Coast Range Arc - PNW

8/9/2019 Coast Range Arc - PNW

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Kanook Tlingit NationMarch 2010

Gods Country

Some 100 million years ago (mya) volcanoes were forced up though the crust of

the Pacific Northwest, from northern Washington up through British Columbia, into

the Alaskan Panhandle and onto the southwestern part of the Yukon. These

mountains of life and destruction were the result of the Kula and the then Farallon

Plates, this land mass has become famous in being the largest granite outcropping

in North America, and is sometimes referred to as the Coast Plutonic Complex or

the Coast Mountains Batholith.

About 85 mya a huge rift developed near the center of the

oceanic Farallon Plate, this rifting event created the oceanic

Kula Plate there is no known event tied to this major event

causing a rupture of the Farallon Plate, where some scholars

believe there was some fundamental change in theconvection within the Earths mantle, while others believe

the huge Farallon Plate became mechanically unstable as it

continued to subduct beneath the Pacific Northwest.

The Kula Plate than became part of a triangle of plates, a

triple junction consisting of the now extinct Farallon Plate

and the Pacific Plate, whereas the Kula Plate was subducted

under the North American Plate at a fairly steep angle,

creating the a set of mountains that are primarily made of

thrusted sedimentary sheets with very little of a continental

uplift, the Canadian Rockies. The American Rockies contain

a significant amount of continental uplift, as a result of the

shallow subduction of the Farallon Plate. Around 55 mya

the Kula Plate took a turn moving more in a northerly

direction and riding on the Kula Plate was the Pacific Rim

Terrane consisting of volcanic and sedimentary rocks. It

was scraped off and plastered against the continental margin forming what is today


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Vancouver Island. By 40 mya the compression forces of the Kula Plate stopped, and

the Kula Plate was absorbed into the Pacific Plate.

Around 60 mya volcanism began to decline along the length of the arc during the

Albian1 and Aptian2 faunal stages of the Cretacious epoch as the rapid movement of

the Kula Plate became parallel with the Pacific Northwest, creating a transformer

fault plate boundary, similar to the Queen Charlotte Fault as this passive plate

came into being the Kula Plate began subducting under Alaska and the

southwestern edge of the Yukon during the early Eocene period (55.8 to 33.9 mya).

Now this area about 50 mya had some of the most dangerous and explosive

volcanoes in the land, whereas cataclysmic eruptions were the order of the day

such as the one that occurred without interupption in the Bennett Lake Volcanic

Complex, that at one time spewed forth some 203 cubic miles of glowing pyroclasitc

rock, and the subsequent evacuation of the underlying magma created a series of

calderas that covered and area some 12 miles by 19 miles across with calderas

ranging from 656 feet deep to 8,858 deep albeit the Kula Plate had shifted

direction its diving beneath Alaska and the Yukon, just moved all the action.

Needless to say the Bennett Lake Volanic Complex is now considered extinct, this

happening after the Kula Plate slowed its dive, around 40 mya, beneath the NorthAmerican Plate.

Since the activity in most of the Coast Range Arc deminished around 40-50 mya,

many volcanoes have went the way of the past due to erosion, leaving their granite

instrusions which were forme when the magma cooled at great depts beneath the

1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albian 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptian


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violent mountains of fire. Today, remenants of some of these magnificent

mountains of thunder and fire still exist in southwestern Yukon, including Montana

Mountain area located south of Carcross in the Yukon.

Mount Montana area taken from the Highway to Whitehorse, just north ofthe Carcross desert

Another extinct volcanic mountain is Mount Nansen, a deeply eroded LateCretaceous stratovolcano about 33 miles west of Carmacks a village with apopulation of 450 and 6 miles west of Victoria Mountain in the central Yukon. Thenthere is the Mount Skukum Volcanic Complex located 27 miles west of Carcross and20 miles northwest of Mount Porsild a complex that includes the Skukum Group allwith high concentrations of hard to retrieve gold.

Mount Skukum tailings impoundment from tailings damn, facing north


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The northernmost volanic center of the Skukum Group is the Sifton Range

Volcanic Complexand early Tertiary (66 to 1.8 mya) which is made up of 2,300 feet

of a shallow-dripping sequence riddled with middle lavas and pyrocastic deposits.

Many granite rocks of the Coast Range

Arc are visible in the North Cascades of

the Cascade Range, which is the

southernmost boundary of the Arc.

Locations here show the highly

deformed oceanic rocks and assorted

fragments from pre-existing island

arcs, most remnants of the anicent

Bridge River Ocean that existed

between North America and the a

giant chain of active volcanic islands

somewhere in the Pacific Ocean during

the Cretaceous epoch that rode on top

of a micro-plate called the Insular

Plate, somewhere around 130 mya.

The Insular Islands were surrounded by

two pre-historic oceans, the

Panthalassa3 Ocean and the Bridge

River Ocean to the east. Beginningaround 115 mya the islands collided with the North American continent, fusing into

the North American Plate therefore closing the Bridge River Ocean during the mid-

Cretaceous period.

The Bridge River4 in the British

Columbia about 100 miles north of

Vancouver is a namesake of this

ancient ocean. At this collision

massive amounts of molten granite

were injected over this period,

burning the old oceanic sediments

into a glittering medium grade

metamorphic rock called schist.

The older intrusions of the Coast Range Arc were then deformed under the heat

and pressure of the later instrusions, converting them into a layered metamorphic

3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthalassa 4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_River
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rock known as gneiss, as in some places the mixture of the older intrusive rocks and

the origial oceanic rocks were distorted and warped under the intense heat,

creating unusual swirled patterns known as migmatite. Visible evidence of this

process can be found in Skagit and Chelan regions in Washington State. During this

process about 70 to 57 mya, the northern motion of the Kula Plate was between 5.5

to 4.3 inches per year, whereas some geological studies reveal that the plate couldhave moved over 7.9 inches per year.

