and B). A prominent step in the depth to basement is
visible in the NE–SW profile along the axis of the basin (Fig. 8C)
and coincides with the northeastern margin of the 350 ka Whaka-
maru caldera and the along-strike continuation of the northeastern
shoulder of the Hauraki Rift. Shorter-wavelength disturbances in
stratigraphy reflect the presence of smaller-offset faults and other
caldera collapse structures (e.g., Downs et al., 2014a).
 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187 177

Fig. 7. Features of central TVZ compared with residual gravity. (A) Modern <61 ka volcanic vents superimposed on the geology map (see Figs. 2 and 3 for key to symbology).
Caldera boundaries here shown by black dashed lines. Ongaroto gorge shown by white triangle. Stars indicate localities with ages substantially older than is typical at surface
in central TVZ (after Downs et al., 2014a; B.F. Houghton et al., unpublished data). The positions of three profiles are shown by grey lines, A–A , B–B and C–C (see Fig. 8). (B)
Residual gravity map (Stagpoole and Bibby, 1999) annotated with positions of profiles in Fig. 8 and geothermal systems (red outlines). (For interpretation of the references
to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

The base of the seismogenic zone marks the transition to
the ductile quartzo-feldspathic mid-crust and occurs generally at
<6 km within central TVZ (Bryan et al., 1999), with likely but poorly
constrained, departures to shallower depth in the vicinity of the
geothermal systems and young calderas (Sherburn et al., 2003).
Rheological heterogeneity within the ductile quartzo-feldspathic
crust is suggested by the presence of low shear-wave velocities at
∼6–16 km depth near the Rotorua and Reporoa calderas, and zones
of anomalously high P-wave velocities coincident with zones of
high density at depths of 5–10 km within the Taupo-Reporoa basin.
These signatures are interpreted to represent the presence of high-
level bodies of partial melt (Bannister et al., 2004), and extensive,
non-molten intrusive rocks (Sherburn et al., 2003), respectively.
Additional insights are provided by 2 and 3-D electrical resistivity
models constructed using the results of numerous magnetotel-
luric soundings, although not without some ambiguity (Heise et al.,
2007, 2010; Bertrand et al., 2012; Walter, 2015). Using a 2-D elec-
trical resistivity model, Heise et al. (2007) describe a zone of high
conductance attributed to a melt fraction of >4% at depths of >15 km
beneath the TRB, with a distributed zone of conductivity (inter-
preted as <4% melt) at depths of 10–15 km across the full width of
the paired Taupo Rift and TRB. However, a 3-D model based in part
on the same soundings but augmented by new data modelled a NE-
SW-oriented plume-like conductor at depths >10–30 km beneath
the Taupo Rift and a highly resistive zone at depths >13 km beneath
the TRB (Heise et al., 2010). These authors noted that the inferred
TRB resistor is at odds with the thermal output through the basin
and suggest that a zone of anisotropic resistivity, such as may be
178 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187

Fig. 8. Three schematic cross-sections in the central TVZ: (A) Across the central TVZ (after Rowland et al., 2010) showing a composite interpretation incorporating P-wave
velocity and density data (Sherburn et al., 2003), resistivity data to infer basement contact in eastern TVZ (Bibby et al., 1998), structural data (Rowland and Sibson, 2001),
and major features of the lithospheric-scale conductivity model to depths of 20 km defined using MT data (Heise et al., 2007). Colour-coding indicates resistive (blue) and
conductive (green) zones, and the required melt percentage to satisfy the resistivity structure. The boundary between the seismic and aseismic zone is defined as the depth
level above which 80% of earthquakes occur (Bryan et al., 1999). A vertically exaggerated topographic profile is shown above the composite profile and is annotated with the
major structural features. (B) Profile along the northeastern margin of the Whakamaru caldera, which is coincident with the inferred continuation of the eastern shoulder to
the Hauraki Rift (after Downs et al., 2014a). Red bars show the approximate extent of the named geothermal fields along the line of the profile. The stratigraphy in (b) and
(c) is colour-coded as follows: Mesozoic metasedimentary basement (’greywacke’) – grey, Reporoa group – light blue, Whakamaru group – green, Huka group – darker blue,
surficial deposits – light grey. Other colours indicate andesite (brown) and rhyolite lavas (white) and named formations within the Huka group (Kaingaroa – pink, Ohakuri
– orange, Rautawiri Breccia – primrose). (C) Along-strike profile through the Taupo-Reporoa basin (from Downs et al., 2014a). (For interpretation of the references to colour
in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187
generated by a dike-swarm parallel to the basin axis, could explain
the observations. What was not addressed was why there should
be deep bodies of magma beneath areas of the central TVZ where
surface volcanism had been absent for >150 kyr (Leonard et al.,
2010). Conversely, Walter (2015) modelled electrical resistivity in
3-D using a closely spaced (∼2 km) suite of data enhanced by addi-
tional measurements in the northern TRB and found no evidence
for a conductor below the Taupo Rift. Instead, her results pointed
to a body of partially (1–5%) molten rock at depths of 10–20 km
beneath the TRB.
