supervolcano

English

Etymology

From super- +‎ volcano.

Noun

supervolcano (plural supervolcanoes or supervolcanos)

1. (volcanology) A powerful volcano, often having an explosive or cataclysmic eruption.

   Synonym: (uncommon) hypervolcano

   • 1983, Louis Berman, John C. Evans, Exploring the Cosmos, →ISBN, page 178:

     Mosaic of Olympus Mons on Mars. The supervolcano is nearly 600 kilometers wide at the base and 25 kilometers high and is capped by a crater 65 kilometers in diameter. It is about five times larger than the most massive volcanic cone on earth, Mauna Loa in Hawaii.

   • 1984, Richard Monaco, Runes, →ISBN, page 64:

     The stone went dark, and instantly the supervolcano burst with an unthinkable blast. A miles-deep plug of dark and hot earth flew upward, followed by a tremendous expanding cloud. Swirling, dense substance spread and thickened [...]

   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Sytau:

     Sytau is rabidly volcanic; a dozen "supervolcanoes" 50-120 kilometers wide are erupting across the planet. Sytau's carbon content and constant volcanism make natural diamonds plentiful, if extremely costly and dangerous to recover.

Hypernyms

• volcano

Derived terms

• supervolcanic

Translations

Translations

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 超級火山／超级火山 (chāojí huǒshān)

• Georgian: სუპერვულკანი (suṗervulḳani)
• German: Supervulkan (de) m
• Turkish: süper volkan, süper yanardağ

References

• “supervolcano”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.