In addition there were other widespread volcanic belts, such as the Anahim

Volcanic Beltthat lies in the middle of the Coast Range Arc, albeit the volcanics are

not directly related to the Coast Range Arc subduction, but have formed as a result

of the North American Plate sliding over the Anahim hotspot, which during its

formation lie beneath the granitic intrusions of the Coast Range Arc.

Note the significant basaltic dikes, such as the ones located in Gale Passage (4-

mile dike swarm) and around 12 mile long dike swarm at Bella Bella, whereas these

dikes are widespread through out the Coast Range Arc system demonstrating themassive force behind the collision of the plates. Dating these dike swams were

used to calculate the age of the hotspot putting its creation around 13 to 12 mya.

As the Kula Plate died, volcanic activity along the Coast Range Arc remained

active, albeit in later years as the continental drifting continued one of the largest

and most active regions was the Level Mountian Range that began forming around

14.9 mya in Northwestern British Columbia. Where the North American Plate is

being stretched even today at around 1 inch per year as this happens the

continental crust of the North American

Plate slides north along the Queen

Charlotte Plate on its way to the Aleutian

Trench, the rifting opens the mantle

beneath.


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As the continental crust stretches the near-surface rocks fracture along steeply

dipping cracks parallel to the rift, we call them faults whereas hot basalitc

magma rises along these fracture to create passive lava eruptions, the Level

Mountain Range is a product of this action. It is located in Cassiar Country,

northeast of Callison Ranch, southwest of Dease Lake and about 31 miles north of

Mount Edziza and is made up of a very large shield volcano on the Nahlin Plateaucomprising of a series of buttes and ridges, it is a lightly glaciated range, compared

to the Coast Mountains just to the west, and has only one named mountain within

its boundaries, Meszah Peak on the north side of the range at an elevation of

7,185 feet which makes it the highest point

in the Level Mountain Range. Located to the

west, is another related volcanic range just

east of Sheslay River at the edge of the

Nahlin Plateau that has on other set of named

mountains called the Heart Peaks.

The rift zone, that created the Level

Mountain Range has existed for at least 20

million years, and overall has created a line of

volcanoes called the Northern Cordilleran

Volcanic Provice, (Stikine Volcanic Belt) a line that stretches from the Alaska-Yukon

border to near Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Today, it contains serveral presently

dormant volcanoes that have the potential for future eruptions, having erupted

during the past few hundred years. One especially the Tseax Cone located at the

southern end of the Stikine Volcanic Belt in the Nass River area, whereas lava

flowed copiously once, 625 years ago and again 220 years ago some 6.9 miles from

the Nass River to the Tseax River damming and forming Lava Lake, the area today

is the Nisgas Memorial Lava Beds Provincial Park. Prindle Volcano5 in east-centralAlaska is generally considered the northernmost volcano in the Stikine Volcanic

Belt.

The Level Mountain Range rises above adjacent forested lowlands andundulating alpine areas surround the steeper central peaks.

5 Prindle Volcano, named for Louis by another geologist, is one of the loneliest volcanoes inAlaska. While most of Alaska's volcanoes make up the curve of the Aleutian Islands, withbunches of others on the Alaska Peninsula, in Cook Inlet and in the Wrangell Mountains,Prindle stands alone in the Fortymile River country close to the Canada border, about 50miles northeast of Tok.


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The Level Mountain Range is the most voluminous and most persistent volcanic

region of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province (NCVP) with an area of 695

square miles and it has been determined that it is the earliest in the NCVP, it has

more than 20 volcanic vents dating from 66 mya to 12,000 years ago, albeit activity

from 10,000 years ago to today is uncertain. On either side of the range are twofaults, the King Salmon Fault and the Nahlin Fault, which experienced extreme

activity during the Mesozoic (180 to 251 mya) and the Cenozoic (65.5 mya to

present). Its glaciation history extends back to the Pilocene (5.322 mya to 1.806

mya), proven by numerous examples of volcanic and glacial evidence. Albeit is

adjacent to the Tuya Volcanic Field6 it is not part of the same volcanic formation,

simply because the Level Mountain Range is a long-lived volcano, whereas the Tuya

Volcanic Fieldconsists of small volcanoes noted for only having one short eruptive

event.

The Level Mountain Range experienced three distinct phases of volcanic activity

evidences points to a hotspot located in the region and a leaky continental drift

volcanism.

The 1st phase of its creation looks back some 14.9 mya with the creation of a

massive oval-shaped shield volcano, forming a broad cliff-bounded lava plateau 43

miles long and 28 miles wide with an average thickness of 2,461 feet and an

elevation of 4,593 feet on the eroded Nahlin Plateau marking an extensive Neogene

(23,03 to 2.588 mya) regional uplift. The shield consists of 4 distinctive layers,

dominated by 3.28 foot to 26.25 foot thick basaltic lava flows separated by thin

layers of fluvial sediments and glacial sediment.

Before the shield volcano was finished around 7.1 mya another eruptive period

occurred forming a massive stratovolcano, this 206 cubic mile stratovolcano acts as

a volcanic plug centrally located atop the shield made up of several volcanic vents,some of which used to be 9,202 feet in elevation albeit the layers of the

stratovolcano are complex due to the influence of adjacent vents and to the

tremendous variation in the erupted magmas five bimodal packages of lava flows

and ejecta comprise the stratovolcano.

The deeply dissected stratovolcano of the Level Mountain RangeThe shield-forming phase ended some 6.9 mya, whereas the stratovolcano-

forming phase ended some 5.3 mya- evidence shows that at one time there was an

eruption through an ice age field, this demonstrate by the number of tuyas

present, whereas a tuya is a type of distinctive, flat-topped, steep-sided volcano

6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuya_Volcanic_Field
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formed when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet. They are somewhat

rare worldwide, being confined to regions which were formerly covered by

continental ice sheets and also had active volcanism during the same time period.

The tuyas within Level Mountain Range formed when magma intruded into and

melted a vertical pipe in the overlying continental ice sheets, and cooled as a large

block, with gravity flattening its upper surface. The shield margins have beensculpted by continental ice, and its uppermost member includes volcano-glacial

faces.