4. The central TVZ and controls on its geothermal systems
4.1. Volcanism in the central TVZ
4.1.1. Old TVZ (2.0 Ma to 350 ka)
Rocks of this age period, that is predating the regional marker
horizon of the Whakamaru Group ignimbrites, have been known
for many years (e.g. Grindley, 1965; Steiner, 1963) to represent
important reservoir rocks for central TVZ geothermal systems.
Pyroclastic units from this time period are collectively grouped as
the Tahorakuri Formation (Gravley et al., 2006), and many units
have recently been dated by U–Pb techniques on zircon to provide
chronostratigraphic controls (Wilson et al., 2008b, 2010; Eastwood
et al., 2013; Milicich et al., 2013a; Chambefort et al., 2014). Three
aspects of these age data are proving to be of great importance in
understanding the geological and faulting histories of the central
TVZ and individual geothermal systems.
(1) A pre-1.85 Ma age has been established for the thick (up to
1.7 km) andesite lava sequences encountered at depth below
the relevant dated ignimbrite horizons at Broadlands-Ohaaki,
Ngatamariki and Rotokawa geothermal systems (Eastwood
et al., 2013; Chambefort et al., 2014). At Rotokawa the andesite
rests on metasedimentary (greywacke) basement and so here
at least represents the earliest activity along the line of the TVZ
(Price et al., 2005). The implication of the age and position of
the andesite lavas is that the eastern boundary of the TVZ (the
‘active volcanic front’ of some workers) in this area has been
established in its present form for probably ∼2 Myr, and is not
a gradually migrating structure (cf. Stern and Benson, 2011, and
references therein), instead stepping over distances of tens of
kilometres at a time.
(2) At Kawerau, where metasedimentary basement has been
extensively penetrated, in contrast to Broadlands-Ohaaki,
Ngatamariki and Rotokawa geothermal systems the earliest
substantial thicknesses of volcanic rocks are rhyolitic ign-
imbrites, of an age (1.45 Ma) not matched by ignimbrites yet
found at the surface. Two dated thin tuffs (2.17 and 2.38 Ma)
are interbedded with greywacke gravel-rich sediments that are
inferred to infill half-grabens formed by strike slip faulting, sug-
gesting that the tectonic regime in this area changed between
2.17 and 1.45 Ma (Milicich et al., 2013b).
(3) Use of the dated horizons as broad indicators of subsidence
rates (on the basis that the elevation of the land surface has
not changed significantly) indicates that the Taupo Rift and
the TRB are separated by a horst where subsidence rates are
lower (Wilson et al., 2010). Recorded depths to pre-350 ka rocks
are consistent also with this horst (the Paeroa Block and its
southern subsurface continuation) extending as far south as
Wairakei. There the horst is still present, with zones of greater
subsidence to the east and west (Rosenberg et al., 2009) but
these features do not continue further south and are trun-
cated by the Oruanui caldera collapse (Davy and Caldwell, 1998;
Wilson, 2001).
179
The abundances and wide distribution of pyroclastic material
from this age in sedimentary basins and in deep-sea cores imply
that the central TVZ was highly active throughout this period on
a relatively regular basis (Carter et al., 2003, 2004; Alloway et al.,
2004, 2005; Pillans et al., 2005; Allan et al., 2008). Large, caldera-
forming events represented by subaerial and drilled ignimbrites
appear still, despite new age data from the geothermal fields, to
be clustered in time (Houghton et al., 1995). However, there are
no source areas established for volcanic rocks for the 2.0–0.35 Ma
period, apart from local sources in the Tauranga basin (Briggs et al.,
2005) and the major caldera at Mangakino (Wilson et al., 1984,
2008a,b). The possibility also exists of offshore sources contributing
to the rhyolitic pyroclastic record in this time period, but only one
possible caldera has been identified on published seismic profiles
(Davey et al., 1995) and this has not been dated or sampled.
