In explosive eruptions, the eruption of magma is driven by the rapid release of pressure, often involving the explosion of gas previously dissolved within the material. The most famous and destructive historical eruptions are mainly of this type. An eruptive phase can consist of a single eruption, or a sequence of several eruptions spread over several days, weeks or months. Explosive eruptions usually involve thick, highly viscous felsic magma, high in volatiles like water vapor and carbon dioxide. Pyroclastic materials are the primary product, typically in the form of tuff. Eruptions the size of that at Lake Toba 74 thousand years ago (2800 km3 or more) occur worldwide every 50,000 to 100,000 years.

Volcano—Eruption Age (Ma) Location Volume (km3) Notes
Guarapuava —Tamarana—Sarusas 132 Paraná and Etendeka traps 8,600
Santa Maria—Fria ~132 Paraná and Etendeka traps 7,800
Guarapuava —Ventura ~132 Paraná and Etendeka traps 7,600
Sam Ignimbrite and Green Tuff 29.5 Yemen 6,800 Volume includes 5550 km³ of distal tuffs. This estimate is uncertain to a factor of 2 or 3.
Goboboseb–Messum volcanic centre—Springbok quartz latite unit 132 Paraná and Etendeka traps, Brazil and Namibia 6,340
Caxias do Sul—Grootberg ~132 Paraná and Etendeka traps 5,650
La Garita Caldera—Fish Canyon tuff 27.8 San Juan volcanic field, Colorado 5,000 Commonly regarded as the largest tuff ever measured on Earth, or largest confidently-measured tuff on earth. It is part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma.
Jacui—Goboboseb II ~132 Paraná and Etendeka traps 4,350
Ourinhos—Khoraseb ~132 Paraná and Etendeka traps 3,900
Jabal Kura'a Ignimbrite 29.6 Yemen 3,800 Volume estimate is uncertain to a factor of 2 or 3.
Windows Butte tuff 31.4 William's Ridge, central Nevada 3,500 Part of the Mid-Tertiary ignimbrite flare-up
Anita Garibaldi—Beacon ~132 Paraná and Etendeka traps 3,450
Indian Peak Caldera Complex—Wah Wah Springs tuff 29.5 Eastern Nevada/Western Utah 3,200 Indian Peak Caldera Complex total volume over 10,000 cubic km, Wah Wah Springs tuff being the largest
Oxaya ignimbrites 19 Chile 3,000 Really a regional correlation of many ignimbrites originally thought to be distinct
Lund Tuff 29 Great Basin, USA 3,000 Similar in composition to the Fish Canyon Tuff
Lake Toba—Youngest Toba Tuff 0.073 Sunda Arc, Indonesia 2,800 Largest eruption on earth in at least the last 25 million years, responsible for the Toba catastrophe theory, a population bottleneck of the human species
Pacana Caldera—Atana ignimbrite 4 Chile 2,800 Forms a resurgent caldera.
Iftar Alkalb—Tephra 4 W 29.5 Afro-Arabian 2,700
Yellowstone caldera—Huckleberry Ridge Tuff 2.059 Yellowstone hotspot 2,450 Largest Yellowstone eruption on record
Whakamaru 0.254 Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand 2,000 Largest in the Southern Hemisphere in the Late Quaternary
Palmas BRA-21—Wereldsend 29.5 Paraná and Etendeka traps 1,900
Kilgore tuff 4.3 Near Kilgore, Idaho 1,800 Last of the eruptions from the Heise volcanic field
Sana'a Ignimbrite—Tephra 2W63 29.5 Afro-Arabian 1,600
Millbrig eruptions—Bentonites 454 England, exposed in Northern Europe and Eastern US 1,509 One of the oldest large eruptions preserved
Blacktail tuff 6.5 Blacktail, Idaho 1,500 First of several eruptions from the Heise volcanic field
Emory Caldera—Kneeling Nun tuff 33 Southwestern New Mexico 1,310
Timber Mountain tuff 11.6 Southwestern Nevada 1,200 Also includes a 900 cubic km tuff as a second member in the tuff
Paintbrush tuff (Topopah Spring Member) 12.8 Southwestern Nevada 1,200 Related to a 1000 cubic km tuff (Tiva Canyon Member) as another member in the Paintbrush tuff
Bachelor—Carpenter Ridge tuff 28 San Juan volcanic field 1,200 Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions, including the world's largest, the Fish Canyon tuff in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma
Bursum—Apache Springs Tuff 28.5 Southern New Mexico 1,200 Related to a 1050 cubic km tuff, the Bloodgood Canyon tuff
Taupo Volcano—Oruanui eruption 0.027 Taupo volcanic zone, New Zealand 1,170 Most recent VEI 8 eruption
Huaylillas Ignimbrite 15 Bolivia 1,100 Predates half of the uplift of the central Andes
Bursum—Bloodgood Canyon tuff 28.5 Southern New Mexico 1,050 Related to a 1200 cubic km tuff, the Apache Springs tuff
Yellowstone Caldera—Lava Creek Tuff 0.639 Yellowstone hotspot 1,000 Last large eruption in the Yellowstone National Park area
Cerro Galán 2.2 Catamarca Province, Argentina 1,000 Elliptical caldera is ~35 km wide
Paintbrush tuff (Tiva Canyon Member) 12.7 Southwestern Nevada 1,000 Related to a 1200 cubic km tuff (Topopah Spring Member) as another member in the Paintbrush tuff
San Juan—Sapinero Mesa Tuff 28 San Juan volcanic field 1,000 Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions, including the world's largest, the Fish Canyon tuff in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma
Uncompahgre—Dillon & Sapinero Mesa Tuffs 28.1 San Juan volcanic field 1,000 Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions, including the world's largest, the Fish Canyon tuff in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma
Platoro—Chiquito Peak tuff 28.2 San Juan volcanic field 1,000 Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions, including the world's largest, the Fish Canyon tuff in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma
Mount Princeton—Wall Mountain tuff 35.3 Thirtynine Mile volcanic area, Colorado 1,000 Helped cause the exceptional preservation at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

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