caldera

[kal-der-uh, kawl-]

noun

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

caldera

/ 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

caldera

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of caldera¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of caldera¹

C19: from Spanish Caldera (literally: _cauldron ), name of a crater in the Canary Islands

Example Sentences

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

Read more on BBC

It was in an area overlooking the caldera - the large crater of the volcano - and the boy would not have survived the fall, Ms Ferracane said.

Read more on 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.

Read more on 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.

Read more on Seattle Times

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

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• hole 
• mouth 
• pit