4.1.2. Young TVZ (350 ka to 61 ka)
Geological and structural elements set up in association with
volcanism in this time period remain the dominant influence on
the present-day geothermal activity in the central TVZ. Subsequent
activity, although important at Okataina and Taupo volcanoes,
has only served to slightly modify the picture set up during this
time period. The activity defining young TVZ includes and post-
dates a cluster of seven major caldera-forming and many more
minor eruptions between ∼350 and ∼280 ka, totalling >3000 km3
of magma, and forming calderas over a collective 90 × 40 km area
(Fig. 7: Houghton et al., 1995; Manning, 1995, 1996; new age
data from Downs et al., 2014a,b). These ignimbrites, together
with similar-aged but less extensive pyroclastic units and smaller-
volume lavas, form the dominant stratigraphy encountered by
drilling beneath several central TVZ geothermal systems (notably
Wairakei-Tauhara: Rosenberg et al., 2009).
The rapid accumulation of magma, the locations of these magma
bodies within the shallow crust of the central TVZ prior to their
evacuation, and the timing of their release are most likely to
be linked to a relatively accelerated period of rifting (cf. Wilson
et al., 2008a). Petrological studies on the largest of these erup-
tions have indicated that the melt-dominant bodies that were
vented accumulated in the shallow crust (4–8 km depth) and were
derived by extraction of melts plus crystals from deeper-seated
(6–15 km) crystal-rich source zones (‘mush zones’) (Brown et al.,
1998; Beresford et al., 2000; Deering et al., 2011; Bégué et al., 2014).
All indications are that these large magma bodies were essentially
exhausted by eruption, but that the deeper root systems may have
had prolonged thermal lifetimes.
The eruptions that produced the youngest two large ign-
imbrites from this period (Mamaku and Ohakuri) demonstrate
most clearly the interlinking of volcanism and tectonism, acting
on linked magmatic systems (Gravley et al., 2007; Bégué et al.,
2014). Field evidence indicates continuity, or time gaps of only
days to weeks, in a complex, spatially and temporally overlap-
ping eruption sequence from vents centred at least ∼35 km apart.
Such close temporal linkages between major eruptions from sep-
arated sources imply that faulting readjustment was critical in
triggering neighbouring events. Stratigraphic field relationships
and geomorphic reconstruction indicate that syn- and immedi-
ately post-eruption faulting occurred outside and between the two
calderas (Gravley et al., 2007). Most of the modern day volcanotec-
tonic depression between and including the Ohakuri and Rotorua
calderas was formed in association with these paired eruptions and
has since been heavily faulted.
The products of other volcanic activity from 340 to ∼61 ka are
visually prominent at the present day in the form of rhyolite domes
that occur throughout the central TVZ (Fig. 7). Some of these domes
are isolated and cannot readily be grouped into a definable ‘vol-
canic centre’, but volumetrically most of them are represented by
180 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187
dome complexes with sub-equal volumes of associated subordi-
nate pyroclastic rocks (Ewart, 1967, 1968; Leonard, 2003; Leonard
et al., 2010; Cole et al., 2014). The isolated domes are most com-
mon on the eastern, TRB side of the TVZ, while the dome complexes
are mostly on the western side, coincident with the Taupo Rift or
defining the western border of the young TVZ in a 20–25-km long
lineament termed the Western Dome Belt (Wilson et al., 1986;
Houghton et al., 1991; Leonard et al., 2010). The dome complexes
have prolonged histories, often show evidence for syn-eruptive dis-
placement of lava by faulting during rifting processes, and have
wide variations in mineralogical and compositional characteristics
(Ewart, 1968; Nairn, 2002; Leonard, 2003). These features suggest
that at no stage was there a large, unitary magma body present
at shallow depths beneath the complexes, and that they resulted
from the generation of ‘boutique’ batches of magma from a crustal
source that never achieved any great size or throughput that would
compare with the caldera-related silicic systems.
