User:Volcanoguy/sandbox
Kitsu Plateau | |
|---|---|
 False colour image of air-fall tephra on the Kitsu Plateau from The Ash Pit which is the circular depression at bottom left centre | |
  Kitsu Plateau Location in British Columbia | |
| Coordinates: 57°27′59″N 130°45′06″W / 57.46639°N 130.75167°W[1] | |
| Location | Cassiar Land District, British Columbia, Canada[2] |
| Range | Tahltan Highland[2] |
| Part of | Mount Edziza complex[3] |
| Age | 7.5 million years and younger[4] |
| Formed by | Volcanic activity[4] |
| Geology | Comendite, trachyte, hawaiite, alkali basalt[5] |
| Etymology | Northern lights (Tahltan)[1] |
| Dimensions | |
| • Length | Approximately 10 km (6.2 mi)[2] |
| • Width | Approximately 6 km (3.7 mi)[2] |
| Elevation | Above 1,700 m (5,500 ft)[2] |
| Last eruption | Holocene age[6][7] |
| Topo map | NTS 104G10 Mount Edziza[1] NTS 104G7 Mess Lake[1] |
| Designation | Mount Edziza Provincial Park[2] |
| Borders on | Spectrum Range (southeast)[2] Nagha Creek valley (south)[2] Mess Creek valley (west)[2] Raspberry Pass (north)[2] Artifact Ridge (east)[2] |
 Location in Mount Edziza Provincial Park | |
The Kitsu Plateau is a small intermontane plateau in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada.
Geography and geomorphology
[edit]Location
[edit]The Kitsu Plateau is on the Tahltan Highland east of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains and west of the Skeena Mountains in Cassiar Land District. Between the Boundary Ranges and the Kitsu Plateau is Mess Creek valley which extends more than 30 kilometres (19 miles) to the north where it separates the Zagoddetchino massif from the Big Raven Plateau in the east. The northern end of the plateau is bounded by Raspberry Pass which contains the east-flowing Bourgeaux Creek in the east and the northwest-flowing Raspberry Creek in the west. Between the Kitsu Plateau and the Skeena Mountains is Artifact Ridge and the Little Iskut River, the latter of which flows north in a north–south trending valley and then flows southeast towards the Skeena Mountains into the Iskut River. In the southeast, the Kitsu Plateau is surrounded by the Spectrum Range while in the south the plateau is separated from Yagi Ridge by Nagha Creek valley.[2]
This roughly 10-kilometre-long (6.2-mile) and 6-kilometre-wide (3.7-mile) plateau lies at the southern end of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex which also includes the Big Raven Plateau to the north, as well as the Spectrum Range and the Arctic Lake Plateau to the south.[2][3] This volcanic complex consists of a group of overlapping shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes, lava domes and cinder cones that have formed over the last 7.5 million years. It contains four central volcanoes along its north–south trending axis; from north to south they are Mount Edziza, Ice Peak, Armadillo Peak and the Spectrum Range.[4]
Drainage
[edit]As a part of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex, the Kitsu Plateau is drained entirely by streams within the Stikine River watershed.[2][8] The only named stream on the plateau is Kitsu Creek which originates on the northern flank of Kitsu Peak in the Spectrum Range and flows northwest then north into Mess Creek, a tributary of the Stikine River.[5][9][10] Several small unnamed streams flow into Kitsu Creek and the neighbouring valleys of Mess Creek, Raspberry Creek and Nagha Creek; Raspberry Creek drains into Mess Creek while Nagha Creek drains into Kitsu Creek just northeast of Mess Lake.[10][11][12]
Structure
[edit]The western, northern and southern flanks of the Kitsu Plateau are marked by steep cliffs forming the Mess Creek Escarpment, the southern side of Raspberry Creek valley and the northern side of Nagha Creek valley, respectively.[2][5] At the Mess Creek Escarpment, the Kitsu Plateau rises more than 910 metres (3,000 feet) above Mess Lake in Mess Creek valley; Mess Lake has an elevation below 760 metres (2,500 feet) while the Mess Creek Escarpment reaches an elevation of more than 1,700 metres (5,500 feet).[2] The plateau surface is barren of vegetation but at lower elevations the surrounding valleys contain white spruce, lodgepole pine and trembling aspen forests.[2][13]
Landforms
