caldera

American  

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

noun

• calderas
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• calderas
  plural

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; see 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

See Examples For:

caldera calderas

New events are also appearing along a narrow zone beneath the caldera, notes the analyst, who has now lost their appetite for both food and caution and is writing reports designed to be alarming.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

Anak Krakatau, which means Child of Krakatoa, has been sporadically active since it emerged from the sea at the beginning of last century in the caldera formed after the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

The volcano has been sporadically active since it emerged from the sea at the beginning of last century in the caldera that formed after the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatau.

From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026

Anak Krakatoa, which means Child of Krakatoa, has been sporadically active since it emerged from the sea at the beginning of last century in the caldera formed after the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

Not the smoldering caldera of my former pimple.

From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram

"This magma re-injection model is consistent with the existence of large shallow magma reservoirs beneath other giant calderas like Yellowstone and Toba," says Seama.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

Earth MRI has already shown that lithium prospectors need not stick to calderas.

From Science Magazine ● Jun. 1, 2023

But more modest levels of internal heating have given the moon a subsurface ocean and an icy crust rather than lava-spewing calderas.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 24, 2023

Relics of primordial geological violence are everywhere: plunging rifts and canyons, volcanic calderas, ancient lava flow and a vast, surreal, white desert, almost lunar.

From New York Times ● Nov. 4, 2022

The lava in the calderas boils because of escaping steam, but the vapor emitted is comparatively little, and seldom hangs above the summits in heavy clouds.

From The Elements of Geology by William Harmon Norton

Related Words

• hole
• mouth
• pit