How many caldera-forming eruptions have occurred from the long-lived hotspot that is currently beneath Yellowstone?
Many eruptive units found along the path of the Yellowstone hotspot have been dated, but only a few of them represent large caldera-forming eruptions. At least five volcanic fields centered on large caldera complexes have been identified. Some of these caldera complexes erupted climatically more than once; probably 15 to 20 caldera-forming eruptions have occurred along the hotspot as it left a trail from western Idaho to Yellowstone within the past 16.5 million years.
