Kikai Caldera is a massive, mostly submerged caldera up to 19 kilometres in diameter in the Ōsumi Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The Kikai Caldera Complex has twin ovoid caldera 20 km by 17 km in diameter. Yahazu-dake and Takeshima, located on the caldera rim, are pre-caldera volcanoes. The pre-caldera stage of volcanic activity invo…Kikai Caldera is a massive, mostly submerged caldera up to 19 kilometres in diameter in the Ōsumi Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The Kikai Caldera Complex has twin ovoid caldera 20 km by 17 km in diameter. Yahazu-dake and Takeshima, located on the caldera rim, are pre-caldera volcanoes. The pre-caldera stage of volcanic activity involved rhyolite, basalt, and andesite phases. The earliest definitive caldera formation has been dated back to at least 140,000 years ago, resulting from the eruption of Koabiyama pyroclastic flows. The formation of caldera has been associated with at least three catastrophic ignimbrite eruptions. Additionally, there are two older deposits of large caldera-forming eruptions in the vicinity, although their attribution to the Kikai caldera remains controversial.
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