what type of volcano is yellowstone

Yellowstone is a supervolcano , specifically a huge caldera volcano fueled by the Yellowstone hotspot, dominated by highly explosive rhyolitic eruptions rather than a classic cone-shaped mountain.

What “type” of volcano is Yellowstone?

• Yellowstone is classified as a supervolcano because it has produced eruptions with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 8, the largest class of eruptions on Earth.

• Geologically, it is a large caldera system —a broad, collapsed volcanic depression about 30 by 45 miles across, not a steep-sided stratovolcano like Mount St. Helens.

Key features of Yellowstone’s volcano

• It sits over the Yellowstone hotspot , a deep mantle source that has generated a chain of large calderas along the Snake River Plain as the North American Plate moved over it.

• The system is dominated by rhyolitic (silica-rich, viscous) magma, which is associated with very explosive eruptions and widespread ash-flow sheets, with smaller basalt eruptions near the caldera margins.

Activity status today

• Yellowstone’s volcanic system is considered an active volcano, with ongoing earthquakes, ground deformation, and abundant hydrothermal features (geysers, hot springs, mud pots), but it is not currently erupting.

• The last major caldera-forming “supereruption” occurred about 640,000 years ago , followed by many smaller eruptions and lava flows, the most recent rhyolitic lava flow occurring tens of thousands of years ago.

TL;DR: When people ask “what type of volcano is Yellowstone,” the accurate answer is: an active supervolcano-caldera system powered by a mantle hotspot, not a typical cone-shaped volcano.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.