The final phase of activity constructed a series of lava domes some 4.5 mya, these

post-date the alpine valley system and cut the glacially eroded core of the

stratovolcano evidence of continued regional uplift with canyon development is

found on all the adjacent major river systems, including the Stikine River with its

prominent section of Tertiary basaltsabout 2.5 mya the dome-forming eruptions

ceased.


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The Mount Edziza Volcanic Complex is another large

and potentially active north-south trending volcano complex

in the Stikine Country, located about 24-miles from the small

community of Telegraph Creek on the Stikine River. It sits

within the Tahltan Highland7, and upland area of plateaus

and lower mountain ranges, lying east of the Boundary

Ranges and south of the Inklin River, which is the east fork of

the Taku River. Within the complex are many types of

volcanoes, shield volcanoes, calderas, lava domes,

stratovolcanes and cinder cones.

Most of the complex is within the large provincial park of

Mount Edziza Provincial Park, this 1,027.4 square mile park

was established in 1972 it is a remote complex whereas

there are no roads, with access only along wild trails, with its

easiest access from Highway 37 (Stewart-Cassiar Highway)

and a spur road from Dease Lake to Telegraph Creek. And

from Kinaskan Lake on Highway 37, a poorly maintained trailthat extends west for 19-miles into the heart of the complex,

and from Telegraph Creek another trail goes east for 16-

miles to the northern slope of Mount Edziza.

The Mount Edziza Volcanic Complex began forming

around 7.5 mya and has grown steadily since then, it is like

7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahltan_Highland
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the other volcanoes in northwestern British Columbia being born due to continental

rifting it to is along a divergent plate boundary.

The Mount Edziza complex is Canadas 2nd largest volcano of young volcanic

activity, with its 390 square miles only exceeded by the Level Mountain Range north

of Edziza with its square miles at 690.

There are four central volcanoeswithin the complex, one is Armadillo

Peak8, Spectrum Range9, Ice Peak10,

and Mount Edziza they all lay along

the northerly trending axis of an oval

shaped composite shield volcano.

Whereas the composite shield volcano

is made up of overlapping shields, two

of which are noticeable on maps. This

composite shield volcano forms a

broad lava plateau some 40 miles long

and 12 miles wide, primarily made of

basaltic lava flows, it is clustered with

cinder cones and surround by steep

ridges, which expose layers of black

columns of basaltic lava flows with distal rock fragments and pyroclastic deposits.

Mount Edziza, one of the main volcanoes of the Mount Edziza volcaniccomplex

The lava plateau is flanked by the Klastine River (which joins the Stikine) to the

north, Mess Creek and the large Stikine River to the west and the Iskut River to the

8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillo_Peak9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_Range 10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Peak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillo_Peakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_Rangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Peakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Peakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Peakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillo_Peakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_Rangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Peak


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east. The elevation of the Lava Plateau range from 4,900 to 5,900 feet with the

volcanic mountains up to 8,500 feet, there has been three sections of the Lava

Plateau given official names, the Arctic Lake, Big Raven and the Kitsu. Historically

the Mount Edziza Volcanic Complex has had at least two period of regional

glaciation, where deep ice sheets covered the land, and several lesser advances of

mountain glaciers.The Mount Edziza region is rich in obsidian which is produced by the rapid

cooling of molten lava or some liquid fraction of molten lava most is above the

5,900 feet to 6,200 foot altitudes and is noted in history as being an important

source for the 1st Nations People. Two columnar basalt formations are found in

the area, one the Tahltan Eagle at the confluence of the Tahltan and Stikine

Rivers and Pipe Organ Mountain within the Mt Edziza zone. Both display radiating

columns of basalt. The Tahltan Eagle is of cultural significance to the Tahltan 1st

Nations, the other if there is any significance is unknown.

Four hot-springs have been identified in the Mt Edziza region, one at Elwyn Creek,

the 2nd at Taweh Creek a 3rd one at Mess Lake and the 4th at Mess Creek, three of

them the Elwyn, Taweh and Mess Lake are the only hot springs known in Canada

that appear to be related to recent volcanic activity. The three are found close to

recent eruptive centers and may be a result of discharge from shallow hydrothermal

systems driven by residual magmatic material, Mess Creek Hotsprings lie on a

major fault bounding the west side of Mess Creek Valley and is believed to be part

of a deep circulating hydraulic system. The springs range in temperature from 77F

to 113F and are diluted with varying amounts of cooler water from creeks and

ground runoff. The Elwyn Creek springs consist of six springs (two warm, and four

cold) forming three large pools at the head of the creek with tufa11 formations in

mounds and terraced benches along the creek valley. Taweh Creek has extensive

tufa formations along a 2,100 foot cliff of the creek, whereas Mess Creek has twoprincipal vents at the base of a 66 foot cliff that form a pool approximately 2,152

square feet to 3.3 feet deep. The Mess Lake hotsprings have produced tufa

deposits that cascade down gentle hill-slopes and through lowlands covering about

297 acres. Deposits around recent vents indicate that discharge likely took place as

a geyser. One of the fossil vents stands 33 feet high.

During the last Ice Age (in the Pleistocene) the Cordilleran Ice Sheet reached

depths of 8,200 feet in some parts of British Columbia, on the east side of Mount

Edziza the ice moved in a southward direction, whereas many of todays lakes are

oriented in the direction of the ice movement, especially found in the areas where

the glaciers gouged on the valleys the retreating ice also deposited of copiousamounts of sediments. And drainage and erosion of the years have filled in a great

deal of the gouged out valley with sands and gravel. Albeit the Pleistocene Ice Age

ended about 10,000 years ago, remnant alpine glaciers have shaped the mountain

peaks, cirques and ridges typical of mountains in the region. About 450 years ago

11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tufa
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during the little ice age, glaciers once again advanced to their maximum limits

since the Pleistocene Ice Age, and about 200 years ago they began their retreat.

The Mount Edziza region has experienced the most recent volcanic activity with its

last eruptions occurring during the last 2000 years.

