Mount Edziza
Canada · Americas
About
Mount Edziza ( əd-ZY-zə; Tahltan: Tenh Dẕetle [tɛn̥ ˈt͡θɛt͡ɬʰə]) is a volcano in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of the community of Telegraph Creek in the middle of the Big Raven Plateau, which is part of the Tahltan Highland. Mount Edziza has an elevation of 2,786 metres (9,140 feet), making it the highest point of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex and one of the highest volcanoes in Canada. However, it had an elevation of at least 3,396 m (11,142 ft) before its formerly cone-shaped summit was likely destroyed by a violent eruption in the geologic past; its current flat summit contains an ice-filled, 2 km (1.2 mi) wide crater. The mountain contains several lava domes, cinder cones and lava fields on its flanks, as well as an ice cap containing several outlet glaciers which extend to lower elevations. All sides of Mount Edziza are drained by tributaries of Mess Creek and Kakiddi Creek, which are situated within the Stikine River watershed.
Mount Edziza consists of several types of volcanic rocks and at least six geological formations that formed during six distinct stages of volcanic activity. The first stage, 1.1 million years ago, produced basalt flows and a series of rhyolite and trachyte domes. Basalt flows and smaller amounts of trachyte, tristanite, trachybasalt, benmoreite and mugearite produced during the second stage, about 1 million years ago, compose Ice Peak, a glacially eroded stratovolcano forming the south peak of Mount Edziza. The third and fourth stages, 0.9 million years ago, created basalt ridges and the central trachyte stratovolcano of Mount Edziza, respectively. Thick trachyte flows, most of which have since eroded away, were issued during the fifth stage 0.3 million years ago. The sixth stage began in the last 20,000 years with the eruption of cinder cones, basalt flows and minor trachyte ejecta. Renewed volcanism could block local streams with lava flows, disrupt air traffic with volcanic ash and produce floods or lahars from melting glacial ice.
Indigenous peoples have lived adjacent to Mount Edziza for thousands of years. It is a sacred mountain to the Tahltan people, who historically used volcanic glass from it to make tools and weaponry. Mineral exploration just southeast of Mount Edziza had commenced by the 1950s where gold, silver and other metals were discovered. This mineral exploration was conducted by several mining companies into the early 1990s. Mount Edziza and the surrounding area were made into a large provincial park in the early 1970s to preserve the volcanic landscape. The mountain and provincial park can only be accessed by aircraft or by a network of horse trails from surrounding roads.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.