Catalogue of Canadian volcanoes |
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Catalogue of Canadian volcanoes Garibaldi volcanic belt
The Garibaldi Volcanic Belt is the northern extension of the Cascades Volcanic
Belt in the northwestern United States (including
Mt. Baker and Mt. St. Helens), and contains the most explosive
young volcanoes in Canada. It's volcanoes are also the closest
to British Columbia's densely populated southwest corner. These
volcanic belts are the result of subduction of the Juan de Fuca
tectonic plate beneath the North American tectonic plate; the
plates meet just seaward of the west coast of Vancouver island.
The volcanoes of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt generally are stratovolcanoes
typical of subduction zone volcanoes, and include Mt. Garibaldi,
Mt. Price, the Black Tusk, Mt. Cayley, Mt. Fee,
Mt. Meager and Mt. Silverthrone.
Mt. Meager's eruption of 2350 years ago is the youngest explosive eruption
in Canada. It was similar to that of Mt. St. Helens in 1980
and also the ongoing eruption of Montserrat in the Caribbean.
The explosive phase of this eruption generated an ash plume
that covered most of southern B.C. and extended into southern
Alberta. The existence of anomalous heat beneath Mt. Meager
is demonstrated by the large number of hotsprings around the
volcano, some of which feed the hot tubs at Meager hotsprings.
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