The Lava Fork Volcano or The Volcano is the name of a cinder cone in

northwestern British Columbia located immediately north of the British Columbia-Alaska border near Behm Canal just northeast of Ketchikan. It is believed it is the

youngest volcano in Canada, whereas in recent history its lava flows traveled south

3.1 miles crossed the border into Alaska and dammed the Blue River, a very short

tributary of the Unuk River which has its headwaters on Mount Lewis Cass

(Boundary Peak 47). The lava flows were approximately 13.5 miles long and still

show the original features and pits formed when the overlying lava collapsed into

the tubes and tree molds. It is estimated that the youngest of the flows is around

150-years old, with the oldest eruption at around 350-years old. It is the

southernmost of ten volcanoes in the Iskut volcanic field, which include the

volcanoes at Hoodoo Mountain and the Iskut-Unuk River Cones.

Some 57 miles directly south of this location is the New Eddystone Rock in the

middle of Behm Canal, which is said to be part of a volcanic vent that had spread

massive amounts of lava over a large area, similar to pancake batter on a griddle.

After the basalt flows covered the floor of Behm Canal, subsequent glacier advances

and retreats scoured away much of the deposits leaving behind the New Eddystone

Rock and some of its neighboring islands to the northeast.

New Edddystone Rock

About 46 miles northwest of Wrangell, Alaska on the north side of the lower Iskut

River and about 19 miles east of its junction with the majestic Stikine River sits

Hoodoo Mountain, a potentially active flat-topped stratovolcano, it is smack dab

within the Boundary Ranges and has been around for 130,000 years.


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Southern flank of Hoodoo Mountain

Studies have shown that the Hoodoo Mountain has gone through consistently

three different cycles every 24,000 years, whereas its activity shifts from a sub-

glacial to post-glacial and then back to sub-glacial, a unique sequence found among

the Northern Cordilleran volcanoes. The records demonstrate that from 85,000 to

80,000 years ago the mountain was more active than today, more than 90% of

Hoodoo Mountain formed during its early eruptive phase, at least 100,000 years ago

and over the years has added material to its present size today.Regional ice thickness during the sub-glacial period is estimated to have been

more than 1.25 miles. While the main volcanic debris is phonolite12 and comedic13

trachyte14 lava and hyaloclastites15, there are found some pyroclastic rocks the

trachyte and comendic magmas that erupted from the mountain and other Northern

Cordilleran volcanoes are believed to be a result of the fracturing of alkali basaltic

magma in crustal reservoirs. The estimated volume of erupted material from

Hoodoo is 4 cubic miles, and at least six phases or eruptive activity have been

identified with the mountain. Some 85,000 years ago erupting through glaciers

over 328 feet thick is generally believed to be the 1st phase of activity, this

produced lava flows, lava domes and breccias16 deposits.

Then 2nd eruptive phase some 80,000 years ago albeit

not from beneath a glacier the mountain was

surrounded by ice at 2,625 feet thick, whereas the lava

flows melted some of the thick glacier ice and

developed ponds around it perimeter, that quickly

solidified to form barriers upon which more lave stacked

up. These ice-marginal lava flows were thick and are

normally bounded by steep cliffs with fine-scale cooling

joints and contained copious amounts of volcanic glass.

It is this type of activity that formed the massive lava

cliffs near the base of Hoodoo Mountain, and are amongHoodoos most prominent features.

12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonolite 13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comendite 14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trachyte 15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyaloclastite 16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breccia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonolitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonolitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comenditehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comenditehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trachytehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trachytehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyaloclastitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyaloclastitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brecciahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonolitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comenditehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trachytehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyaloclastitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breccia


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The 3rd eruptive phase between 80,000 and 54,000 years ago was when an

explosive event occurred that produced the pyroclastic flows down the northern and

western flanks of the mountain, creating welded and un-welded ignimbrite17

deposits up to 328 feet thick. This explosion is one of the few explosive eruptions

throughout the mountains history, and is believed to have been caused by magma

breaching thin ice.The 4th eruptive phase again found no eruptions through ice, whereas lava flowed

over the previous pyroclastic deposits from the 3rd period and over the ice-dammed

lavas from the 2nd phase.

The 5th phase, between 54,000 and 30,000 years ago occurred from beneath

another glacier and produced two distinctive types of lava-breccia, the 1st sub-

glacial eruption between 54 and 40 thousand years ago produced lava domes and

monomict breccias, while the sub-glacier eruption took place 40k to 30k years ago

under much thinner ice.

The final phase of eruptive activity was effusive in nature, that produced lava

flows with well-preserved lava channels on the northwest and southwest flanks of

the mountain some 12,000 years ago and in large ice-free environment the lava

flows originated from the mountains flat-topped summit and from various volcanic

vents of its flanks. There is a scientific debate on the exact dates of this period,

whereas some say nine-thousand years ago and other say 7,000 years ago.

Albeit Hoodoo Mountain shows only one massive explosive event in the history

that modern man has been able to determine, it is still considered to be one of the

eleven seismically active Canadian volcanoes that are very capable of explosive

eruptions, whereas massive magma chambers have been detected beneath the

mountain.

17http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignimbrite
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Hoodoo Mountain, as seen looking to the northwest across the Iskut River

Another potentially active volcano is Mount Garibaldi or as the 1 st Nations people

the Squamish call it Nchkay (Dirty Place or Grimy One). It is located 50 miles

north of Vancouver within the southernmost Coastal Mountains, and needless to say

is one of the most recognized peaks in the South Coast region, and is British

Columbias best known volcano.

Mount Garibaldi as seen from Squamish

The eroded dome complex occupies the southwest corner of Garibaldi Provincial

Park overlooking the town of Squamish, and is known to be the only Pleistocene age

(2.588 million to 12 000 years ago) volcano in North America to have formed upon a

glacierit is not considered part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc.


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Mount Garibaldi is one of the few Cascade volcanoes that is made exclusively ofdacite18, its unique asymmetrical shape is attributed to its main core being

constructed on top of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, and unlike other Cascade volcanoes

to the south it does not dominate the landscape, therefore many residents of

Vancouver are not aware that there is a volcano closer to their city than the one

they observed over the International Border they share with Washington State,

Mount Baker.

