A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption such as the ones at Yellowstone National Park in the US and Glen Coe in Scotland. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters. The word comes from Spanish caldera, and this from Latin CALDARIA, meaning "cooking pot". In some texts the English term cauldron is also used.
In 1815, the German geologist Leopold von Buch visited the Las Cañadas Caldera Teide, Tenerife, and the Caldera de Taburiente, La Palma, both in the Canary Islands. When he published his memoirs he introduced the term "caldera" into the geological vocabulary.
Some calderas are known to host rich ore deposits. One of the world's best preserved mineralized calderas is the Neoarchean Sturgeon Lake Caldera in northeastern Ontario, Canada.
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