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Edziza

Photo of this volcano
  • Country
  • Volcanic Region
  • Landform | Volc Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  • 57.72°N
  • 130.63°W

  • 2,786 m
    9,140 ft

  • 320060
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Edziza.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Edziza.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Edziza.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 4 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

0950 ± 6000 years Confirmed Eruption VEI: 3

Episode 1 | Eruption SW flank of Ice Peak, Sheep Track Pumice
0950 ± 6000 years - Unknown Evidence from Radiogenic: Fission track
 An eruption from a vent on the SW flank of Ice Peak, now covered by the Tencho Glacier, produced the rhyolitic Sheep Track Pumice and a small flow (Souther and Lambert, 1972; Souther, 1992). A fission track date of 1,000 ± 6,000 BP (Aumento & Souther, 1973) is consistent with the stratigraphic position of the Sheep Track Pumice, which overlies lava flows of all but one vent of the Snowshoe Lava Field of the Big Raven Formation. The Sheep Track Pumice could predate some Big Raven Formation lava flows to the north, beyond its area of deposition (Souther, 1992).

List of 4 Events for Episode 1 at SW flank of Ice Peak, Sheep Track Pumice

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow weak or small
   - - - -    - - - - Pumice
0950 ± 1000 years    - - - - VEI (Explosivity Index)

0630 ± 150 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption NNE flank (Williams Cone)
0630 ± 150 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)
 A 14C age of 1,340 ± 130 BP was obtained from charred twigs beneath a basaltic tephra from Williams Cone (Souther, 1992); at least three younger units are present (Souther, 1972; Souther and Lambert, 1972). The 14C date has also been reported as 1,320 and 1,300 BP. The eruption formed a 275-m-high cinder cone; lava flows from Williams Cone traveled 13 km NE to the Klastline River.

List of 4 Events for Episode 1 at NNE flank (Williams Cone)

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow
   - - - -    - - - - Cinder Cone
   - - - -    - - - - Scoria

0750 BCE ± 100 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption
0750 BCE ± 100 years - Unknown Evidence from Correlation: Tephrochronology
 Ten subglacial lava flows were probably erupted during a major readvance of alpine glaciers around 2,600-2,800 BP (Souther and Symons, 1974).

List of 1 Events for Episode 1

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow

6520 BCE ± 200 years Confirmed Eruption  

Episode 1 | Eruption North flank?
6520 BCE ± 200 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)
 Basaltic lava flows capping terraces in the Klastline Valley are believed correlate with older flows of the Big Raven Formation. Paleosols beneath the flows are 14C dated at 8,350, 8,440, and 8,610 ± 80 years BP (Souther, 1992).

List of 1 Events for Episode 1 at North flank?

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Lava flow
Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Edziza.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Edziza.

Photo Gallery

The Mount Edziza complex, seen here from the east along the Cassiar-Stewart Highway, is part of a large volcanic plateau that is the centerpiece of Mount Edziza Provincial Park, one of the largest in British Columbia. The complex was constructed over the past 7.5 million years during five cycles beginning with eruption of alkali basalts and ending with felsic and basaltic eruptions as late about 1,000 years ago. Numerous ice-contact features and products of subglacial eruptions are found in the Mount Edziza complex.

Photo by Ben Edwards, 1995 (Dickinson College, Pennsylvania).
The central ice-covered summit complex of Mount Edziza is seen here from the SW rising above the Kitsu and Big Raven plateaus. Late-Tertiary lava flows are the foreground. The smaller hills at the base of the icecap are Quaternary cones. Mount Edziza contains a 2-km-wide, ice-filled caldera at its summit, and numerous ice-contact features and products of subglacial eruptions. The complex contains numerous Holocene cones, some of which are younger than about 1,300 years.

Photo by Jack Souther, 1992 (Geological Survey of Canada).
Scoria cones, such as Eve Cone on the flank of Edziza volcano, are formed by the explosive ejection of fragmental material that accumulated around the vent. This symmetrical cone is part of the Desolation Lava Field on the northern flank of Edziza and is one of the youngest features of the volcano. Basaltic lava flows erupted from the base of the cone, which reaches about 150 m high and has a 45-m-deep crater.

Photo by Ben Edwards, 1995 (Dickinson College, Pennsylvania).
Mount Edziza is an approximately 30-km-long volcanic range that forms the northernmost edifice of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex, and is shown in this July 2018 Planet Labs satellite image monthly mosaic (N is at the top; this image is approximately 42 km across). Many eruptions occurred within ice and water, such as the Tennena cone on the western flank about two-thirds down the ice cap in this view, forming pillow lavas and hydrovolcanic clastic deposits.

Satellite image courtesy of Planet Labs Inc., 2018 (https://www.planet.com/).
GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

The maps shown below have been scanned from the GVP map archives and include the volcano on this page. Clicking on the small images will load the full 300 dpi map. Very small-scale maps (such as world maps) are not included.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Edziza in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites