caldera

American  

[kal-der-uh, kawl-] / kælˈdɛr ə, kɔl- /

noun

1. a large, basinlike depression resulting from the explosion or collapse of the center of a volcano.

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caldera British  

/ kælˈdɛərə, ˈkɔːldərə /

noun

1. a large basin-shaped crater at the top of a volcano, formed by the collapse or explosion of the cone See cirque

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caldera Scientific  

/ kăl-dâr′ə,-dîr′ə,käl- /

1. A large, roughly circular crater left after a volcanic explosion or the collapse of a volcanic cone. Calderas are typically much wider in diameter than the openings of the vents from which they were formed.

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Etymology

Origin of caldera

1860–65; < Spanish Caldera, name of a crater on Canary Islands, literally, cauldron < Late Latin caldāria, noun use of feminine of caldārius of warming; caldarium

Example Sentences

Lake Taupō, from which the town takes its name, is a large caldera, a volcano that has collapsed in on itself.

From BBC

Erebus is only a 20-minute helicopter ride from McMurdo, so since the 1960s scientists have studied the volcano and the lava lake that roils within its caldera, occasionally tossing out “bombs” of molten rock.

From Science Magazine

The area surrounding the caldera has been closed to the public since 2008 because of other hazards, including ground cracking, instability in the crater wall and rockfalls.

From Seattle Times

As the reservoir depleted, the ground above it -- the crater within the caldera at the volcano's summit -- suddenly collapsed.

From Science Daily

During the experiments, the optical sensor is kept in a controlled laboratory environment in a building that sits on top of a volcano caldera -- a large depression formed when a volcano erupts and collapses.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• hole
• mouth
• pit