Kaitake Range

"At the beginning of Hāwera time a fresh active center arose at Kaitake. It shows no obvious structural relationship with the Sugar Loaves and appears to have been the first activity on a new line. Volcanism from this center continued during three episodes of ring-plain formation alternating with two episodes of marine cliffing, before it became extinct. The agglomerates of the younger two ring plains have been seen to overlie marine sediments deposited during the previous Kaiatea II and III periods of marine cliffing. The volcano produced is now so greatly eroded that the detailed form of the peak is unknown. However, the shape of the lower parts of the volcano, still well preserved, suggests that it was essentially a simple cone on the Egmont plan rather than a complex feature like the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park."[3] It can be postulated that that all volcanoes in the Taranaki Volcanic Lineament have had a similar potential for instability and were stratovolcanoes of similar size and shape to the present Mount Taranaki between major collapse events given their debris plains. They may well have had major collapse cycles similar to that presently shown by Mount Taranaki which is a potential maximum size of collapse of 7.9 km³ (1.9 cu mi) every 30,000 to 35,000 years.[1]