Editing Yellowstone Caldera (section)

{{Short description|Volcanic caldera in Yellowstone National Park in the United states}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
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{{Infobox mountain
| name = Yellowstone Caldera
| photo = Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley.jpg
| photo_caption = The northeastern part of Yellowstone Caldera, with the [[Yellowstone River]] flowing through [[Hayden Valley]] and the caldera rim in the distance
| location = [[Yellowstone National Park]], [[Wyoming]], United States
| elevation_ft = 9203
| elevation_ref = 
| prominence = 
| range = [[Rocky Mountains]]
| last_eruption = 70,000 years ago
| coordinates = {{coord|44|24|N|110|42|W|display=inline,title|type:mountain_region:US|name=Yellowstone Caldera}}
| topo = [[United States Geological Survey|USGS]] Yellowstone National Park
| age = 2,150,000–70,000 years
| first_ascent = 
| easiest_route = [[Hiking|Hike]]/[[Automobile|auto]]/[[bus]]
| volcanic_field = [[Yellowstone Plateau]]
}}

'''Yellowstone Caldera''', also known as the '''Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field''', is a [[Quaternary]] [[caldera]] complex and volcanic plateau spanning parts of [[Wyoming]], [[Idaho]], and [[Montana]]. It is driven by the [[Yellowstone hotspot]] and is largely within [[Yellowstone National Park]]. The field comprises four overlapping calderas, multiple [[lava dome]]s, [[resurgent dome]]s, [[Yellowstone Lake|crater lakes]], and numerous [[Bimodal volcanism|bimodal]] [[lava|lavas]] and [[tuff|tuffs]] of basaltic and rhyolitic composition, originally covering about {{convert|17000|km2|mi2|abbr=on|sp=us|order=out}}.

Volcanism began 2.15 million years ago and proceeded through three major volcanic cycles. Each cycle involved a large [[ignimbrite]] eruption, continental-scale ash-fall, and caldera collapse, preceded and followed by smaller lava flows and tuffs. The first and also the largest cycle was the [[Huckleberry Ridge Tuff]] eruption about 2.08 million years ago, which formed the [[Island Park Caldera]]. The most recent [[Supervolcano|supereruption]], about 0.63 million years ago, produced the [[Lava Creek Tuff]] and created the present Yellowstone Caldera. Post-caldera eruptions included [[basalt]] flows, [[rhyolite]] domes and flows, and minor explosive deposits, with the last magmatic eruption about 70,000 years ago. Large [[hydrothermal explosion]]s also occurred during the [[Holocene]].

From 2004 to 2009, the region experienced notable uplift attributed to new magma injection. The 2005 docudrama ''[[Supervolcano (film)|Supervolcano]]'', produced by the ''[[BBC]]'' and the ''[[Discovery Channel]]'', increased public attention on the potential for a future catastrophic eruption. The [[Yellowstone Volcano Observatory]] monitors volcanic activity and does not consider an eruption imminent. Imaging of the [[magma chamber|magma reservoir]] indicates a substantial volume of partial melt beneath Yellowstone that is not currently eruptible.