The approximately 53 volcanoes[2] in the field have produced a diverse array of maars (explosion craters), tuff rings, scoria cones, and lava flows.

[6] The field is fuelled entirely by basaltic magma, unlike the explosive subduction-driven volcanism in the central North Island, such as at Mount Ruapehu and Lake Taupō.

[21] Tāmaki Māori myths describe the creation of the volcanic field as a creation of Mataaho (the guardian of the earth's secrets) and his brother Rūaumoko (the god of earthquakes and volcanoes), made as punishment against a tribe of patupaiarehe, supernatural beings living in the Waitākere Ranges, who used deadly magic from the earth to defeat a war party of patupaiarehe from the Hunua Ranges.

[22][23] In some traditions, the fire goddess Mahuika creates the volcanic field as a way to warm Mataaho, after his wife leaves and takes his clothing.

Many of the maunga (mountains) were occupied by substantial Māori pā (fortifications) before Pākehā settlement, and many terraces and other archeological remnants are still visible.

[27] Many of the cones have been levelled or strongly altered, in small part due to the historical Māori use, but mostly through relatively recent quarrying of construction materials (especially scoria).

[27] In the 1880s, Takarunga / Mount Victoria and Maungauika / North Head were developed as military installations due to fears of a Russian invasion.

[27] The cones are also protected by a 1915 law, the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act 1915, which was passed due to early concern that the distinctive landscape was being eroded, especially by quarrying.

The legislation specified that the land be held in trust "for the common benefit of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau and the other people of Auckland".

Most eruptive events in the field have been small volume, very constrained in time, typically involving less than 0.005 km3 (0.0012 cu mi) of magma making its way to the surface.

[20] Modelling has suggested that the next eruption in the volcanic field is likely to be associated with water and in the area extending from the central city to its north and northeast suburbs surrounding and including the Waitemata Harbour.

Auckland also has a seismic monitoring network comprising six seismometers—including one 250 metres (820 ft) deep at Riverhead—and three repeaters within the region that will detect the small tremors likely to precede any volcanic activity.