Itcha Range

Geobox | Range
name=Itcha Range

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image_caption=Satellite image of the Itcha Range
country=Canada
region_type=Province
region=British Columbia
parent=Chilcotin Plateau
border=
geology= Shield volcano
period=2.5 million years (Pliocene)
orogeny=Hotspot volcanism
length_imperial=
length_orientation=
width_imperial=
width_orientation=
highest=Mount Downton
highest_elevation=2375
highest_lat_d=52|highest_lat_m=42|highest_lat_s=18.0|highest_lat_NS=N
highest_long_d=124|highest_long_m=5|highest_long_s=0.0|highest_long_EW=W


map_caption=

The Itcha Range is a mountain range on the Chilcotin Plateau of the West-Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The range is located 25 miles (40 km) NE of Anahim Lake. Its main peaks are Itcha Mountain and Mount Downton.

Geology

The Itcha Range is a 2.5 million year old massive felsic shield volcano in the Anahim Volcanic Belt which includes other immediately-nearby ranges, the Rainbow and Ilgachuz Ranges. The shield has a diameter of 10 kilometers [ [http://www.bivouac.com/MtnPg.asp?MtnId=4991 Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia] Retrieved on 2007-07-08] and is now eroded by glaciers carving into the volcanic rock. The Itcha Range and its neighbours were formed when the North American Plate moved over a stationary hotspot, known as the Anahim hotspot. The hotspot is considered similar to the one feeding the Hawaiian Islands.

Most late-stage lavas capping the Itcha shield complex were erupted from cinder cones, tuff rings, and fissures in the eastern half of the complex. The Itcha shield complex contains at least 23 cinder cones, all of which were active during the Pleistocene period. [ [http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/volcanoes/map/map_e.php?id=avb_1 Volcanoes of Canada - Map of Canadian volcanoes] Retrieved on 2007-07-08]

Satah Mountain occupies the high point of a long ridge of trachytic lava domes, lava flows and basaltic and trachybasaltic pyroclastic cones, extending south from the felsic Itcha Range shield complex. The youngest cone is well preserved, and could be of comparable age to the 7200-year-old Nazko Cone east of the Itcha Range. Like most volcanoes in British Columbia, it is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire which includes over 160 active volcanoes.

Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park

The Itcha and Ilgachuz Ranges form the core of the Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park, while the Rainbow Range lies partly in the Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park.

ee also

*Anahim Volcanic Belt
*Anahim hotspot
*Ilgachuz Range
*Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park
*Rainbow Range
*Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park
*List of volcanoes in Canada
*Geology of the Pacific Northwest

References

External links

* [http://www.bivouac.com/MtnPg.asp?MtnId=6000 Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.skimountaineer.com/ROF/ROF.php?name=Itcha Skiing the Pacific Ring of Fire and Beyond]