4.1.3. Modern TVZ (61 ka to present)
Volcanism in this time period is taken to represent the present-
day condition of the central TVZ with respect to the styles and
scales of volcanism, compositions of eruptives and the modes and
styles of rift-induced deformation. Although older rocks are the
hosts for central TVZ geothermal systems, the volcanoes active
in this period represent the major source of volcanic hazards to
people and infrastructure. By far the majority of eruptions came
from Taupo and Okataina volcanoes which are, respectively, the
most and second-most frequently active and productive rhyo-
lite volcanoes at present on Earth. The stratigraphic histories of
young eruptions from these volcanoes are given in Vucetich and
Howorth (1976), Wilson (1993), Nairn (2002) and Jurado-Chichay
and Walker (2000), and a unified chronology of the later part of this
period is in Lowe et al. (2013). Numerous petrological studies have
been carried out on the eruptions from this period, and in similar
fashion to the pre-61 ka eruptives, there is evidence that the magma
bodies can be generated exceedingly rapidly (e.g. Allan et al., 2013),
at shallow levels in the crust (Liu et al., 2006; Johnson et al., 2011),
and that several rhyolite magma bodies may be present simulta-
neously, together with a close link between mafic injection and
eruptive processes (Nairn et al., 2004; Schmitz and Smith, 2004;
Smith et al., 2004; Wilson et al., 2006; Shane et al., 2007, 2008).
Two features of this modern TVZ volcanism are of interest in
the context of geothermal activity and exploration. First, the dis-
tribution of the presently active rhyolite-dominated volcanism in
the central TVZ is peripheral, almost antithetic, to areas of major
geothermal fluid flow. Parts of the central TVZ where rhyolite mag-
mas are being generated, rising to shallow storage levels and being
erupted are not areas of exceptionally high heat flow. In contrast,
the TRB has a major heat flux (ca. 2 GW: Bibby et al., 1995), yet since
eruption of the Kaingaroa ignimbrite and formation of Reporoa
caldera (Nairn et al., 1994), volcanic activity throughout the basin
has been sporadic and of modest volume (Leonard et al., 2010;
Downs et al., 2014a). Second, the frequency with which eruptions,
with the potential to cause significant impact, occur at Taupo and
Okataina, although low (ca. 1 per 1000 years on average), cannot
be neglected in the context of geothermal exploitation. Patterns
of eruptions at Taupo and Okataina are not simple and predic-
tion of such events and their impacts on geothermal production,
and power generation and distribution need also to be taken into
consideration by the geothermal industry.
4.2. Sedimentation in the central TVZ
Often neglected in the geological mixture, fluvial and lacustrine
sediments form a substantial proportion of the surficial cover rocks
and materials encountered in drillholes in the central TVZ. Two
contrasting lithologies are of most relevance.
First, at some stages, much of the central North Island was
occupied by one or more large lakes (Smith et al., 1993) in which
lacustrine volcaniclastic sediments were laid down (e.g. Cattell
et al., 2014) as well as biogenic diatomaceous deposits that are
locally of economic interest in their own right (Brathwaite, 2003).
With the exception of pre-350 ka lacustrine sediments encoun-
tered, for example, at Mangakino (Wood, 1987), all documented
examples are <350 ka in age. Lacustrine sediments are of key
interest in a geothermal context because of their commonly low
densities and impermeable nature. They thus act as cap rocks,
especially at Wairakei-Tauhara and Broadlands-Ohaaki, that serve
to trap steam above the water table that has been lowering as
exploitation has removed ∼2 km3 of water in the past 50 years.
These deposits are also particularly susceptible to compaction as
the interstitial fluid is removed from them and so they are of
importance in understanding and mitigating against the effects of
subsidence during field exploitation (e.g. Allis et al., 2009; Bromley
et al., 2013; Lynne et al., 2013). The chronology of central TVZ lakes
is little known, except for those ephemeral lakes formed in the
aftermath of large explosive eruptions as fluvial pathways were
choked by ejecta or by pyroclastic dams at the outlets to newly
formed caldera lakes (Manville and Wilson, 2004; Manville et al.,
2007, 2009). The older lakes in which were deposited hundreds of
metres of biogenic sediments over tens of thousands of years had
longer lives (Rosenberg et al., 2009; Downs et al., 2014a) and thus
reflect more durable impounding structures. Where the Waikato
River draining most of the central TVZ cuts through the line of
the Western Dome Belt (Section 4.1.2), the valley walls (Ongaroto
gorge: Fig. 7A) are mostly cut into rhyolite lavas. It is inferred that
the extrusion of these lavas into or across the valley at this point
probably acted as the principal dam for creation of lakes upstream
for some time period between about 300–200 ka (after Houghton
et al., 1991; Leonard, 2003; Downs et al., 2014a).
Second, fluvial sediments and fan depositional systems into
these lakes also introduced debris from surrounding uplands.
