Vulcan's Thumb | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 2,290 m (7,510 ft) |
Coordinates | 50°06′41.06″N123°17′40.22″W / 50.1114056°N 123.2945056°W |
Geography | |
Location | British Columbia, Canada |
District | New Westminster Land District |
Parent range | Pacific Ranges |
Topo map | NTS 92J3 Brandywine Falls |
Geology | |
Rock age | Pleistocene |
Mountain type | Pinnacle |
Volcanic arc/belt | Canadian Cascade Arc Garibaldi Volcanic Belt |
Climbing | |
First ascent | None |
The Vulcan's Thumb is a rock pinnacle in the Pacific Ranges of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest of a number of slender pinnacles protruding from the sharp summit ridge of Pyroclastic Peak, which forms part of the Mount Cayley massif. [1]
Three eruptive stages built the Mount Cayley massif, the second of which is named after the Vulcan's Thumb. [1]
The Garibaldi Volcanic Belt is a northwest–southeast trending volcanic chain in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains that extends from Watts Point in the south to the Ha-Iltzuk Icefield in the north. This chain of volcanoes is located in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It forms the northernmost segment of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, which includes Mount St. Helens and Mount Baker. Most volcanoes of the Garibaldi chain are dormant stratovolcanoes and subglacial volcanoes that have been eroded by glacial ice. Less common volcanic landforms include cinder cones, volcanic plugs, lava domes and calderas. These diverse formations were created by different styles of volcanic activity, including Peléan and Plinian eruptions.
The Black Tusk, known as Q̓elqámtensa ti Skenknápa in the St'at'imcets (Lillooet) language and as T'ákt'akmúten tl'a Ín7inyáx̱a7en in the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) language, is a stratovolcano and a pinnacle of volcanic rock in Garibaldi Provincial Park of British Columbia, Canada. At 2,319 m (7,608 ft) above sea level, the upper spire is visible from a great distance in all directions. It is particularly noticeable from the Sea-to-Sky Highway just south of Whistler, British Columbia. Distinctive and immediately identifiable, The Black Tusk is among the best known mountains in the Garibaldi Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The volcano is part of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt which is a segment of the Canadian Cascade Arc, but it is not within the geographic boundary of the Cascade Range.
The Mount Meager massif is a group of volcanic peaks in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc of western North America, it is located 150 km (93 mi) north of Vancouver at the northern end of the Pemberton Valley and reaches a maximum elevation of 2,680 m (8,790 ft). The massif is capped by several eroded volcanic edifices, including lava domes, volcanic plugs and overlapping piles of lava flows; these form at least six major summits including Mount Meager which is the second highest of the massif.
Mount Fee is a volcanic peak in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is located 13 km (8.1 mi) south of Callaghan Lake and 21 km (13 mi) west of the resort town of Whistler. With a summit elevation of 2,162 m (7,093 ft) and a topographic prominence of 312 m (1,024 ft), it rises above the surrounding rugged landscape on an alpine mountain ridge. This mountain ridge represents the base of a north-south trending volcanic field which Mount Fee occupies.
Mount Silverthrone, officially named Silverthrone Mountain, is a mountain in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, located over 320 km (200 mi) northwest of the city of Vancouver and about 50 km (30 mi) west of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest peak in the Ha-Iltzuk Icefield, which is the largest icefield in the Coast Mountains south of the Alaska Panhandle.
Crow Lagoon is a little-known volcanic center located north of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. There are beds of thick, basaltic tephra that are of Holocene age.
Devastator Peak, also known as The Devastator, is the lowest and southernmost of the six subsidiary peaks that form the Mount Meager massif in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is located 55 km (34 mi) west of Bralorne.
Ring Mountain, also called Crucible Dome, is a tuya in the Mount Cayley volcanic field, British Columbia, Canada. It has a horseshoe shaped crater, located on the east side of the upper Squamish River. Outcrops on Ring Mountain's western side contain highly variable, fine-scale jointing and are locally broken down into many small spires and knobs. The age of Ring Mountain is unknown, but probably formed during the Fraser Glaciation like most tuyas in Canada.
Pylon Peak is the southernmost of six named volcanic peaks comprising the Mount Meager massif in British Columbia, Canada. Two pinnacled ridges extend from Pylon and are named respectively the Pylons and the Marionettes. Pylon Peak overlooks the Meager Creek Hot Springs.
