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

Explanation

A caldera is a crater formed after the eruption of a volcano. The caldera is formed when the volcano collapses into itself. Volcanoes are impressive forces of nature with the power to wreak enormous destruction when they erupt. One sign of that power is a caldera, which is a crater formed after a volcano has erupted and collapsed into itself. Some of the more ancient calderas formed mountains and valleys in the Rockies and elsewhere. A related word in English is cauldron, whose modern meaning (a vessel for hot liquids) can remind us of the molten lava of a volcano.

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 • May 20, 2025

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 • Dec. 2, 2024

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 • Jun. 3, 2024

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 • May 21, 2024

Yellowstone obviously was of this second type, but Christiansen couldn’t find the caldera anywhere.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• hole
• mouth
• pit