Aira Caldera

Aira Caldera is a gigantic volcanic caldera in the south of the island of Kyūshū, Japan. The caldera was created by a massive eruption, approximately 22,000 years ago. The major city of Kagoshima, Kagoshima and the 13,000 year old Sakurajima volcano lies within the caldera. Sakura-jima, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, is a post-caldera cone of the Aira caldera at the northern half of Kagoshima Bay. Eruption of voluminous pyroclastic flows accompanied formation of the 17 x 23 km wide Aira caldera at the eruption 22,000 years ago. Together with a large pumice fall, these amounted to more than 400 km³ of tephra (VEI 7).

References

* cite journal | last = Aramaki | first = Shigeo | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1984 | month = | title = Formation of the Aira Caldera, Southern Kyushu, ∼22,000 Years Ago | journal = Journal of Geophysical Research | volume = 89 | issue = B10 | pages = 8485–8501 | id = | url = http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/1984/JB089iB10p08485.shtml | accessdate = | quote =| doi = 10.1029/JB089iB10p08485