It is believed it began its life some 250,000 years ago a product of the Cascadia

subduction zone, a long-convergent tectonic plate boundary that stretches from

mid-Vancouver Island to Northern California whereas the subduction zone

separates the Juan de Fuca, Explorer, Gorda and North American plates. Here the

oceanic crust of the Pacific Ocean dives beneath the North American plate at a rate

of over 1.6 inches per year. And the hot magma upwelling above the descending

oceanic plate creates volcanoes up and down the west coast of North America.

With sporadic eruptions happening every few million years at each volcano, this

subduction zone is estimated to have existed for 37 million years and has created

the Cascade Volcanic Arc.

18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacite
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The mountain grew in three phases, the 1st being the creation of a broad

composite cone made of dacite and breccias, which has been potassium-argon

dated giving up the 250,000 year date. Part of this proto-Garibaldi or ancestral

volcano are exposed on Garibaldis lower northern and eastern flanks and on the

upper 787 feet of Brohm Ridge. And within the vicinity of Columnar Peak and

many Glacier Peaks a series of coalescing dacite lava domes were constructed, butduring a long period of dormancy, the Cheekye River eventually cut a deep valley

into the cores western flank that was later filled with a glacier.

The 2nd event happened when the Cheekye Glacier

had reached its maximum and along with a part of the

regions ice sheet an eruption of the Atwell Peakplug

dome from a ridge surrounded by the several

thousand foot ice sheet. As the plug dome rose,

massive sheets of broken lava crumbled as broken

rock fragments down its sides. Accompanying this

action were numerous pyroclastic flows made up

super-heater mix of gas, ash, and pumice forming a

fragmental core 1.5 cubic miles in volume and an

overall slope of 12 to 15, erosion has since steeped

this slope also during the time the ice melted forming a small lake against the

Brohm Ridges southern arm, the volcanic sandstones seen today on top of Brohm

Ridge were created by ash settling in the lake.

Between the 2nd and the 3rd eruptions, melting glacier ice initiated a series of

avalanches and mudflows on Garibaldis western flank that removed nearly 50% of

the original cones volume pushing it into the Squamish Valley whereas .6 cubic

miles of the mountain flowed and covered 10 square miles of the valley with some

300 feet of debris.Soon before or after the buried ice had melted away, dacite lava quietly erupted

from Opal Cone southeast of Atwell Peak plug dome between 10,799 to 9,300 years

ago and flowed some 12 miles down Ring Creek on Garibaldis southern and

southwestern flanks, both flows did not encounter any residual glacial ice it is

calculate that about 0.15 cubic miles of dacite erupted in the 3rd period.

Red outline indicates the ancestral Garibaldi volcano


18/31

Mount Cayleyis another potentially active stratovolcano located in the Squamish-

Lillooet Regional District in southwestern British Columbia, about 28 miles north of

Squamish and 15 miles west of Whistler in the Coastal Mountains, it is 7,428 feet

above the Squamish River to the west and 6,052 feet above the Cheakamus River

to the east.Mount Cayley is made up of ridges, rounded

lava domes and sharp eroded rocky pinnacles;

with the highest reaching 7,799 feet in elevation

it lies at the southern end of a glacier field of ice

called the Power Mountain Icefield.

To the Squamish the mountain is called,

t'ak'takmu'yin tl'a in7in'a'xe7en or Landing

Place of the Thunderbird, a legendary creature in

many indigenous people of North America,

whereas local legend says the rocks were burnt

black by the Thunderbirds lighting, and is a sacred mountain to the local 1st Nations

people.

Mount Cayley began erupting some 4-million-years-ago and is the largest and

oldest volcanic complex of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, with explosive eruptions

ejecting viscous magma, glowing avalanches of hot volcanic ash and huge

pyroclastic events its magma is high in silica, such as rhyolite, dacite or andesite,

making it very acidic in nature.

The 1st phase erupted spewing forth lava and ash, including plagioclase19-

hypersthene20-hornblende21-phyric dacite flows, and pyroclastic breccias, and

concluded with the formation of a central lava dome, which eventually developed

the summit spires on Mount Cayley.The 2nd phase vented breccias,

enormous lava, and welded breccias with

plagioclase-hypersthene-hornblende-

biotite-phyric dactite, forming the largest

number of small pinnacles extending from

the jagged summit ridge of Pyroclastic

Peak called the Vulcans Thumb on the

southwestern flank of the mountain, all

this around 600,000 years ago

After a lengthy period with anextended erosion cycle removing almost

all of the original cone of pyroclastic

material, the satellitic vents went into action. This 3rd and final phase began about

300,000 years ago with the eruption of a dacite lava flow into the valley of

19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagioclase 20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersthene 21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornblende
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagioclasehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagioclasehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersthenehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersthenehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersthenehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornblendehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornblendehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagioclasehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersthenehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornblende


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Shovelnose Creek and concluded with the construction of two small satellitic

plagioclase-hypersthene-biotite-phyric dacite lave domes about 200,000 years ago.

Several hot-springs on Cayleys southwestern flank indicate that magmatic heat is

still present, convincing the scholars and scientists that the mountain is far from

dormant, and in addition bore holes have been drilled in hope of establishing a

geothermal facility whereas high temperatures have been found at fairly shallowlevels in steps from 112F to 212F.

There is another potentially active volcano within the Garibaldi Complex, the

Silverthrone Caldera, classified as the largest of the calderas in Western Canada,

its size being over 18.6 miles long (north-south) and 12.4 miles wide (east-west).

Mount Silverthrone an eroded lava dome on the calderas northern flank is 10,368

feet high and may be the highest volcano in Canada.

East face of Mount Silverthrone

Most of the caldera lies within the Ha-Iltzuk Icefield, which is the largest icefield in

the southern-half of the Coast Mountains, there is also five primary glaciers within

the Silverthrone region. The Silverthrone region is located 220 miles northwest ofVancouver and about 31 miles west ofMount Waddington, which is the highest peak

(13,186 feet) that lies entirely within British Columbia.

