Tuya volcanic field | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 2,123 m (6,965 ft) |
Coordinates | 59°13′N130°57′W / 59.217°N 130.950°W |
Geography | |
Location | British Columbia, Canada |
Geology | |
Age of rock | Quaternary |
Mountain type | Volcanic field |
Volcanic arc/belt | Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province |
Last eruption | Holocene |
The Tuya volcanic field is a volcanic field of tuyas located in far northern British Columbia, Canada, near the border with the Yukon Territory and focused on the area of the Tuya Range, a subrange of the Stikine Ranges of the Cassiar Mountains, though some vents are in the Kawdy Plateau, the northernmost part of the Stikine Plateau. Several small shield volcanoes, and postglacial lapilli cones and lava flows have been reported in this area. The only nonglacial volcanoes in the field are Gabrielse Cone and the West Tuya lava field.
Volcanoes within the field include:
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.
An active volcano is a volcano that has erupted during the Holocene, is currently erupting, or has the potential to erupt in the future. A volcano that is not currently erupting but could erupt in the future is known as a dormant volcano. Volcanoes that will not erupt again are known as extinct volcanoes.
A tuya is a flat-topped, steep-sided volcano formed when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet. They are rare worldwide, being confined to regions which were covered by glaciers and had active volcanism during the same period.
The Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province (NCVP), formerly known as the Stikine Volcanic Belt, is a geologic province defined by the occurrence of Miocene to Holocene volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest of North America. This belt of volcanoes extends roughly north-northwest from northwestern British Columbia and the Alaska Panhandle through Yukon to the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area of far eastern Alaska, in a corridor hundreds of kilometres wide. It is the most recently defined volcanic province in the Western Cordillera. It has formed due to extensional cracking of the North American continent—similar to other on-land extensional volcanic zones, including the Basin and Range Province and the East African Rift. Although taking its name from the Western Cordillera, this term is a geologic grouping rather than a geographic one. The southmost part of the NCVP has more, and larger, volcanoes than does the rest of the NCVP; further north it is less clearly delineated, describing a large arch that sways westward through central Yukon.
Mount Edziza, sometimes called Edziza Mountain or Edziza Peak, is a stratovolcano 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. The mountain has an elevation of 2,786 metres, making it the highest volcano of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. However, it had an elevation of at least 3,396 metres before its original summit was likely destroyed by a violent, climactic eruption in the geologic past; its current flat summit contains an ice-filled, 2-kilometre (1.2-mile) in diameter crater. Mount Edziza 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 the mountain are drained by tributaries of Mess Creek and Kakiddi Creek which are situated within the Stikine River watershed.
Tuya Butte is a tuya in the Tuya Range of north-central British Columbia, Canada. It is a bit less isolated from other ranges than neighbouring Mount Josephine. Some of the other volcanoes in the area include South Tuya, Ash Mountain, and Mathews Tuya.
Ash Mountain is the highest summit in the Tuya Range of the Stikine Ranges in northcentral British Columbia, Canada, located immediately north of High Tuya Lake at the north end of Tuya Mountains Provincial Park. It is one of the six tuyas clustered close to Tuya Lake. The base of the volcano comprises pillow lava and hyaloclastite indicating that the volcano formed beneath ice or under a large lake. The volcano comprises loose debris as well as dikes of basaltic rock that intruded into the volcanic pile. Other tuyas in the area include Tuya Butte, South Tuya and Mathews Tuya, although most of the group of tuyas are unnamed.
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.
The Tuya Range is a mountain range in the Stikine Ranges of the Cassiar Mountains in the far north of the Canadian province of British Columbia, near its border with the Yukon Territory and to the southwest of Watson Lake, Yukon, which is the nearest major settlement.
Level Mountain is a large volcanic complex in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located 50 kilometres north-northwest of Telegraph Creek and 60 kilometres west of Dease Lake on the Nahlin Plateau. With a maximum elevation of 2,164 metres, it is the second-highest of four large complexes in an extensive north–south trending volcanic region. Much of the mountain is gently-sloping; when measured from its base, Level Mountain is about 1,100 metres tall, slightly taller than its neighbour to the northwest, Heart Peaks. The lower, broader half of Level Mountain consists of a shield-like structure while its upper half has a more steep, jagged profile. Its broad summit is dominated by the Level Mountain Range, a small mountain range with prominent peaks cut by deep valleys. These valleys serve as a radial drainage for several small streams that flow from the mountain. Meszah Peak is the only named peak in the Level Mountain Range.
Toozaza Peak is a tuya in the Stikine Ranges of the Cassiar Mountains in northern British Columbia, Canada, located in the Iverson Creek. Toozaza Peak is the summit of a north–south aligned ridge between the head of Toozaza Creek and the head of the Jennings River, just south of the Jennings' divide with the Little Rancheria River headwaters. The Little Rancheria and Toozaza Creek are part of the Liard, while the Jennings is part of the Yukon River drainage via Teslin Lake, and the peak therefore stands astride the line of the Continental Divide. It is part of the Tuya Volcanic Field, a volcanic field associated with the Stikine Volcanic Belt, part of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province.
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 geology of the Pacific Northwest includes the composition, structure, physical properties and the processes that shape the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The region is part of the Ring of Fire: the subduction of the Pacific and Farallon Plates under the North American Plate is responsible for many of the area's scenic features as well as some of its hazards, such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and landslides.
Gabrielse Cone is a remarkably fresh, clearly postglacial monogenetic cinder cone, located in the Tuya Volcanic Field in British Columbia, Canada. It is about 400 m (1,312 ft) in diameter and has a central crater about 30 m (98 ft) deep. It is Holocene in age and to its northeast appears to be breached with the remnants of a lava flow. The cone is near the headwaters of Iverson Creek.
West Vent is one of three small shield volcanoes located in the Tuya Volcanic Field of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province in British Columbia, Canada. It is Holocene in age and stands in relief above the surrounding area north of the Nazcha Creek, which comprises the West Tuya lava field.
Grizzly Butte is a small shield volcano located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is Holocene in age and stands in relief above the surrounding area north of the Nazcha Creek and, with West Vent and Volcano Vent, comprises the West Tuya lava field. It is one of three small shield volcanoes in the Tuya Volcanic Field, which in turn form part of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province.
Volcano Vent is a small shield volcano in northern British Columbia, Canada. It is Holocene in age and stands in relief above the surrounding area north of the Nazcha Creek and comprises the West Tuya lava field with West Vent and Grizzly Butte. It is one of the three small shield volcanoes in the Tuya Volcanic Field which in turn form part of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province. Most of the rock studied and sampled at Volcano Vent is massive coherent basalt.
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.
Tennena Cone, alternatively Icebridge Cone, is a small volcanic cone in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It has an elevation of 2,390 metres and lies on the western flank of Ice Peak, the prominent south peak of Mount Edziza. The cone is almost completely surrounded by glacial ice of Mount Edziza's ice cap which covers an area of around 70 square kilometres. Tennena Cone is 200 metres high, 1,200 metres long and up to 600 metres wide, its symmetrical structure resembling a black pyramid. The cone and the surrounding area are in Mount Edziza Provincial Park which also includes the Spectrum Range to the south.
The volcanic history of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province presents a record of volcanic activity in northwestern British Columbia, central Yukon and the U.S. state of easternmost Alaska. The volcanic activity lies in the northern part of the Western Cordillera of the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Extensional cracking of the North American Plate in this part of North America has existed for millions of years. Continuation of this continental rifting has fed scores of volcanoes throughout the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province over at least the past 20 million years and occasionally continued into geologically recent times.