The Anahim Volcanic Belt (AVB) is a west–east trending chain of volcanoes and related magmatic features in British Columbia, Canada. It extends from Athlone Island on the Central Coast, running eastward through the strongly uplifted and deeply dissected Coast Mountains to near the community of Nazko on the Interior Plateau. The AVB is delineated as three west-to-east segments that differ in age and structure. A wide variety of igneous rocks with differing compositions occur throughout these segments, comprising landforms such as volcanic cones, volcanic plugs, lava domes, shield volcanoes and intrusions.
The Chilcotin Group, also called the Chilcotin Plateau Basalts, is a large area of basaltic lava that forms a volcanic plateau running parallel with the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt in south-central British Columbia, Canada.
Mount Edziza, sometimes called Edziza Mountain or Edziza Peak, is a volcanic mountain in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the Big Raven Plateau of the Tahltan Highland which extends along the western side of the Stikine Plateau. Mount Edziza has an elevation of 2,786 metres and a topographic prominence of 1,750 metres, making it the highest point of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex and one of Canada's ultra-prominent peaks. However, it had an elevation of at least 3,396 metres before its formerly cone-shaped summit was likely destroyed by a violent, climactic eruption in the geologic past; its current flat summit contains an ice-filled, 2-kilometre-in diameter (1.2-mile) crater. The mountain contains several lava domes, cinder cones and lava fields on its flanks, as well as an ice cap that is characterized by several outlet glaciers stretching out to lower altitudes. All sides of Mount Edziza are drained by tributaries of Mess Creek and Kakiddi Creek which are situated within the Stikine River watershed.
The Spectrum Range, formerly gazetted as the Spectrum Mountains and the Rainbow Mountains, is a small mountain range in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. Located at the southern end of the Tahltan Highland, it borders the Skeena Mountains in the east and the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the west. The Spectrum Range is surrounded by the Arctic Lake Plateau in the southwest and the Kitsu Plateau in the northwest, both of which contain volcanic features such as cinder cones. It lies at the southern end of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex which includes the two neighbouring plateaus as well as Mount Edziza and the Big Raven Plateau to the north. The mountain range is drained on all sides by streams within the Stikine River watershed and, unlike Mount Edziza to the north, contains relatively small separate glaciers. Mount Edziza Provincial Park is the main protected area surrounding the Spectrum Range.
Satah Mountain is a twin-peaked mountain in the West-Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is southeast of Punkutlaenkut Lake and east of the community of Anahim Lake in Range 3 Coast Land District.
The Milbanke Sound Group, also called the Milbanke Sound Cones, is an enigmatic group of five small basaltic volcanoes in the Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. Named for Milbanke Sound, this volcanic group straddles on at least four small islands, including Swindle, Price, Lady Douglas and Lake Island. Not much is known about this group of volcanoes and they remain undated. However, they all likely formed in the past 10,000 years after the last glacial period as evidenced by a small amount of erosion. The age of the most recent volcanic activity is also unknown. Most of the Milbanke Sound Cones are covered by mature forest. Kitasu Hill and Helmet Peak are the only two cones that are officially named.
The Itcha Range, also known as the Itchas, is a small isolated mountain range in the West-Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located 40 km (25 mi) northeast of the community of Anahim Lake. With a maximum elevation of 2,375 m (7,792 ft), it is the lowest of three mountain ranges on the Chilcotin Plateau extending east from the Coast Mountains. Two mountains are named in the Itcha Range; Mount Downton and Itcha Mountain. A large provincial park surrounds the Itcha Range and other features in its vicinity. More than 15 animal species are known to exist in the Itcha Range area, as well as a grassland community that is limited only to this location of British Columbia. The Itcha Range is within territory which has been occupied by aboriginal peoples for millennia. This area has a relatively dry environment compared to the Coast Mountains in the west.
Volcanic activity is a major part of the geology of Canada and is characterized by many types of volcanic landform, including lava flows, volcanic plateaus, lava domes, cinder cones, stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, submarine volcanoes, calderas, diatremes, and maars, along with less common volcanic forms such as tuyas and subglacial mounds.
