Maitland Volcano

Maitland Volcano
Elevation	2,514 m (8,248 ft)
Listing	List of volcanoes in Canada
Location
Location	British Columbia, Canada
Range	Cassiar Mountains
Coordinates	57°04′N 129°07′W / 57.067°N 129.117°W / 57.067; -129.117
Geology
Type	Shield volcano
Age of rock	Pliocene
Volcanic arc/belt	Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province
Last eruption	Pliocene

Maitland Volcano was a Pliocene age shield volcano in the western Cassiar Mountains of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. In the course of one million years, Maitland Volcano was formed on a mature, eroded Tertiary surface by rifting of the North American continent as thin alkali olivine basalt and hawaiite lava flows covered the surrounding area. In the four million years since the volcano was active, erosion has been extensive, exposing a cluster of 14 steep-sided volcanic plugs and scattered, cliff-bounded basalt lava flows that were originally part of the >900 km² shield volcano. All volcanic plugs are about 30 m (98 ft) wide and are the only known vents for the basaltic and hawaiite lavas. The cliff-bounded basalt lavas cover the higher mountains of the Cassiar Mountains and individual lavas covering the mountains are up to 230 m (755 ft) thick and contain from 1 m (3 ft) to 20 m (66 ft) lava flows of columnar basalt separated by beds of scoriaceous flow-topped breccia and tephra. Intervening valleys, deeply incised into the underlying Jurassic shale and sandstone, are as much as 600 m (1,969 ft) below the base of the former Maitland shield volcano. These volcanics form part of the rift-related Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province.

See also

Volcanism of Canada portal

• List of volcanoes in Canada
• List of Northern Cordilleran volcanoes
• Volcanism of Canada
• Volcanism of Western Canada

References

• Catalogue of Canadian volcanoes: Maitland Volcano