Editing Supervolcano (section)

== Massive explosive eruptions ==
{{see also|List of largest volcanic eruptions}}

Volcanic eruptions are classified using the [[volcanic explosivity index]]. It is a [[logarithmic scale]], and an increase of one in VEI number is equivalent to a tenfold increase in volume of erupted material. VEI 7 or VEI 8 eruptions are so powerful that they often form circular calderas rather than [[volcanic cone|cones]] because the downward withdrawal of magma causes the overlying rock mass to collapse into the empty [[magma chamber]] beneath it.

{{anchor|Known supereruptions}} <!--- please always create an anchor for the previous section title when renaming so incoming section links keep working -->

=== Known super eruptions ===
Based on incomplete statistics, at least 60 VEI 8 eruptions have been identified.<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{Cite journal|title = The size and frequency of the largest explosive eruptions on Earth|last = BG|first = Mason|date = 2004|journal = Bull Volcanol|volume = 66|issue = 8|pages = 735–748|doi = 10.1007/s00445-004-0355-9|bibcode = 2004BVol...66..735M|s2cid = 129680497}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" style="whitespace:no-wrap"
|+ Well-known VEI 8 eruptions
!Name
!Zone
!Location
!class=unsortable|Notes
!Years ago (approx.)
!Ejecta bulk volume (approx.)
!class=unsortable|Reference
|-
| [[Toba catastrophe theory|Youngest Toba eruption]]
| [[Lake Toba|Toba Caldera]], [[North Sumatra]]
| [[Sumatra]], Indonesia
| Produced 439–631 million tons of [[sulfuric acid]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 75,000
| style="text-align:right;"|  {{sort|7,600|2,000–13,200&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>}}
|<ref name=sci>{{cite journal|journal= Science|doi=10.1126/science.1141564 |year=2007|title= Middle Paleolithic Assemblages from the Indian Subcontinent Before and After the Toba Super-Eruption|last1= Petraglia|first1= M.|last2= Korisettar|first2= R.|last3= Boivin|first3= N.|last4= Clarkson|first4= C.|last5= Ditchfield|first5= P.|last6= Jones|first6= S.|last7= Koshy|first7= J.|last8= Lahr|first8= M. M.|last9= Oppenheimer|first9= C.|last10=Pyle |first10=D. |last11=Roberts |first11=R. |last12=Schwenninger |first12=J.-L. |last13=Arnold |first13=L. |last14=White |first14=K. |volume= 317|issue= 5834|pages= 114–116|pmid= 17615356|bibcode = 2007Sci...317..114P |s2cid=20380351 |display-authors=8 |url=https://ro.uow.edu.au/era/2117 }}</ref><ref name="Knight, M.D. 1986, p. 10,355">{{cite journal|author=Knight, M.D., Walker, G.P.L., Ellwood, B.B., and Diehl, J.F.|year=1986|title= Stratigraphy, paleomagnetism, and magnetic fabric of the Toba Tuffs: Constraints on their sources and eruptive styles|journal= Journal of Geophysical Research|volume= 91|issue=B10|pages= 10355–10382|doi=10.1029/JB091iB10p10355|bibcode=1986JGR....9110355K}}</ref><ref name="Ninkovich, D. 1978, pp. 286–298">{{cite journal|author=Ninkovich, D., Sparks, R.S.J., and Ledbetter, M.T.|year= 1978|title= The exceptional magnitude and intensity of the Toba eruption, Sumatra: An example of using deep-sea tephra layers as a geological tool|bibcode=1978BVol...41..286N|doi=10.1007/BF02597228|journal= Bulletin Volcanologique|volume= 41|pages=286–298|issue=3|s2cid= 128626019}}</ref><ref name="geo.mtu.edu">{{cite journal|author1=Rose, W.I.|author2=Chesner, C.A.|name-list-style=amp|year=1987|url=http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~raman/papers/RoseTobaFallGeology.pdf|title=Dispersal of ash in the great Toba eruption, 75 ka|journal=Geology|volume=15|pages=913–917|doi=10.1130/0091-7613(1987)15<913:DOAITG>2.0.CO;2|issue=10|issn=0091-7613|bibcode=1987Geo....15..913R|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617032134/http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~raman/papers/RoseTobaFallGeology.pdf|archive-date=17 June 2010}}</ref><ref name="Williams, M.A.J. 1982, pp. 139–162">{{cite journal|author1=Williams, M.A.J. |author2=Royce, K. |name-list-style=amp |year= 1982|doi=10.1016/0031-0182(82)90001-3|title=Quaternary geology of the middle son valley, North