2016 年 66 巻 3 号 p. 707-714
With 110 active volcanoes distributed over its narrow landmass, Japan is an unusual country. In particular, there are five major caldera volcanoes in southern Kyushu: Kakuto, Kobayashi, Aira, Ata, and Kikai, from north to south. A caldera is a volcanic depression formed by a large amount of magma erupting at the Earth’s surface. Caldera eruptions are extremely rare but catastrophic, with significant societal and environmental impacts. These types of volcanoes are also found around Tohoku and Hokkaido. Catastrophic eruptions have occurred approximately once every 10,000 years throughout Japan; the last eruption of this scale was the Kikai caldera eruption 7,300 years ago. The Japanese archipelago landscape, specifically in southern Kyushu, has likely been formed from the cycle of disturbance and regeneration caused by these eruptions.