The Ilgachuz Range is a name given to an extinct shield volcano in British Columbia, Canada. It is not a mountain range in the normal sense, because it was formed as a single volcano that has been eroded for the past 5 million years. It lies on the Chilcotin Plateau, located some 350 kilometres (220 mi) north-northwest of Vancouver and 30 km north of Anahim Lake. The highest peak of the range is Far Mountain. The range supports a unique grassland ecosystem. This type of grassland has not been seen anywhere else in central and southern British Columbia. The climate is cool and dry; typical of higher elevations of the Interior Plateau.
Itcha Mountain is one of the two named volcanic peaks of the Itcha Range, which is located in the Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is in the Anahim Volcanic Belt, which formed when the North American Plate moved over a hotspot, similar to the one feeding the Hawaiian Islands. The Anahim Volcanic Belt includes other immediately nearby ranges, the Rainbow and Ilgachuz Ranges. Itcha Mountain is located 42 km (26 mi) northeast of Anahim Lake and 2 km (1 mi) northeast of Mount Downton, another peak of the Itcha Range. Both of these peaks are located within Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park, as is Far Mountain, the park's highest peak.
The Anahim hotspot is a hypothesized hotspot in the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It has been proposed as the candidate source for volcanism in the Anahim Volcanic Belt, a 300 kilometres long chain of volcanoes and other magmatic features that have undergone erosion. This chain extends from the community of Bella Bella in the west to near the small city of Quesnel in the east. While most volcanoes are created by geological activity at tectonic plate boundaries, the Anahim hotspot is located hundreds of kilometres away from the nearest plate boundary.
Anahim Peak, also spelled Anaham, ʔAnaghim, or Anaheim, is a volcanic cone in the Anahim Volcanic Belt in British Columbia, Canada, located 39 km (24 mi) northwest of Anahim Lake and 11 km (7 mi) east of Tsitsutl Peak. It was formed when the North American Plate moved over a hotspot, similar to the one feeding the Hawaiian Islands, called the Anahim hotspot. It is one of the several volcanoes in the Anahim Volcanic Belt that stands out all by itself, rising from the Chilcotin Plateau, between the Rainbow Range and the Ilgachuz Range and near the headwaters of the Dean River.
Mount Downton is the highest summit of the 10 km (6 mi) diameter Itcha Range, located 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Anahim Lake and 33 km (21 mi) east of Far Mountain in the Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It lies within Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park.
Nahta Cone is a small cinder cone in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It has an elevation of 1,670 metres and lies near the northern edge of the Arctic Lake Plateau, a glacially scored plateau of the Tahltan Highland which in turn extends along the western side of the Stikine Plateau. The cone is about 70 kilometres south-southeast of the community of Telegraph Creek and lies in the southwestern corner of Mount Edziza Provincial Park, one of the largest provincial parks in British Columbia.
The Kitsu Plateau is a small intermontane plateau in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It lies on the Tahltan Highland and is surrounded by several valleys, including those of Mess Creek, Nagha Creek and Raspberry Creek. The plateau is drained by many small streams that flow into these neighbouring valleys and, unlike the valleys, it is relatively barren of vegetation. Surrounding the Kitsu Plateau is Mount Edziza Provincial Park which is one of the largest provincial parks in British Columbia. Access to this remote plateau is mainly by aircraft since motorized vehicles are prohibited from entering Mount Edziza Provincial Park.
Volcanism of Western Canada has produced lava flows, lava plateaus, lava domes, cinder cones, stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, greenstone belts, submarine volcanoes, calderas, diatremes and maars, along with examples of more less common volcanic forms such as tuyas and subglacial mounds.
The Satah Mountain volcanic field (SMVF) is an extensive north-south trending volcanic chain in the Central Interior of British Columbia that stretches south of the Itcha Range shield volcano to northeast of Nimpo Lake. The chain is located on the Chilcotin Plateau, a major subdivision of the Interior Plateau that includes other nearby volcanic features. It forms a segment of the east-west trending Anahim Volcanic Belt, whose volcanic activity ranges in age from Miocene-to-Holocene.
Whitetop Mountain is a forested hill in the West-Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is on the northwest side of junction of the Chilcotin River and Downton Creek. Whitetop is a volcanic cone of the Chilcotin Plateau and Anahim Volcanic Belt.
The Baldface Mountain volcanic field is a volcanic field in the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located about 25 km (16 mi) east of the Itcha Range on the Chilcotin Plateau. The volcanic field contains at least eight volcanic cones and is one of two volcanic fields in the Anahim Volcanic Belt, the other being the Satah Mountain volcanic field which extends south from the Itcha Range.
