Photograph by B. Edwards
Photograph by B. Edwards
Looking up Volcanic Creek valley to the southeast, Volcanic Creek cone can be seen on the flank of the much larger Mt. Barham (center). Volcanic Creek is a small volcanic center located 20 km northeast of Atlin, in northwestern British Columbia, and 900 km east of Anchorage, Alaska. At this location there are two small cinder cones and a lava flow at least 3 kilometers long, which is present below parts of the tree-covered area in the lower right hand quarter of the above photograph. The subdued form of Volcanic Creek cone is visible directly below the largest snow patch. The cone has probably suffered through at least one glacial episode, although its location high on the mountainside probably protected it from direct glacial erosion. Two cinder cones are actually present, with one nested inside the other. Volcanic Creek cone, part of the northern Cordilleran volcanic province (Edwards & Russell 2000), is one of three young volcanoes in the Atlin area. The other two are Ruby Mountain volcano and Cracker Creek cone.
Photograph by B. Edwards
The lava flow, shown above, is covered by glacial till and eskers; this is evidence that the lava is older than the most recent glacial advances. The lava flow covers older gold-bearing gravels which were protected by glacial erosion by the resistant lava flow; a boon to modern-day gold miners, who operate in the valley.
-Andy McCarthy and Ben Edwards, Grand Valley State University, MI
Aitken, J.D. 1959. Atlin, British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 307, 89 p.
Edwards, B.R. & Russell, J.K. 2000. The distribution, nature and
origin of Neogene-Quaternary magmatism
in the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province, northern Canadian Cordillera.
Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 112, no. 8, 1280-1295.
Edwards, B.R., Hamilton, T.S., Nicholls, J., Stout, M.Z., Russell, J.K.,
& Simpson, K. 1996.
Late Tertiary to Quaternary volcanism in the Atlin area , northwestern
British Columbia; in
Current Research, Part A; GSC Paper 96-1A, 29-36.
McCarthy, A.C. & Edwards, B., 2000. Preliminary field mapping and
petrographic analysis of Volcanic
Creek volcanic center, northwestern British Columbia, Canada.
Fifth annual Michigan Space Grant
Consortium meeting. Abstract, p. 24.
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