Blasts From the Past

The most recent one (Taupo, in New Zealand) occurred 26,500 years ago. One from 74,000 years ago (Toba, in Indonesia) left behind a caldera, or giant crater, about the size of Rhode Island. The biggest one yet identified (La Garita, in Colorado) coughed out 1,200 cubic miles of volcanic materials. On this map, sample a selection of the aptly named, though thankfully extremely rare, natural cataclysms known as "supereruptions."—Peter Tyson

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© | Created September 2006