Mondo Knows Facts
Lake Toba fills a colossal volcanic caldera
The eruption that made it around 74,000 years ago was among the largest of the recent geological past The caldera stretches about 100 kilometres long and up to 30 wide, with Samosir Island rising in the middle. Ash from the blast is found across South Asia and beyond. The lake is deep and the surrounding highlands remain volcanically active. It sits in Mondo's world geography collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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Tags: lakes, volcanoes, indonesia
Lake Toba fills a colossal volcanic caldera: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- The eruption that made it around 74,000 years ago was among the largest of the recent geological past. The figure is taken from Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a world geography fact?
- Yes. It sits on the World Geography shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.