Flights between Australia and Tonga should be back up and running by Wednesday after plumes of volcanic ash above the small island nation grounded planes.

Large ash cloud from a volcano in Tonga is affecting flights in the region, with aviation authorities issuing an alert.

Kiwi Simon Turner took toasting marshmallows to the extreme this week when he threw his rod out over an active lava lake inside Marcum Crater in Ambrym, Vanuatu.

Videographer Bradley Ambrose films colleague Simon Turner having a beer and roasting a marshmallow at Marcum Crater in Ambrym, Vanuatu. As you do.

Kerry Suter offsets his sedentary IT professional lifestyle with as much running as the day allows.

At first blush the proposal to ban cars from the summits of Auckland's volcanoes seems outrageous; on reflection, not so bad.

Japan could be wiped off the face of the earth by a massive volcanic eruption some time in the next century, killing almost all of its 127m inhabitants, a new study says.

Rescue workers have found 30 or more people unconscious and believed to be dead near the peak of an erupting volcano in central Japan.

Cruise around or fly over the volcano at any time and white plumes of steam and gas sit like a cloud above, spurting from its craters, hissing vents, steaming fumaroles and boiling mud pools.

A volcano erupted yesterday in eastern Papua New Guinea, spewing rocks and ash into the air and forcing the evacuation of local communities, seismologists and reports said.

A spate of small earthquakes around White Island today is not unusual and is nothing to worry about, seismologist John Ristau says.

A NZ couple who swam for their lives when the Indonesian ferry they were on sank say their experience should serve as a warning to other travellers.

Land slips on Maungawhau/Mt Eden have prompted a call for the Government to help ratepayers with urgent restoration work on Auckland's volcanic cones.

Two Kiwi tourists who braved 11 hours clinging to their capsized ferry in Indonesia swam in searing heat and swift seas for up to eight more hours.

The Crown is gifting some of Auckland's most historic and recognisable assets - 14 volcano sites - to a group of 13 iwi and hapu.

Infra-red technology to help aircraft detect volcanic ash is to go into commercial production, allowing planes to see ash 96.54kms ahead.

Some of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the last 2,000 years have left their indelible mark deep within the pristine ice sheet of the Antarctic, a study has found.

A vast ash cloud spewing from an Indonesian volcano has already shut Darwin Airport and is spreading south towards Alice Springs, an expert says.

With over 10 volcanic craters and cones, Mangere is packed with adventures, writes Diana Clement.

We've picked five volcanoes from the more than 50 in the Auckland Volcanic Field.

A look into how some of New Zealand's biggest volcanoes erupted hundreds of years ago could help predict lava flows for future eruptions.

The impact of volcanic eruptions on global warming could provide a new explanation for the so-called “pause” used by sceptics to deny climate change, scientists say.

Digging deep into Rangitoto Island has begun to reveal the explosive secrets of Auckland's youngest volcano - and the risk the city could face in future eruptions.

Rangitoto's explosive history - and what it means for risk to Auckland in the future - will become clearer following a study drilling up to 150m into the island's surface.

2014 is less than a fortnight old and we've already been given two reasons to gnaw our fingernails over the future of civilisation as we know it, writes Paul Thomas.

The risk of a supervolcano eruption powerful enough to wipe out civilisation as we know it is far greater than previously thought, a study has found.