Editing South Island (section)

====Volcanoes====
{{Main|Volcanoes in New Zealand}}

[[File:Banks Peninsula from space.jpg|thumb|right|[[Banks Peninsula]] is roughly circular, with many bays and two deep harbours]]
There are four [[extinct]] volcanoes in the South Island, all located on the east coast.

[[Banks Peninsula]] forms the most prominent of these volcanic features. Geologically, the peninsula comprises the eroded remnants of two large [[shield volcano]]es (Lyttelton formed first, then Akaroa). These formed due to intraplate volcanism between about eleven and eight million years ago ([[Miocene]]) on a continental crust. The peninsula formed as offshore islands, with the volcanoes reaching to about 1,500&nbsp;m above sea level. Two dominant craters formed [[Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō|Lyttelton / Whakaraupō]] and [[Akaroa Harbour|Akaroa]] Harbours.

The [[Canterbury Plains]] formed from the erosion of the [[Southern Alps]] (an extensive and high mountain range caused by the meeting of the [[Indo-Australian Plate|Indo-Australian]] and [[Pacific Plate|Pacific tectonic plates]]) and from the [[alluvial fan]]s created by large [[braided river]]s. These plains reach their widest point where they meet the hilly sub-region of Banks Peninsula. A layer of [[loess]], a rather unstable fine silt deposited by the [[foehn wind]]s which bluster across the plains, covers the northern and western flanks of the peninsula. The portion of the crater rim lying between Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō and Christchurch city forms the [[Port Hills]].

The [[Otago Harbour]] was formed from the drowned remnants of a giant [[shield volcano]], centred close to what is now the town of [[Port Chalmers]]. The remains of this violent origin can be seen in the [[basalt]] of the surrounding hills. The last eruptive phase ended some ten million years ago, leaving the prominent peak of [[Mount Cargill]].

[[Timaru]] was constructed on rolling hills created from the lava flows of the extinct Mount Horrible, which last erupted many thousands of years ago.