The most distinctive of these because of their monolithological
and pebbly nature are greywacke gravels, sourced from exposed
metasedimentary basement rocks and generally mapped in the
subsurface as the Waikora Formation (e.g., Wood, 1983; Milicich
et al., 2013b). They are valuable in providing evidence for drainage
channelways from the greywacke uplands east of the TVZ into
the central depositional areas over a long period of time between
>2.4 Ma (at Kawerau: Milicich et al., 2013a) and 350 ka. They do not
occur after the Whakamaru Group eruptions, and we infer that this
disappearance reflects the diversion of rivers coming out of the axial
ranges, both by accumulation of Whakamaru-group ignimbrites
on the Kaingaroa Plateau and the development of fault-controlled
basins and valleys on the western border of the ranges that diverted
rivers into a northerly directed course.
The Waikato River (Fig. 7A) appears to have been the major
drainage from the central TVZ for some time, flowing along a
narrowly defined route close to its present course through the
Whakamaru area and north to Hinuera throughout the period fol-
lowing the Whakamaru events at 350–340 ka. The Whakamaru
ignimbrite itself infills an old palaeovalley (of a size appropriate
to be that of the Waikato River) at Maraetai (on the west side
of Mangakino: Martin, 1965), and is underlain by thick lacustrine
sediments infilling an earlier Mangakino basin (Wood, 1987), so
the proto-Waikato River appears also to have followed the same
course prior to 350 ka. In addition, as far as geological observa-
tions allow, the ridge of high ground stretching from the Waiotapu
area towards Rotorua has for a considerable time period been a
watershed between drainages flowing northeastwards to the Bay
of Plenty coast and southwestwards to the Waikato River valley
 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187
(Wilson et al., 2010). This ridge would thus represent the northeast-
erly limit of lacustrine sediments in central TVZ geothermal fields,
and this is borne out by the reinterpretation of fine grained sedi-
ments at Kawerau as marine, rather than lacustrine (Milicich et al.,
2013b). Greater thicknesses of marine and fluvial sediments with
abundant interbedded tephras are exposed farther north, towards
and on the Bay of Plenty coastline (e.g. Healy and Ewart, 1965;
Bailey and Carr, 1994; Manning, 1996).
4.3. Magmatism in the central TVZ
Magmatism in the central TVZ is made visible through three
phenomena. The first of these is through volcanic activity where,
for all but a handful of examples, the evolved nature of the magma
composition indicates that it stalled in and assimilated some com-
ponent of the quartzofeldspathic crust (Graham et al., 1995; Price
et al., 2005), and hence must have resided for some time within
the top ∼16 km of the crust. The second, but found only in one
example, is at Ngatamariki, where a plutonic component has been
directly reached by drilling (Browne et al., 1992). The third, clearly
expressed only at the present day and for the geologically recent
past, is through geothermal systems where the presence of specific
components in the fluids indicates a strong magmatic component
(Giggenbach, 1992, 1995; Christenson et al., 2002; Chambefort
et al., 2015).
Studies of volcanic compositions, and particularly indicators
of crustal processing and depth controls, such as strontium iso-
topes and volatile contents in melt inclusions suggest that large
shallow magma bodies that might be considered ideal sources for
geothermal systems are generally of evolved compositions. Basaltic
to andesitic magmas tend to be processed deeper in the crust, with
multiple holding bodies and limited development of large fluid cir-
culation systems (e.g. Ruapehu: Christenson and Wood, 1993; Price
et al., 2005). The large, melt-dominant rhyolite magma bodies that
feed caldera-sized eruptions, as well as other smaller events, accu-
mulate at shallow levels (4–8 km) on the basis of volatile contents
(Liu et al., 2006; Johnson et al., 2011; Bégué et al., 2015). The body of
magma that actually is erupted is derived from comparably sized or
larger underlying source zones, in which melt is a subordinate frac-
tion, and assimilation of older plutonic materials and country rocks
plus crystal fractionation occurs (Hildreth, 1981; the mush model of
Bachmann and Bergantz, 2004; Hildreth, 2004). Such deeper zones
extend probably to the base of the quartzofeldspathic-dominated
crust at 15–16 km depth and downwards into mafic deep crustal
roots and into the mantle. However, the picture that is arising
from geochronological controls is that the melt-dominant bodies
are very rapidly accumulated (of the order of 101 –103 years) and
then completely emptied during eruptions, such that for most of
the time, the magmatic system contains only dispersed melt (e.g.,
at Taupo: Allan et al., 2013; Barker et al., 2014). The overall effect
is that the scale and lifetime of any geothermal circulation system
associated with large silicic volcanic systems will be controlled by
the lifetime of the deeper crustal magmatic system (of the order of
104 –>105 years) and are likely to respond too sluggishly to reflect
changes in the surficial volcanic tempo on timescales of less than
104 years.
