What can you tell me about the "smoking hills" along the Canadian
Arctic western coast line?
mike mc neil
Dear Mike,
Without some more detailed info I'd guess you are asking about the
Wrangell Volcanic Belt. It extends from Alaska into the southwestern
Yukon and is related to the convergence between the North American and
Pacific plates. The volcanoes are along the eastern edge of the Saint
Elias Mountains. It has been about 5-10 million years since there has
been an eruption in this volcanic field in Canada. However, an eruption
between 1,990 to 1,200 years ago from a vent near the head of Klutlan
Glacier (15 miles (24 km) west of the Alaska-Yukon border) did cover
large areas of northwest Canada with tephra.
Steve Mattox, University of North Dakota
Source of Information:
Wood, C.A., and Kienle, J., 1993, Volcanoes of North America: Cambridge
University Press, New York, 354 p.
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