Geophysical imaging of buried volcanic structures within a continental back-arc basin: The Central Volcanic Region, North Island, New Zealand

Hidden beneath the ~ 2 km thick low-velocity volcaniclastics on the western margin of the Central Volcanic Region, North Island, New Zealand, are two structures that represent the early history of volcanic activity in a continental back-arc. These ~ 20 × 20 km structures, at Tokoroa and Mangakino, form an adjacent gravity high and low, respectively. Interpretations from seismic refraction arrivals and gravity modelling indicate the − 65 mgal Mangakino residual gravity anomaly can be modelled, in part, by two low-density bodies that reach depths of ~ 6.5 km, whereas the Tokoroa gravity anomaly is due to a higher density rock coming, at most, to within ~ 650 m of the surface. The Mangakino anomaly is interpreted to be due to the remnants of magma chambers that fed large ignimbrite eruptions from about 1.2 Ma. An andesite volcano or complex volcanic structure is the preferred interpretation for the Tokoroa gravity high. The size of the putative volcanic structure is comparable to the presently active Tongariro Volcanic Complex in the centre of North Island.