A plutonic component is seen in situ at Ngatamariki, where both
the intrusions and their surficial lava equivalent have been recog-
nised (Browne et al., 1992; Chambefort et al., 2014). U–Pb dating of
zircons resolves the ages of the oldest (0.716 ± 0.017 Ma; 95% con-
fidence) and youngest (0.655 ± 0.016 Ma) phases of the intrusion,
and a petrographically correlated lava dome (0.681 ± 0.022 Ma).
The age data and petrographic studies confirm that material of an
age of >350 ka and younger is unaffected by alteration from that
intrusion and that the modern system is superimposed on the older
one.
181
Perceptions of the magmatic components in geothermal fluids
and their indications of controls on the present-day geothermal
systems reflect to some extent the contrast between two end-
member models. The first is that each system directly reflects a
plutonic heat source (as demonstrably the case in the past, for
example, at Ngatamariki: Arehart et al., 2002; Chambefort et al.,
2014), and the second is that the spacing and size of the sys-
tems can be considered to reflect fluid dynamical instabilities in
fluid circulation above a uniform hotplate at depth (McNabb, 1975,
1992; Kissling and Weir, 2005), the latter locally modified by
structural controls (Kaya et al., 2014). Geochemical evidence for
a magmatic component is common at many fields (Giggenbach,
1995; Christenson et al., 2002), yet perceptions of the prolonged
lifetime of many fields (e.g. Grindley, 1965) are at odds with the
expected lifetime of the hydrothermal system from a single intru-
sion (Cathles et al., 1997; Hayba and Ingebritsen, 1997). In the
cases of Kawerau and Ngatamariki, there is clear evidence for two
temporally independent but geographically coincident geothermal
systems, the earlier examples being linked to specific definable
episodes of magmatic intrusion and volcanic activity (Arehart et al.,
2002; Milicich et al., 2013a,b; Chambefort et al., 2014). The extent
to which older systems may be present in the subsurface through-
out the TVZ is uncertain, as drilling is confined to presently active
areas, and the clay cap that is responsible for the low-resistivity
anomalies seen at geothermal fields (Heise et al., 2008) may be too
deeply buried and itself (re-) altered.
4.4. Tectonism in the central TVZ
Any discussion of tectonism in the modern central TVZ cannot
be separated from the inference that the tectonic structures and
many of the associated features of the TVZ may be inherited and
extend geographically beyond the volcanic or magmatic features
of this area (Section 3.3). Here we briefly focus on aspects of the
tectonics that are directly related to the magmatic and volcanic
processes, covering (a) the styles of tectonism that are localised
to the central TVZ volcanoes but which are not accompanied by
any signs of volcanism, and (b) facets of tectonic activity that are
intimately linked to volcanic eruptions. See Rowland et al. (2010)
and Villamor et al. (2011) for more comprehensive reviews in these
two fields, respectively.
Recorded seismicity is overwhelmingly though not exclusively
focused within the Taupo Rift and is characterised by swarm-type
activity, likely driven by fluid flow, with predominantly normal
focal mechanisms (Bibby et al., 1995; Bryan et al., 1999). Source
volumes are typically less than a few tens of cubic kilometres and
are most commonly localised at depths of 4–7 km (Sherburn, 1992).
Rare moderate to large (M6) main shock events have occurred in the
historical record, including the 1983 M5.1Waiotapu event located
within the TRB (Smith et al., 1984). Three swarms of larger volume
occurred over the last 100 years in the vicinity of Taupo volcano
(the 1922, 1964–1965, 1983 Taupo swarms: Grindley and Hull,
1986), and have been attributed to magmatic inflation and defla-
tion, or degassing (Ellis et al., 2007; Smith et al., 2007). Each swarm
produced uplift over a protracted period of time (several months)
followed by fault rupture in two cases (1922, 1983), and regional-
scale subsidence. The 1922 swarm in particular was notable for its
disruption to the shallow hydrology north of Lake Taupo.
Paleoseismic studies capture fault displacements using surfaces
<61 kyr in age and show that over this time period the Taupo
Rift accommodates much, although not all, of the geodetic exten-
sion across central TVZ (Nicol et al., 2006; Berryman et al., 2008;
Rowland et al., 2010; Villamor et al., 2011). Although individual
faults accrue slip somewhat erratically in time and space, Nicol
et al. (2006) argue that such variations even out across the entire
Taupo Rift on million year time scales. Such studies additionally
182 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187
demonstrate that some faults accrue displacement coeval with
nearby volcanic eruptions (Berryman et al., 2008), which Villamor
et al. (2011) attribute to stress transfer between faults and mag-
matic storage zones. However, within the active Okataina volcanic
centre, where there is a ready supply of magma, dike intrusion pre-
vails as the dominant extension mechanism (Nairn and Cole, 1981;
Seebeck and Nicol, 2009).
