• Question: What Does rhyolite caldera complex mean?? we learnt it at school but didnt really get it?

    Asked by dr0dr3 to David on 24 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: David Pyle

      David Pyle answered on 24 Mar 2011:

      A rhyolite caldera complex is a volcanic system made up of a series of large, overlapping, craters (probably at least 5-10 km diameter; these are the calderas), believed to have been formed during eruptions of rhyolite magma. Rhyolite is silica-rich (70 – 77wt% SiO2) and usually erupts explosively as it is very viscous. There are some large caldera complexes (complex just means there’s more than 1 caldera, and more than 1 eruption) in New Zealand (active); south-west USA (some extinct), and Japan.

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