Central India: Implications for prehistoric archaeology|journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology|volume=38|issue=3–4|page=139 |bibcode=1982PPP....38..139W }}</ref><ref name="Costa">{{cite journal |doi=10.3389/feart.2014.00016 |author1=Antonio Costa |author2=Victoria C. Smith |author3=Giovanni Macedonio |author4=Naomi E. Matthews |date=2014 |title=The magnitude and impact of the Youngest Toba Tuff super-eruption |journal=Frontiers in Earth Science |volume=2 |page=16 |bibcode=2014FrEaS...2...16C |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lin |first1=Jiamei |last2=Abbott |first2=Peter M. |last3=Sigl |first3=Michael |last4=Steffensen |first4=Jørgen P. |last5=Mulvaney |first5=Robert |last6=Severi |first6=Mirko |last7=Svensson |first7=Anders |date=2023 |title=Bipolar ice-core records constrain possible dates and global radiative forcing following the ~74 ka Toba eruption |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=312 |pages=108162 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108162|bibcode=2023QSRv..31208162L |doi-access=free }}</ref>
|-
| [[Flat Landing Brook Formation]]
| Tetagouche Group
| [[New Brunswick]], Canada
| Possibly the largest known supereruption. Existence as a single eruption is controversial, and it could have been a multiple 2,000+ km<sup>3</sup> event that spanned less than a million years
| style="text-align:right;" | 466,000,000
| style="text-align:right;" | {{sort|7,000|2,000–12,000&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>}}
|<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dnr-mrn.gnb.ca/Lexicon/Lexicon/Lexicon_View.aspx?UnitId=137|title=Lexique du substrat rocheux|website=dnr-mrn.gnb.ca|access-date=2019-12-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mineralogicalassociation.ca/doc/StJohns2012_GAC-MAC_Abstracts.pdf |title=A mid-Darriwilian super volcano in northern New Brunswick, rapid climate change and the start of the great Ordovician biodiversification event |pages=118–119 |access-date=2023-11-11 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191212184601/http://www.mineralogicalassociation.ca/doc/StJohns2012_GAC-MAC_Abstracts.pdf |archive-date=2019-12-12 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| [[Wah Wah Springs Caldera]]
| Indian Peak–Caliente Caldera Complex
| [[Utah]], United States
| The largest of the Indian Peak-Caliente Caldera Complex eruptions, preserved as the Wah Wah Springs Tuff; includes pyroclastic flows more than {{Convert|500|m|ft|sp=us}} thick
| style="text-align:right;" | 30,600,000
| style="text-align:right;" | {{sort|5,700|5,500–5,900&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>}}
|<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tingey|first1=David G. |last2=Hart|first2=Garret L. |last3=Gromme |first3=Sherman |last4=Deino |first4=Alan L. |last5=Christiansen |first5=Eric H. |last6=Best|first6=Myron G. |date=2013-08-01|title=The 36–18 Ma Indian Peak–Caliente ignimbrite field and calderas, southeastern Great Basin, USA: Multicyclic super-eruptions |journal=Geosphere |language=en |volume=9|issue=4|pages=864–950 |doi=10.1130/GES00902.1 |bibcode=2013Geosp...9..864B |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="geology.com">{{Cite web |last=King |first=Hobart M. |title = Volcanic Explosivity Index: Measuring the size of an eruption |url=https://geology.com/stories/13/volcanic-explosivity-index/ |website=Geology.com}}</ref>
|-
| [[La Garita Caldera]]
| [[San Juan volcanic field]]
| [[Colorado]], United States
| [[Fish Canyon Tuff|Fish Canyon eruption]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 27,800,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 5,000&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>