Although rifting processes are considered by Nicol et al. (2006)
to be uniform in the long term and to reflect geodetic rifting rates,
studies of the interactions of tectonics with volcanism during and
after eruptions suggest that this view may be too simple. Allan
et al. (2012) document evidence for lateral transport of magma by
diking during the 25.4 ka Oruanui eruption and infer that stresses
associated with a major rifting episode controlled the dike propa-
gation and the starting and stopping of the eruption. Downs et al.
(2014b) propose that a large part of the displacement across the
Paeroa fault zone was related to eruption of the 340 ka Paeroa
Subgroup of ignimbrites. The overall contributions of steady-state
faulting processes (particularly in the Taupo Rift) versus cata-
strophic readjustments associated with volcanic activity have yet
to be reconciled, and the question as to whether volcanism (and
its associated magmatism) controls faulting or vice versa is not
resolved.
5. Concepts and conundrums
There are many aspects of the central TVZ that represent con-
tinuing challenges in understanding the history and evolution of
the geothermal systems in this area, and the potential effects of
any exploitation beyond that being undertaken at the present day.
Some of these aspects are highlighted here as a spur to continued
investigations.
The big picture – why is there a central TVZ? The remaining
first-order question is why is there such a localisation of felsic mag-
matism and volcanism and the associated abundance of geothermal
systems that collectively define the central TVZ. Why is there such
a localised hot spot in an arc setting? Any explanations that invoke
intracrustal processes (e.g., Hochstein, 1995) do not work because
the deformation rate in the crust increases from south to north
(Wallace et al., 2004;Fig. 6), yet the felsic magmatism/volcanism
stops around Kawerau and has apparently done so for at least the
past ∼1 Myr. If a mantle source for the unusual thermal flux is
invoked, then a causative role likely lies in the nature of the sub-
ducted overthickened oceanic crust of the Hikurangi Plateau, and
a role for step faults in this crust perhaps inducing localised man-
tle upwelling (Reyners, 2013). However, the model put forward by
Timm et al. (2014) proposes a much larger extent of the Hikurangi
plateau crust to the north of the TVZ. The two data sets need to be
reconciled before a more robust model for the thermal focus that is
the central TVZ can be developed through modelling of the mantle
response to the unusually thick subducted plate.
Spatial separations of geothermal systems and volcanism. As
discussed previously, there are many ongoing questions about
the nature of magma systems in the central TVZ and their
inter-relationships with geothermal systems. At present, silicic vol-
canism is overwhelmingly concentrated in two foci, Taupo and
Okataina, and has been for the last ∼60 kyr, yet all indications are
that the exceptionally high heat flux through the TRB has contin-
ued throughout this time period. This raises the issue as to why
volcanism is so limited in scope in the TRB if the input of heat there
is driven by magma at depth. Also there are questions about what
does the present-day distribution of geothermal systems actually
represent? Electrical resistivity surveys have been highly success-
ful in locating geothermal fields in the central TVZ. However, earlier
inferences that the anomalously low resistivities were due to the
uprise of alkaline chloride waters (e.g. Hedenquist, 1986) have now
largely been replaced by the notion that the exceptionally low
shallow-level resistivities are controlled by clay-alteration prod-
ucts (e.g. Heise et al., 2008, at Rotokawa), and that the deeper
feeder zones that contain the chloride waters are less conductive.
For example, horizontal 2-D slices through the top 20 km of crust
below the central TVZ show few clear zones of higher conductivity
between the shallow highly conductive zones matched to indi-
vidual geothermal systems and the deep conductors at 15 ± 5 km
depth that are inferred to reflect partially molten rock (Heise et al.,
2007, 2010). The distribution of surface geothermal systems does
not therefore permit identification of all possible areas where high-
temperature geothermal fluids might be present in the upper crust.