It eruptive history is a mystery, however as at other calderas, it is suggested that

the eruptions at Silverthrone are and have been explosive in nature, with the ejecta

be acidic, having high to intermediate levels of silica, as in rhyolite, dacite and

andesitic. Andesitic and rhyolitic magma are commonly associated with the two


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forms of explosive eruptions called Plinian and Pelean eruptions. Dating of the

rhyolitic lava domes at 750,000 to 400,000 years ago makes Silverthrone much

younger that its nearest prominent neighbor to the east-southeast the Franklin

Glacier Volcano at 6 to 8 mya.

Albeit the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI 0-8) is not known for the Silverthrone

Caldera, its chemical makeup and the structure of the volcano compares it to othercalderas that have a history or producing some of the worlds most violent

eruptions, such as the Crater Lake Caldera (Oregon) which is 6 miles long and 5

miles wide, whereas it ejected some 12 cubic miles of material forming its caldera

which is 3 times shorter in length and approximately 2.5 times less in width than

the Silverthrone caldera. Crater Lake caldera VEI is estimated at 7.

Seismic readings obtained at Silverthrone indicate a magma chamber beneath the

volcano, albeit the data fails to reveal a concrete conclusion it is still considered a

future hazard albeit remoteness reduces its possibilities of the loss of human life.

But another VEI of 7 or more would cause considerable excitement along the

coastal range, and affect the landscape far into the future.

Northeast face of Mount Silverthrone

Mount Meager (Mount Meager Volcanic Complex) is the most unstable volcanic

massif22 in Canada, constantly sloughing clay and rock into the Meager Creek and

22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massifhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massif


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Devastation Creek valleys. The complex is located some 93 miles north of

Vancouver and 40 miles northwest of Pemberton.

The volcano lies above the west flank of the Lillooet River and just south of the

Lillooet Icecap, and has at least eight vents, and is considered the northernmost

major volcanic center of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt,albeit Mount Silverthrone is a strong contender for this distinction.

The land beneath Mount Meager is hot, whereas the surface water seeps under

the volcano and returns to the surface along fractures in the Meager and Pebble

Creek areas as Hot Springs, springs that were originally used and revered by the 1st

Nations people, and are named Teiq in the language of the Lillooet people, and

further up the river is where the spirit-being/wizards known as the Transformers

reached in their journey to Lillooet Country. During this time the springs were a

training place for the young 1st Nations men looking to acquire their power and

knowledge. It was in this area that was found, a Blackstone Chiefs head pipe

that is a infamous amongst the Lillooet artifacts, it was found buried in volcanic ash

from around the 2350 year-ago eruption of Mount Meager.

The Bridge River Ash is considered to be from the

eruption of Mount Meager 2350 years ago, an

eruption what was similar to the 1980 eruption of

Mount St Helens, whereas the eruption came from a

vent on the north-east side of Plinth Peak. An,

eruption that produced a diverse sequence of

volcanic deposits that are well exposed in the bluffs

along the Lillooet River, which are defined as the

Pebble Creek Foundation. This eruption was of such magnitude that thin, very fine

grained, distal deposits of tephras have been identified in Alberta some 329 miles tothe east, and it is believe it ejected an ash column at least 12 miles high.

The eruption also blocked the Lillooet River, creating a 62 mile long lake that was

at least 164 deep, whereas the lake backed up to an elevation of 2,657 feet

eventually eroding it let loose a massive flow of water sending house-sized boulders

down the valley for several miles, which created Keyhole Falls and then continued

their path of destruction further on down the valley. In its final stages the eruption

ejected a 1.24 mile long porphyritic dacite lava flow that varies from 49 feet to 66


22/31

feet thick, all this happening in very recent geological terms, therefore suggesting

very strongly that the volcano is not quite done spewing it contents once again

across the landscape.

At least three-times during the past 7,300 years Meager has deposited clay and

rock several meters deep in the Pemberton Valley, two earlier debris flows around

4,450 and 7,300 years ago, pyroclastic rock traveled 20 miles into Meager Creek and recently the volcano has created every ten-years or so smaller landslides,

believed to have been caused by the volcanoes geomorphic activity, or an upwelling

of magma to shallow depths and movement caused by earth tremors with a result

of the weakening or deterioration of the volcanic rocks on the surface.

On the southwest side of the complex is Devastator Peak, a massive leaning tower

of rock which actually partially overlies the ice of Devastator Glacier and as the

glacier retreats, the rock is becoming unsupported and parts of it have collapsed.

Massive rock avalanches happen, which land on the glacier and due to its friction,

melt the glaciers surface during the collapse during the past the resultant

landslide blocked Meager Creek at its confluence with Devastator forming a

temporary lake when the lake grows to a large size it runs over the top of the

temporary landfill dam and creates a huge wave which roars own Meager Creek and

the Lillooet River for 12 miles or more before spreading out into a huge flood

scientist believe a wave large enough to reach Pemberton would be created by such

a landslide, an event such as this happened in 1930, and on July 22 nd, 1975 when a

flood buried and killed a party of 4 BC Hydro geologists exploring the region for

geothermal sites.

Another potentially active volcanic region is the Wells Gray-Clearwater Volcanic

Field (Clearwater Cone Group) classified as a Monogentic Volcanic Field (field of

small, scattered volcanic vents) in east-central British Columbia about 62 miles

north of Kamloops, and over time it has created numerous basaltic volcanoes andextensive lava flows.

A view from Green Mountain with Pyramid Mountain in the distance


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Most of the field is within a large wilderness park, Wells Gray Provincial Park, a

2,100 square mile park that was established in 1939, simply because of the fields

extreme beauty there is one single road that enters the park, which from it a

number of the parks natural wonders can be viewed, after some short hikesbut

most areas are accessible only by aircraft.

Scientist speculate that the field began forming some 3.5 mya, but they are notsure of the causes of the volcanism, albeit is 160 miles inland from the north-south

trending Garibaldi Volcanic Belt and is along-strike from the Nootka Fault on the

Coast, which as weve learned has been sub-ducting under the North American

Plate, they are still not certain of its origins and continue to research its actual

source. The region is believed to have formed by crustal thinning and the existence

of crustal penetrating structures which in theory tells us little.