|<ref>{{cite web|title=La Garita Caldera |url=http://staff.aist.go.jp/s-takarada/CEV/newsletter/lagarita.html |last=Ort |first=Michael |publisher=[[Northern Arizona University]] |date=22 September 1997 |access-date=5 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519165154/http://staff.aist.go.jp/s-takarada/CEV/newsletter/lagarita.html |archive-date=19 May 2011 }}</ref><ref name="Lipman">{{cite journal |last=Lipman |first=Peter W. |title=Geologic Map of the Central San Juan Caldera Cluster, Southwestern Colorado |series=USGS Investigations Series I-2799 |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i2799/ |date=2007-11-02 |access-date=6 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831221119/http://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i2799/ |archive-date=31 August 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|Grey's Landing Supereruption
|[[Yellowstone hotspot]]
|United States
|Deposited the Grey's Landing Ignimbrite
| style="text-align:right;"| 8,720,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 2,800&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>
|<ref name="New">{{cite journal |last1=Knott |first1=Thomas |last2=Branney |first2=M. |last3=Reichow |first3=Marc |last4=Finn |first4=David |last5=Tapster |first5=Simon |last6=Coe |first6=Robert |title=Discovery of two new super-eruptions from the Yellowstone hotspot track (USA): Is the Yellowstone hotspot waning? |journal=Geology |date=June 2020 |volume=48 |issue=9 |pages=934–938 |doi=10.1130/G47384.1 |bibcode=2020Geo....48..934K |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341810855 |access-date=21 June 2022|doi-access=free }}</ref>
|-
|[[La Pacana]]
|[[Andean Volcanic Belt#Central Volcanic Zone|Andes Central Volcanic Zone]]
|Chile
|Responsible for the Antana Ignimbrite
|style="text-align:right;"|4,000,000
|style="text-align:right;"|2,500&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>
|<ref name="Lindsay2001">{{Cite journal|last=Lindsay|first=J. M.|date=2001-03-01|title=Magmatic Evolution of the La Pacana Caldera System, Central Andes, Chile: Compositional Variation of Two Cogenetic, Large-Volume Felsic Ignimbrites|journal=Journal of Petrology|volume=42|issue=3|pages=459–486|doi=10.1093/petrology/42.3.459|issn=0022-3530|bibcode=2001JPet...42..459L|doi-access=free}}</ref>
|-
| [[Huckleberry Ridge Tuff|Huckleberry Ridge eruption]]
| [[Yellowstone hotspot]]
|[[Idaho]], United States
| Huckleberry Ridge Tuff; consisted of three distinct eruptions separated by years to decades
| style="text-align:right;" | 2,100,000
| style="text-align:right;" |{{sort|2,475|2,450–2,500&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>}}
| <ref name="largeeruptions" /><ref name="usgs.gov">{{Cite web |title=What is a supervolcano? What is a supereruption? |date= July 2024 |url= https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-a-supervolcano-what-a-supereruption |publisher=USGS}}</ref>
|-
| [[Whakamaru Caldera]]
| [[Taupō Volcanic Zone]]
| [[North Island]], New Zealand
| Whakamaru Ignimbrite/Mount Curl Tephra
| style="text-align:right;"|  340,000
| style="text-align:right;"|  2,000&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>
| <ref>{{Cite journal|last=Froggatt |first=P. C. |author2=Nelson, C. S. |author3=Carter, L. |author4=Griggs, G. |author5= Black, K. P.  |date=13 February 1986|title=An exceptionally large late Quaternary eruption from New Zealand |journal=Nature |volume=319 |pages=578–582 |doi=10.1038/319578a0 |quote=The minimum total volume of tephra is 1,200 km<sup>3</sup> but probably nearer 2,000 km<sup>3</sup>, ... |issue=6054|bibcode = 1986Natur.319..578F |s2cid=4332421 }}</ref>
|-
|[[Yellowstone hotspot#Heise volcanic field|Heise Volcanic Field]]
| [[Yellowstone hotspot]]
| [[Idaho]], United States
| Kilgore Tuff
| style="text-align:right;"|  4,500,000
| style="text-align:right;"|  1,800&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>
| <ref name="Morgan">{{cite journal|doi=10.1130/B25519.1 |author1=Lisa A. Morgan  |author2=William C. McIntosh |s2cid=53648675 |name-list-style=amp |title=Timing and development of the Heise volcanic field, Snake River Plain, Idaho, western USA|journal=GSA Bulletin|year=2005|volume=117|issue=3–4|pages=288–306|bibcode = 2005GSAB..117..288M }}</ref>
|-
| McMullen Supereruption
| [[Yellowstone hotspot]]
|Southern [[Idaho]], United States
| McMullen Ignimbrite
| style="text-align:right;" | 8,990,000
| style="text-align:right;" |1,700&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>
