Stikine Plateau

Last updated
Stikine Plateau
Alaska Panhandle-relief Stikine Plateau.png
Approximate boundaries of the Stikine Plateau
Coordinates: 58°23′N129°53′W / 58.383°N 129.883°W / 58.383; -129.883
Location British Columbia, Canada
Part of Intermontane Plateaus

The Stikine Plateau is a plateau in northern British Columbia, Canada. It lies between the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the west and southwest and the Cassiar Mountains along its northeast, and between the Skeena Mountains on its south and southeast and the Jennings and Nakina Rivers on the north. [1]

Contents

Sub-plateaus and mountain ranges

The plateau has a number of sub-plateaus: [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stikine River</span> River in British Columbia and Alaska

The Stikine River is a major river in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States. It drains a large, remote upland area known as the Stikine Country east of the Coast Mountains. Flowing west and south for 610 kilometres (379 mi), it empties into various straits of the Inside Passage near Wrangell, Alaska. About 90 percent of the river's length and 95 percent of its drainage basin are in Canada. Considered one of the last truly wild large rivers in BC, the Stikine flows through a variety of landscapes including boreal forest, steep canyons and wide glacial valleys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tahltan</span> First Nations people native to northern British Columbia, Canada

The Tahltan or Nahani are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut. The Tahltan constitute the fourth division of the Nahane.

Iskut is a small, mostly Indigenous community in the Stikine Country of northwestern British Columbia. It is located on Highway 37, at the north end of Eddontenajon Lake just south of Dease Lake and the crossing of the Stikine River.

Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park is located in the northern portion of British Columbia, Canada, approximately 698, 659 hectares and encompasses the Spatsizi River and Gladys Lake Ecological Reserve. The park is a designated protected area that is intended for the conservation and research on caribou, grizzly bears, fish, and other wildlife species populations. Before the provincial park's establishment in 1975, the area was a historical hunting ground for local Indigenous communities like the Tahltan First Nations. It is the second largest provincial park in British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tahltan Highland</span>

The Tahltan Highland is an upland area of plateau and relatively lower mountain ranges in British Columbia, Canada, lying east of the Boundary Ranges and south of the Inklin River. Its eastern boundary is formed by the Sheslay River and the Little Tuya River, while its southern boundary extends across the Stikine River and its Grand Canyon to include the Mount Edziza volcanic complex, and the Zagoddetchino massif.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skeena Mountains</span> Mountains in British Columbia, Canada

The Skeena Mountains, also known as the Skeenas, are a subrange of the Interior Mountains of northern British Columbia, Canada, essentially flanking the upper basin of the Skeena River. They lie just inland from the southern end of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains, and also of the northern end of the Kitimat Ranges. Their southern limit is described by the Bulkley River and the upper northwestern reaches of Babine and Takla Lakes, and on their northeast by the upper reaches of the Omineca River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuya Range</span> Mountain range in British Columbia, Canada

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interior Mountains</span> Group of mountain ranges in British Columbia and Yukon

The Interior Mountains or Northern Interior Mountains are the semi-official names for an expansive collection of mountain ranges that comprises much of the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia and a large area of southern Yukon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stikine Country</span> Geographic region of British Columbia, Canada

The Stikine Country, also referred to as the Stikine District or simply "the Stikine", is one of the historical geographic regions of the Canadian province of British Columbia, located inland from the central Alaska Panhandle and comprising the basin of the Stikine River and its tributaries. The term Stikine–Iskut is also fairly common to describe the area, and references the Iskut River, the Stikine's largest tributary and describable as its south fork.

The Sheslay River is a tributary of the Inklin River in northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It joins the Nahlin River to form the Inklin River, one of the main tributaries of the Taku River. The lower Sheslay River marks the boundary between the Taku Plateau and the Nahlin Plateau. Its mouth at the Nahlin River marks the junction of the Taku, Nahlin, and Kawdy Plateaus. All three of these are part of the larger Stikine Plateau region.