How stable are the geothermal systems in position? By this we
mean if geophysical surveys and field mapping have identified all
surface areas of active and extinct fluid flow in the central TVZ,
how have the systems survived burial by volcanic products and/or
destruction by caldera collapse? Does the lack of relatively shal-
low geophysical anomalies (in the top 2–3 km of crust) mean that
there are no undiscovered geothermal systems that became extinct
through withdrawal of their heat source, or destruction by erup-
tion of their host rocks or by burial under volcanic products? Some
lines of evidence suggest that in reality geothermal systems may be
remarkably robust against volcanic events. On a modest scale, the
destruction of the former Rotomahana geothermal system in the
1886 Tarawera eruption and its recovery in the form of Waimangu
(Simmons et al., 1993) demonstrates that catastrophic destruction
of the surface features can have little or no effect on the deep-fluid
upflow. On a large scale at Taupo, products of the Oruanui erup-
tion are locally rich in hydrothermally altered materials (Wilson,
2001) suggesting that a substantial hydrothermal system was dis-
rupted during that event. The modern resistivity pattern below
the lake (Caldwell and Bibby, 1992) closely matches in the shape
of the <50 Ohm-m resistivity contour the outline of the structural
caldera collapse area (Davy and Caldwell, 1998), suggesting that
the destroyed geothermal system has re-established itself and is
resuming fluid outflow (see Ellis et al., 2007, Fig. 2). The thermal
roots of geothermal systems thus appear to lie at depths that are,
in the long term, immune to the vagaries of large-scale volcanism.
How steady-state are the geothermal systems? Although individ-
ual fields are observed to be moribund or extinct, particularly in
the line of resistivity anomalies along the western edge of the
zone of intense modern faulting (Henneberger and Browne, 1988;
Campbell et al., 2004; Drake et al., 2014), there is almost noth-
ing known about how much and over what timescales the thermal
and mass fluxes of fluids can vary. The positions and intensities of
magma fluxes are documented from surface volcanism to change
over periods of 103 to 105 years, yet there is much less informa-
tion on the responses of any associated geothermal systems. Only
two examples are now documented at Kawerau and Ngatamariki
where geological evidence coupled with U–Pb dating of zircons in
key units shows there to have been an earlier system, independent
of the modern one, reflecting earlier phases of felsic intrusion and
surface volcanism (Milicich et al., 2013b; Chambefort et al., 2014).
In addition, although historic rift-related faulting in the TVZ has
reached to depths of 8 km or so (e.g. in 1987 at Edgecumbe in the
northern TVZ: Anderson and Webb, 1989) there is no information
on how rupture to that depth might influence (or in turn be influ-
enced by) fluid flow in nearby geothermal systems. The interplay
between the development of system permeability through faulting
versus the loss of that permeability through water-rock interaction
and mineral deposition is an important long-term consideration for
utilisation at geothermal fields, but has been little explored (André
et al., 2006; Dempsey et al., 2012; Ingebritsen and Gleeson, 2015).
Knowledge as to whether deep geothermal fluid flow (∼10 to ∼3 km
depth) is steady state, or driven by pulses of flow as intrusions are
 C.J.N. Wilson, J.V. Rowland / Geothermics 59 (2016) 168–187
emplaced (e.g. Chambefort et al., 2015; Weis, 2015), or as fluid
pressures influence the fracture permeability under the prevail-
ing local stress regime (e.g., Hayes et al., 2004) is also important
but lacking at present. Application of downhole seismic techniques
may allow the microseismic accompaniment to fluid flow to be
imaged and these issues to be addressed on a short term basis, but
the effects of large-scale seismicity and faulting on patterns of fluid
flow in the geothermal systems are yet to be experienced.
Acknowledgements
We thank the former Foundation for Research, Science and Tech-
nology for funding support under the programme on Geothermal –
Deep Resources and Environmental Effects. CJNW acknowledges
continuing support under the GNS Science Core Science Area
Geothermal Research Programme (courtesy of GNS Science) and
award of a James Cook Fellowship from the Royal Society of New
Zealand. We thank present and former staff at GNS Science for
innumerable discussions, with particular acknowledgements to
Stephen Bannister, Hugh Bibby, Grant Caldwell, Isabelle Chambe-
fort, Susan Ellis, Weibke Heise, Graham Leonard, Vern Manville,
Sarah Milicich, Nick Mortimer, Martin Reyners, Mike Rosenberg,
Vaughan Stagpoole, Pilar Villamor and Laura Wallace. Others who
have contributed in various ways to our understanding (without
necessarily sharing our opinions or interpretations) include Aidan
Allan, Kelvin Berryman, Pat Browne, Roger Briggs, Jim Cole, Chad
Deering, Darren Gravley, Bruce Houghton, Ted Lloyd, Ian Nairn,
Andy Nicol, Rick Sibson, Stuart Simmons, and Peter Wood. Many
thanks to all.
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