| <ref name="New"/>
|-
|[[Yellowstone hotspot#Heise volcanic field|Heise Volcanic Field]]
| [[Yellowstone hotspot]]
| [[Idaho]], United States
| Blacktail <!-- Creek -->Tuff
| style="text-align:right;"|  6,000,000
| style="text-align:right;"|  1,500&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>
| <ref name="Morgan" />
|-
| [[Cerro Guacha]]
| [[Altiplano–Puna volcanic complex]]
| [[Sur Lípez Province|Sur Lípez]], Bolivia
| Guacha ignimbrite, two smaller eruptions identified
| style="text-align:right;"|  5,700,000
| style="text-align:right;"|  1,300&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>
| <ref>{{cite journal|last1=Salisbury|first1=M. J.|last2=Jicha|first2=B. R.|last3=de Silva|first3=S. L.|last4=Singer|first4=B. S.|last5=Jimenez|first5=N. C.|last6=Ort|first6=M. H.|title=40Ar/39Ar chronostratigraphy of Altiplano-Puna volcanic complex ignimbrites reveals the development of a major magmatic province|journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin|date=21 December 2010|volume=123|issue=5–6|pages=821–840|doi=10.1130/B30280.1|bibcode=2011GSAB..123..821S|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
|-
| [[Mangakino caldera complex|Mangakino Caldera]]
| [[Taupō Volcanic Zone]]
| [[North Island]], New Zealand
| Kidnappers eruption
| style="text-align:right;"|  1,080,000
| style="text-align:right;"|  1,200&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>
| <ref>[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012AGUFM.V31C2797C Rejuvenation and Repeated Eruption of a 1.0 Ma Supervolcanic System at Mangakino Caldera, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand] American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2012, abstract #V31C-2797. Retrieved 10 September 2017.</ref>
|-
| [[Oruanui eruption]]
| [[Taupō Volcanic Zone]]
| [[North Island]], New Zealand
| [[Taupō Volcano]] ([[Lake Taupō]])
| style="text-align:right;"|  26,500
| style="text-align:right;"|  1,170&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>
|<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wilson|first=C. J. N|date=2001-12-01|title=The 26.5ka Oruanui eruption, New Zealand: an introduction and overview|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377027301002396|journal=Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research|language=en|volume=112|issue=1|pages=133–174|doi=10.1016/S0377-0273(01)00239-6|bibcode=2001JVGR..112..133W|issn=0377-0273}}</ref>
|-
| [[Galán]]
| [[Andean Volcanic Belt#Central Volcanic Zone|Andes Central Volcanic Zone]]
| [[Catamarca Province|Catamarca]], Argentina
|Consisted of three distinct eruptions, separated by 30-40 thousand years
| style="text-align:right;"|  2,500,000
| style="text-align:right;"|  1,050&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>
|<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kay|first1=Suzanne Mahlburg|last2=Coira|first2=Beatriz|last3=Wörner|first3=Gerhard|last4=Kay|first4=Robert W.|last5=Singer|first5=Bradley S.|date=2011-12-01|title=Geochemical, isotopic and single crystal 40Ar/39Ar age constraints on the evolution of the Cerro Galán ignimbrites|journal=Bulletin of Volcanology|language=en|volume=73|issue=10|pages=1487–1511|doi=10.1007/s00445-010-0410-7|bibcode=2011BVol...73.1487K|issn=1432-0819|doi-access=free|hdl=11336/196181|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
|-
| [[Lava Creek Tuff|Lava Creek eruption]]
| [[Yellowstone hotspot]]
| [[Idaho]], [[Montana]], and [[Wyoming]], United States
| [[Lava Creek Tuff]]; consisted of two distinct eruptions separated by years
| style="text-align:right;"|  640,000
| style="text-align:right;"|  1,000&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>
| <ref name="largeeruptions">[http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/largeeruptions.cfm Large Holocene Eruptions]. ''Global Volcanism Program''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213010407/http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/largeeruptions.cfm |date=13 February 2010 }}. Volcano.si.edu. Retrieved on 2011-11-18.</ref><ref name="usgs.gov"/><ref name="geology.com"/>
|}