The Inklin River is a tributary of the Taku River in the northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It originates at the confluence of its two main tributaries, the Nahlin River and the Sheslay River and flows generally west and northwest about 83 km (52 mi) to join the Nakina River. The confluence of the Inklin and Nakina Rivers, at the uninhabited locality of Inklin, marks the beginning of the Taku River. The mouth of the Inklin River is located about 100 km (62 mi) northeast of Juneau, Alaska and about 160 km (99 mi) northwest of Telegraph Creek, British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iskut River</span> River in British Columbia, Canada

The Iskut River, located in the northwest part of the province of British Columbia is the largest tributary of the Stikine River, entering it about 11 km (6.8 mi) above its entry into Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nahlin Plateau</span> Geographic region in British Columbia, Canada

The Nahlin Plateau is a plateau in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, located between the Sheslay River and Tuya River on the west and east and the Nahlin River and the Stikine River to the north and south. It is a subplateau of the Stikine Plateau; adjoining parts of the same larger plateau are the Taku Plateau to the northwest, the Tahltan Highland to the southwest and south, the Kawdy Plateau to the north, and the Spatsizi Plateau to the southeast. The Nahlin Plateau is the location of the Level Mountain Range and Heart Peaks, two small mountain ranges forming parts of large shield volcanoes.

The Klastline Plateau is a plateau in the Stikine Region of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. A subplateau of the Stikine Plateau, it is located between the Stikine River (N), the upper Iskut River (S), Mess Creek (W) and the Klappan River (E). The Skeena Mountains are to the south, the Tahltan Highland to the west, the Spatsizi Plateau to the east, and the Tanzilla Plateau to the north, on the other side of the Stikine. The Spatsizi and Tanzilla Plateaus, and the Tahltan Highland, are also part of the Stikine Plateau.

The Tanzilla Plateau is a plateau in the Stikine Country of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is a sub-plateau of the Stikine Plateau and is located east of the Tuya River, north of the Stikine River and surrounding Dease Lake; its eastern extremity verges on the Stikine Ranges of the Cassiar Mountains at Dark Mountain and Pyramid Mountain. The Spatsizi Plateau is to the southeast, the Klastline Plateau to the south, the Tahltan Highland to the west and southwest, and the Kawdy Plateau to the west and northwest. All are also sub-plateaus of the Stikine Plateau.

The Taku Plateau is a sub-plateau of the Stikine Plateau in the far northwestern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It lies to the south of the Teslin Plateau, part of the Yukon Plateau and to the southeast of the Yukon Plateau's other major sub-area within British Columbia, the Tagish Highland. Immediately northeast is the Kawdy Plateau and to the northwest of the Nahlin Plateau. The Inklin River forms the plateau's southwestern boundary with the northwestern extremities of the Tahltan Highland, beyond which are the Boundary Ranges. Very mountainous, its highest summit is Nahlin Mountain.

The Tuya River is a major tributary of the Stikine River in northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada. From its source at High Tuya Lake in Tuya Mountains Provincial Park just south of Ash Mountain, the highest peak of the Tuya Range, the Tuya River flows south about 200 km (120 mi) to meet the Stikine River in the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. The Tuya River's main tributary is the Little Tuya River. The Tuya River divides the Tanzilla Plateau on the east from the Kawdy Plateau, to the northwest, and the Nahlin Plateau, to the southwest. All three are considered sub-plateaus of the Stikine Plateau. The Tuya River's watershed covers 3,575 km2 (1,380 sq mi), and its mean annual discharge is estimated at 36.9 m3/s (1,300 cu ft/s). The mouth of the Tuya River is located about 24 km (15 mi) northeast of Telegraph Creek, British Columbia, about 67 km (42 mi) southwest of Dease Lake, British Columbia, and about 210 km (130 mi) east of Juneau, Alaska. The Tuya River's watershed's land cover is classified as 35.7% shrubland, 31.4% conifer forest, 14.0% mixed forest, 7.2% herbaceous, and small amounts of other cover.

Kakuchuya Creek, historically called the Kakuchuya River, is a tributary of the Dudidontu River and part of the Taku River watershed in northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada.

The Koshin River is a tributary of the Nahlin River in northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It flows generally north about 58 km (36 mi) to join the Nahlin River, which forms the Inklin River, one of the main tributaries of the Taku River. The Koshin River flows through the Nahlin Plateau. It joins the Nahlin River at the boundary between the Nahlin and Kawdy plateaus. Both plateaus are part of the larger Stikine Plateau region.

References

  1. "Stikine Plateau". BC Geographical Names .
  2. Map of the Canadian Cordillera, ancillary document to Landforms of British Columbia, S. Holland, Bulletin 48, Ministry of Energy, Mines and Resources, BC Govt, 1976 Archived May 9, 2005, at the Wayback Machine