Active Volcanoes in Newfoundland?

As we were recently studying the geology of Newfoundland, someone wondered if we still had active volcanoes.

The short answer is no. All areas that once had them are now so geologically old that once active volcanic regions are long past their active states.

Having said that, a great portion of the central part of the island's crust was built by marine volcanism. Volcanic activity occurred during the Paleozoic about 475 million years ago when the ancient Iapetus Ocean closed and the collision of the African and North American plates led to the creation of the Appalachian Mountains.

This was initially an ocean-ocean collision, very similar to the present type of plate collision that is now forming the islands of Japan. The results were similar as well. Japan is an island arc complex and the same processes were once at work in forming what is now the volcanic portion of central Newfoundland.