Solander Islands
Māori: Hautere | |
|---|---|
Map of the Solander Islands | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Southland District |
| Coordinates | 46°34′S 166°53′E / 46.567°S 166.883°E |
| Area | 120 ha (300 acres) |
| Length | 1.6 km (0.99 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 330 m (1080 ft) |
| Administration | |
New Zealand | |
| Additional information | |
| Age Pleistocene Arc volcano | |
The Solander Islands / Hautere are three eroded remnant volcanic islets towards the western entrance of the Foveaux Strait just beyond New Zealand's South Island. The islands lie 40 km (25 mi) south of the coastline of Fiordland.
The islands are andesite rocks with the tip being a larger submerged stratovolcano, roughly equivalent in size to Mount Taranaki. It was formerly believed that the volcano last erupted roughly 2 million years ago, but in 2008 radiometric dating of rock samples from the main island found that it was between 150,000 and 400,000 years old. In 2013 it was discovered that Little Solander Island had been active even more recently at between 20 and 50,000 years ago.
Administratively, the islands form part of Southland District, making them the only uninhabited outlying island group of New Zealand to be part of a local authority.