[2] Niuatahi was named by the Tonga Ministry of Lands, Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources.

It is located in the Lau Back-Arc Basin, which consists of oceanic crust that separates the remnant Lau-Colville Ridge and the active Tofua volcanic arc from each other.

Considering its unique tectonic setting, the NE Lau Basin hosts multiple types of submarine volcanism mostly composed by a subduction-related water-fluxed crust melting and crustal extension.

[5] The analysis of the lava rocks from the center of Niuatahi volcano revealed that the products were composed of aphyric to porphyritic with low-K dacite that consists of mostly glassy material.

Meanwhile, in the southeastern part of the caldera, rock samples returned an olivine-bearing basalt composition, pointing to the products being mostly boninite which complies with past research in the area.

[7] In the north, the vents are located at a shallower depth of 1,550 m (5,085 ft) and they emit clear to black smokes with temperatures of 316 °C at most.