Mount Mercer (Alberta)

Mount Mercer
Mount Mercer
	South aspect of Mount Mercer (centre)
Highest point
Elevation	2,970 m (9,744 ft)
Prominence	295 m (968 ft)
Parent peak	Beersheba Peak (3,054 m)
Isolation	1.93 km (1.20 mi)
Listing	Mountains of Alberta
Coordinates	50°55′24″N115°31′13″W / 50.92333°N 115.52028°W
Naming
Etymology	Malcolm Mercer
Geography
	Mount Mercer Location in Alberta Mount Mercer Location in Canada
	Interactive map of Mount Mercer
Country	Canada
Province	Alberta
Protected area	Banff National Park
Parent range	Sundance Range ; Canadian Rockies
Topo map	NTS 82J13 Mount Assiniboine
Geology
Rock age	Cambrian
Mountain type	Fault block
Rock type	Limestone

Last updated December 04, 2024

Mount Mercer is a 2,970-metre (9,744-foot) mountain summit located in Alberta, Canada.

Description

Mount Mercer is set within Banff National Park, three kilometers east of the Continental Divide, and is situated near the southern end of the Sundance Range which is a subset of the Canadian Rockies. Located four kilometers east of Assiniboine Pass,^[2] Mount Mercer is a remote peak which is not visible from any road. Mount Mercer's nearest higher neighbor is Mount Allenby, 1.9 km (1.2 mi) to the north-northwest, and Mount Assiniboine is 10 km (6.2 mi) to the southwest.^[1] Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into Mercer and Bryant creeks which empty to the nearby Spray Lakes Reservoir. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 1,130 meters (3,700 feet) above Bryant Creek Valley in less than 2 kilometers (1.24 mile).

Geology

Mount Mercer is composed of limestone which is a sedimentary rock laid down during the Precambrian to Jurassic periods.^[4] Formed in shallow seas, this sedimentary rock was pushed east and over the top of younger rock during the Laramide orogeny.^[5]

Climate

Based on the Köppen climate classification, Mount Mercer is located in a subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers.^[6] Winter temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C.

Etymology

Mount Mercer is named in remembrance of Major-General Malcolm Mercer (1859–1916), a Canadian general who led the 3rd Canadian Division during the First World War before he was killed in action at Mount Sorrel in Belgium on June 2, 1916.^[7]^[8] He was the highest ranking Canadian killed in the war. The mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1924 by the Geographical Names Board of Canada.^[3]

Gallery

Mount Mercer, south aspect
Malcolm Mercer

Related Research Articles

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References

1 2 3 4 5 "Mount Mercer, Peakvisor.com" . Retrieved November 7, 2022.
1 2 William Lowell Putnam, Glen W. Boles (1973), Climber's Guide to the Rocky Mountains of Canada, South, American Alpine Club, p. 109
1 2 3 "Mount Mercer". Geographical Names Data Base . Natural Resources Canada . Retrieved 2022-11-07.
↑ Belyea, Helen R. (1960). The Story of the Mountains in Banff National Park (PDF). parkscanadahistory.com (Report). Ottawa: Geological Survey of Canada. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
↑ Gadd, Ben (2008). Geology of the Rocky Mountains and Columbias.
↑ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11 (5): 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi: 10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 . ISSN 1027-5606.
↑ "Mount Mercer". cdnrockiesdatabases.ca. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
↑ The Canada Gazette, February 23, 1918, p. 2862

External links

Mount Mercer: weather forecast
Parks Canada web site: Banff National Park

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Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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[peakvisor-1] 1 2 3 4 5 "Mount Mercer, Peakvisor.com" . Retrieved November 7, 2022.

[Boles-2] 1 2 William Lowell Putnam, Glen W. Boles (1973), Climber's Guide to the Rocky Mountains of Canada, South, American Alpine Club, p. 109

[cgndb-3] 1 2 3 "Mount Mercer". Geographical Names Data Base . Natural Resources Canada . Retrieved 2022-11-07.

[Belyea1960-4] Belyea, Helen R. (1960). The Story of the Mountains in Banff National Park (PDF). parkscanadahistory.com (Report). Ottawa: Geological Survey of Canada. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2019-09-13.

[gadd-5] Gadd, Ben (2008). Geology of the Rocky Mountains and Columbias.

[Peel-6] Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11 (5): 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi: 10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 . ISSN 1027-5606.

[pf-7] "Mount Mercer". cdnrockiesdatabases.ca. Retrieved 2022-11-07.

[8] The Canada Gazette, February 23, 1918, p. 2862

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