[edit]The Kitsu Plateau is dominated by the Mess Lake Lava Field which extends from Raspberry Creek in the north to Nagha Creek in the south.[2][14] It covers an area of around 18 square kilometres (6.9 square miles) and contains three pyroclastic cones which were the source of lava flows that travelled westward towards the Mess Creek Escarpment.[14] The oldest cone, sometimes referred to by the numeronym ML-1, is at the northern end of the lava field while the second oldest cone, ML-2, is at the southern end of the lava field.[15] Both cones are covered by tundra vegetation and have been slightly rounded by erosion, although their craters are still recognizable. The Ash Pit, sometimes referred to by the numeronym ML-3, is the youngest and southernmost eruptive centre of the Mess Lake Lava Field.[15] It lies on the steep southern slope of the Kitsu Plateau inside Nagha Creek valley and has been described as a pyroclastic cone or a conical explosion crater.[5][16]
Geology
[edit]Stratigraphy
[edit]
The Kitsu Plateau is subdivided into at least five geological formations, each being the product of a distinct period of volcanic activity.[5][17] These periods of volcanic activity occurred during three magmatic cycles of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex; each cycle began with the effusion of alkali basalt and culminated with the eruption of lesser volumes of felsic magma.[18] The two oldest geological formations comprising the Kitsu Plateau are the Raspberry and Armadillo formations which were deposited by volcanic eruptions during the first magmatic cycle between 7.5 and 6 million years ago. Overlying these two geological formations are the Nido and Spectrum formations which were deposited between 6 and 3 million years ago during the second magmatic cycle. The fifth oldest geological formation comprising the Kitsu Plateau is the Big Raven Formation which was deposited during the fifth magmatic cycle in the last 20,000 years.[5][17]
Raspberry Formation
[edit]Raspberry Formation
Armadillo Formation
[edit]Armadillo Formation
Nido Formation
[edit]Nido Formation (Kounugu Member)
Spectrum Formation
[edit]Spectrum Formation (Kitsu Member)
Big Raven Formation
[edit]Big Raven Formation (Mess Lake Lava Field)
Basement
[edit]Name and etymology
[edit]Provincial park
[edit]Accessibility
[edit]Mess Lake
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Kitsu Plateau". BC Geographical Names. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Telegraph Creek, Cassiar Land District, British Columbia (Topographic map) (3 ed.). 1:250,000. A502 (in English and French). Department of Energy, Mines and Resources. 1989. Archived from the original on 2021-05-02. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
- ^ a b Souther 1992, p. 32.
- ^ a b c Wood, Charles A.; Kienle, Jürgen (1990). Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada. Cambridge University Press. pp. 124, 125. ISBN 0-521-43811-X.
- ^ a b c d e f Souther, J. G. (1988). "1623A" (Geologic map). Geology, Mount Edziza Volcanic Complex, British Columbia. 1:50,000. Cartography by M. Sigouin, Geological Survey of Canada. Energy, Mines and Resources Canada. doi:10.4095/133498.
- ^ Souther 1992, p. 234.
- ^ "The Ash Pit". Catalogue of Canadian volcanoes. Natural Resources Canada. 2009-03-10. Archived from the original on 2010-12-11. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
- ^ Souther 1992, pp. 32, 33.
- ^ Souther 1992, pp. 113.
- ^ a b "Kitsu Creek". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
- ^ "Raspberry Creek". BC Geographical Names. Archived from the original on 2021-08-20. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
- ^ "Nagha Creek". BC Geographical Names. Archived from the original on 2021-10-01. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
- ^ "Mount Edziza Provincial Park". BC Parks. Archived from the original on 2023-01-23. Retrieved 2024-09-15.
- ^ a b Souther 1992, p. 235.
- ^ a b Souther 1992, pp. 214, 235.
- ^ Souther 1992, pp. 234, 235, 320.
- ^ a b Souther 1992, p. 267.
- ^ Souther 1992, pp. 1, 267, 276.
Sources
[edit]- Souther, J. G. (1992). The Late Cenozoic Mount Edziza Volcanic Complex, British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada (Report). Memoir 420. Canada Communication Group. doi:10.4095/133497. ISBN 0-660-14407-7.
- Souther, J. G.; Armstrong, R. L.; Harakal, J. (1984). "Chronology of the peralkaline, late Cenozoic Mount Edziza Volcanic Complex, northern British Columbia, Canada". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 95 (3). Geological Society of America: 337–349. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1984)95<337:COTPLC>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0016-7606.