Based on modern dating methods, it is estimated that the volcanic activity in the

field increased some 2.5 million years ago creating a valley-filling and plateau-

capped lava flows that had a volume of approximately 6 cubic miles. This action

occurred over at least three periods of glaciation, evidence of this is preserved in

the form of tuyas23, ice-pond valley deposits and sub-glacial mounds. The four

tuyas in the region, Gage Hill, Hyalo Ridge, McLeod Hill and Mosquito Mound having

been formed when magma erupted through a vertical pipe in the overlaying glacial

ice, and cooled as a large block, with gravity flattening its upper surface and over

the following years glacial erosion creating it eventual shape, this activity suggests

they erupted during the early Pleistocene period (2.5 mya).

It is believed that at least one explosive underwater volcano formed during the

Pleistocene, the White Horse Bluff, which is thought to have formed in three phases.

The 1st was involved with water, in that it might have been dammed by glacial ice

which filled the Clearwater River valley.

23http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuya
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuya


24/31

Clearwater Valley

The water from the dammed lake was heated by the volcano then it flooded down

the vent creating violent steam explosions and broken lave fragments whereasonce the steam explosions had subsided, the broken lava fragments settled back

into the glacial water, thereby creating the un-volcano like form of White Horse Bluff

which is mostly made of fragmented volcanic glass called hyaloclastite. The volcano

stopped erupting soon after the

breech of the surface of the

glacial lake.

Clearwater Lake


25/31

Volcanic events elsewhere, during the Pleistocene interacted with groundwater

and magma creating numerous pit volcanoes pit crates that have been filled with

water creating several crater lakes unfortunately glacial fill has left a thick blanket

of till over nearly all of the volcanic deposits and in doing so only an outcrop may be

found is some cliff-forming exposures in several valleys.

At the end of the last ice age, approximately 10,000 years

ago, the massive floods from the melting glacial icecarved deep canyons into the underlying plateau-capping

lava flows evidence of this can be found in the rivers and

waterfalls such as the ones at Murtle River, Canim Falls,

Spahats Falls and the 466 foot Helmcken Falls. More

recently the southern end of the volcanic field has

experienced continuous activity since the end of the last

ice age, in mainly three areas, Spanish Creek, Ray Lake

and Kostal Lake, where were followed by lave fountains

eruptions creating cinder cones and lava flows. Two

cinder cones were created in the Spanish Creek area,known as Flourmill Cone and Pointed Stick Cone, whereas

lava flows from the two cones lie on glaciated bedrock,

their makeup suggesting an early Holocene age (12,000 years ago to present).

Eruptions near Ray Lake created Dragon Cone, finishing with an approximate 9.9

miles lava flow known as the Dragon Tongue and has been dated to be at least

7,600 years old, it damned the southern end of Clearwater Lake. The latest

volcanic eruption created Kostal Cone, a small tree-covered basaltic cone at the


26/31

east end of Kostal Lake as recent as 400-years-ago, making it one of the youngest

volcanic actions in Canada based on tree-growth information.

More recent, but not conclusive, studies by volcanologist have indicated that the

sub-ducted extension of the Nootka Fault may be the primary cause of the alkali

structure of the Wells Gray-Clearwater Volcanic Field, mostly being generated by

asthenospheric24

upwelling by the displacement along the transformer fault.

Canim Falls and lava flows

The Nazko Cone is another small potentially active cinder cone, located 46.6

miles from Quesnel in central British Columbia, about 93 miles southwest of Prince

George. It is considered the easternmost volcano in the Anahim Volcanic Belt.

The small tree covered Nazko Cone rises some 394 feet above the Chilcotin-

Nechako Plateau and sits atop glacial tillIt was formed in three episodes of

activity, the 1st of which took place during the Pleistocene inter-glacial stage about

340,000 years ago. The 2nd stage produced a large hyaloclastic scoria mound that

erupted from beneath the Cordilleran Ice Sheet during the Pleistocene, its 3rd and

last eruption produced two small lava flows that traveled 0.62 miles to the west,

24http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asthenosphere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asthenospherehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asthenospherehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asthenosphere


27/31

along with a blanket of volcanic ash that extends several miles to the north and

east of the cone.

The Nazko Cone resides at the eastern end of the Anahim Volcanic Belt and is the

youngest of the Anahim volcanoes the belt overall has had three magmatic

episodes, 15-13 mya, 9-6 mya and 3-1 mya, and it is apparent that these major

events happened over a hot-spot in the earths crust and as the North AmericanPlate slides west at a rate of 0.8 inches to 1.3 inches a year the earth above it from

time-to-time builds a volcano, this hot-spot is considered to be similar to the one

that has created the Hawaiian Islands.

Beginning on Oct 9th, 2007 and ending Oct 20th, 2007, a series of 1,000 small

earthquake swarms of 4.0 M or less hit the region, with their epicenters near the

Baezaeko River, 19 miles west of the Nazko Cone a swarm of earthquakes that are

unique in the fact that they are the only recorded seismicity in the Canadian

Cordillera away from the British Coast. Their origination is said to be some 15.5

miles below the surface, and their seismic waves suggest that they originated from

a magmatic source, and it is believed to be linked to the hypothesized hot-spot

albeit hypothesized, volcanologists point west to the previously created shield

volcanoes the Rainbow, Ilgachuz, and ItchaTheir suggestions point to the fact that

the earthquakes are an indication of a future earthquake in the Nazko region are a

bit further to the east extending the now 370 mile Anahim Volcanic Belt.