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.
Pyroclastic Peak is the second highest of the five named volcanic peaks immediately south of Mount Cayley in British Columbia, Canada. It is steep and rotten and is located 12 km (7 mi) southwest of Callaghan Lake and 24 km (15 mi) west of Whistler. It is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire that includes over 160 active volcanoes.
Castle Rock is a volcanic plug located 13 km (8 mi) west of Iskut and 8 km (5 mi) northwest of Tuktsayda Mountain in British Columbia, Canada. Castle Rock is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire that includes over 160 active volcanoes and is in the Klastline Group of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province and last erupted in the Pleistocene.
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.
Ember Ridge is a volcanic mountain ridge associated with the Mount Cayley volcanic field in British Columbia, Canada. Ember Ridge is made of a series of steep-sided domes of glassy, complexly jointed, hornblende-phyric basalt with the most recent eruptions during the Holocene. The domes have structural similarities which indicate that the domes are similar in age and could have formed by the same foundation.
Slag Hill is a subglacial volcano associated with the Mount Cayley volcanic field in British Columbia, Canada. It consists of glassy, augite-phyric basaltic andesite in steep-sided, glassy, finely jointed domes and one small, flat-topped bluff. The finely jointed domes are similar to those of Ember Ridge. There are quench features at Slag Hill, which is suggesting that the volcanic activity was subglacial. Slag Hill was formed throughout the Pleistocene period, but its most recent volcanic activity produced a lava flow on its western lobe that shows no evidence of ice-contact volcanism. This indicates the lava flow was erupted less than 10,000 years ago after the last glacial period.
Pali Dome is a subglacial volcano in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Mount Cayley volcanic field and its elevation is 2,250 m (7,380 ft). For the past 2 million years, the Mount Cayley volcanic field has had interactions between ice and lava which have created some unique landforms and an in-ice drainage system."Pali" comes from the Hawaiian word that means cliff or steep hill, while dome refers to the lava dome, which is when doughy lava flows from a volcanic vent which is usually rounded and flat on top.
Jack Gordon Souther was an American-born Canadian geologist, volcanologist, professor and engineer. He contributed significantly to the early understanding of recent volcanic activity in the Canadian Cordillera. Many of his publications continue to be regarded as classics in their field, even now several decades after they were written.
The Canadian Cascade Arc, also called the Canadian Cascades, is the Canadian segment of the North American Cascade Volcanic Arc. Located entirely within the Canadian province of British Columbia, it extends from the Cascade Mountains in the south to the Coast Mountains in the north. Specifically, the southern end of the Canadian Cascades begin at the Canada–United States border. However, the specific boundaries of the northern end are not precisely known and the geology in this part of the volcanic arc is poorly understood. It is widely accepted by geologists that the Canadian Cascade Arc extends through the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains. However, others have expressed concern that the volcanic arc possibly extends further north into the Kitimat Ranges, another subdivision of the Coast Mountains, and even as far north as Haida Gwaii.
The Mount Cayley volcanic field (MCVF) is a remote volcanic zone on the South Coast of British Columbia, Canada, stretching 31 km (19 mi) from the Pemberton Icefield to the Squamish River. It forms a segment of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, the Canadian portion of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, which extends from Northern California to southwestern British Columbia. Most of the MCVF volcanoes were formed during periods of volcanism under sheets of glacial ice throughout the last glacial period. These subglacial eruptions formed steep, flat-topped volcanoes and subglacial lava domes, most of which have been entirely exposed by deglaciation. However, at least two volcanoes predate the last glacial period and both are highly eroded. The field gets its name from Mount Cayley, a volcanic peak located at the southern end of the Powder Mountain Icefield. This icefield covers much of the central portion of the volcanic field and is one of the several glacial fields in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains.
Mount Cayley is an eroded but potentially active stratovolcano in the Pacific Ranges of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Located 45 km (28 mi) north of Squamish and 24 km (15 mi) west of Whistler, the volcano resides on the edge of the Powder Mountain Icefield. It consists of massif that towers over the Cheakamus and Squamish river valleys. All major summits have elevations greater than 2,000 m (6,600 ft), Mount Cayley being the highest at 2,385 m (7,825 ft). The surrounding area has been inhabited by indigenous peoples for more than 7,000 years while geothermal exploration has taken place there for the last four decades.