Nazko Cone

In recent history recorded earthquakes at other regions such a Mount Meager (17events), Mount Cayley (four events), Mount Garibaldi (3 events), SilverthroneCaldera (2 events), Castle Rock (2 events), Hoodoo Mountain (8-events), CrowLagoon (four events), The Volcano (five events), and the Mount Edziza VolcanicComplex (8-events) signifies that these regions still contain active magmachambers, and could possibly erupt in the near future how near is anyones guess,as the data available does not allow anyone to draw any concrete conclusions butsufficiently clear enough to indicated the volcanoes are still active and represent a

future risk to the land around them. Especiallyworrisome are the records that indicate HoodooMountain and the Mount Edziza Volcanic Complexand their explosive nature.

The Boundary Ranges, shown as outline in red

on the map are the largest and most northerly

sub-range of the Coast Mountains. One cannot

help but imagine the force behind the formation


28/31

of all the mountains and thousands of Islands between Puget Sound in the south to

the Mt St Elias range in the north, when you look at the topography of the interior.

From a distance, you see ripples of land, but it only becomes apparent when you

walk across the landscape in a valley and see the towering mountains on each side

of you framed by the clear deep blue sky. Awesome and frightening at the same

time.The Boundary Ranges (Alaska Boundary Ranges) begins at the Nass River in

northern British Columbia, and flows through the Coast Mountains for 235 miles

terminating in Nass Bay, a bay that joins Portland Inlet just south of Observatory

Inlet. The English word Nass is a derivative a Tlingit Nation name Naas which

loosely translated means intestines or guts in reference to the rivers large

capacity of fish, namely the candle fish, the NIsgas name for the river is Kalii

Aksim Lisims, the Gitxsan name is Git-Txaemsim meaning People of Txeemsim

(Raven or Trickster). The Boundary Ranges end near the Kelsall River near the

Chilkook Pass, beyond which is the Alsek Ranges of the Saint Elias Mountains, and

north the Yukon Territory flanking the west side of the Yukon River drainage as far

as Champagne Pass, north of which is the Yukon Ranges. To the east are the

Skeena Mountains, and the Stikine Plateau with the immediate adjoining sub-

region the Tahltan Highlands. To the northeast is the Tagish Highland, which is a

sub-region of the Yukon Plateau both highlands are considered in some

descriptions as part of the Coast Mountains. The Alexander Archipelago lies

offshore and is entirely within the State of Alaska.

The Boundary Ranges have within its region several large icefields, such as the

Juneau Icefield, which is the 5th largest icefield in the western hemisphere,

encompassing 1,506 square miles and home to many glaciers like the Mendenhall

and the Taku, and you will find over 40 large valley glaciers and 100 smaller ones.

It reached its maximum glaciation around 1700 and has been in retreat since, as amatter of fact, of its 19 notable glaciers only the Taku Glacier is the only one

advancing whereas the Mendenhall Glacier since 1946 have retreated some 2,300

feet. In addition some 5 miles to the north Herbert Glacier has retreated some

1,775 feet, while Eagle Glacier has retreated like the Mendenhall 2,300 feet, Gilkey

Glacier over 2.17 miles and Llewellyn Glacier 1.75 miles. While on the south side

the Norris Glacier has retreated over 1.07 miles, the East Twin Glacier some 3,600

feet, and the West Twin Glacier over 1,850 feet. A notable peak in the icefield is

Devils Paw, at 8,584 feet and the highest in the Juneau Icefield, locally along with

several smaller peaks the group is called the Mendenhall Towers.


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Juneau Icefield

The Stikine Icecap is the another very large Ice-Field, straddling the border

between SouthEast Alaska and British Columbia, lying smack dab in the middle of

the Boundary Ranges. This extremely large field is the home of the majority of

water for both the Taku and Stikine Rivers and one notable tributary of the Stikine

the Chutine (Clearwater River) the name Chutine is translated as in the Tahltan

language Half-people, Tahltan & Tlingit.

The icecap is the also the home of the LeConte and Sawyer Glaciers on the Alaska

side, and the Great Glacier on the BC side and entering the land on the lower

Stikine the Mud and Flood Glaciers which form the boundaries of the Boundary

Range. It is also known for some of the most dangerous mountain peaks and spires

of granite in the Pacific Northwest, with one such peak being the Devils Thumb.

Devils Thumb

The most famous feature on the Devils Thumb is its unclimbed Northwest Face,

which rises 6,700 ft (2,042 m) from the Witches Cauldron at its base to the summit,

at an average angle of 67 degrees. This is unparalleled steepness for a face this size


30/31

in North America. Unfortunately, the conditions prevalent on this face make it into

perhaps the most dangerous climbing proposition on the continent as well.

There are 1,000 peaks on the Alaska Canadian Border that make up the

boundary peaks, and where accessible each peak during the survey had a bronze

marker placed on the peak, whereas from one peak you could see the previous

peak and the next peak.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Boundary_Peaks_of_the_Alaska-

British_Columbia_border

One of the most remote regions on this planet, and the least explored is the

mountain range that spans the Pacific Northwest Coast, a mountain range that is

over 995 miles long and 186 miles wide, extending from virtually all the coast of

British Columbia, up through the Alaskan Panhandle and terminating in

southwestern Yukon. It includes volcanic and non-volcanic giants of nature and

huge icefields that are remnants of the Ice Ages.

If youre so inclined and have an un-limited budget, pack up your digital camera

and assorted lens in your 4-wheel drive vehicle and spend the rest of your natural

life exploring the un-explored. Noting the stories from the local indigenous, native

and non-native, and taking snaps, Im sure youd find enough to keep you busy and

productive for at least 50 yearsand what an account that would be.

In the meantime, if your budget prohibits you from doing so, hop on the Internet

and begin your search of the mountains that God build for his entertainment and a

place to spend a weekend from time-to-time visiting the animals and what few

friends of his living in the wilds of North America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Boundary_Peaks_of_the_Alaska-British_Columbia_borderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Boundary_Peaks_of_the_Alaska-British_Columbia_borderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Boundary_Peaks_of_the_Alaska-British_Columbia_borderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Boundary_Peaks_of_the_Alaska-British_Columbia_border


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As John Muir commented in one of his famous writings,

came straight from the hand of God, uncorrupted by civilization and domestication.

This is the Pacific Northwest Coastal Ranges.

Documents

Coast Range Arc - PNW