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Nahta Cone

Coordinates: 57°18′29″N 130°49′13″W / 57.30806°N 130.82028°W / 57.30806; -130.82028
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Nahta Cone
A dark-coloured volcanic cone with a summit crater rising above a sparsely snow-covered rocky plateau.
Nahta Cone from the east
Highest point
Elevation1,670 m (5,480 ft)[1]
Coordinates57°18′29″N 130°49′13″W / 57.30806°N 130.82028°W / 57.30806; -130.82028[2]
Naming
EtymologySeven in the Tahltan language[2]
Geography
Nahta Cone is located in British Columbia
Nahta Cone
Nahta Cone
Location in British Columbia
Map
Location in Mount Edziza Provincial Park
CountryCanada[3]
ProvinceBritish Columbia[3]
DistrictCassiar Land District[2]
Protected areaMount Edziza Provincial Park[2]
Parent rangeTahltan Highland[3]
Topo mapNTS 104G7 Mess Lake[2]
Geology
Mountain typeCinder cone[4]
Rock typeHawaiite[5]
Last eruptionHolocene age[4]

Nahta Cone is a small cinder cone in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It has an elevation of 1,670 metres (5,480 feet) and lies near the northern edge of the Arctic Lake Plateau, a glacially scored plateau of the Tahltan Highland which in turn extends along the western side of the Stikine Plateau. The cone is about 70 kilometres (43 miles) south-southeast of the community of Telegraph Creek and lies in the southwestern corner of Mount Edziza Provincial Park, one of the largest provincial parks in British Columbia.

Nahta Cone is a part of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex and overlies a limestone hill. The summit of the cone contains a circular crater breached on the east which was the source of a roughly 3-kilometre-long (1.9-mile) lava flow that travelled northerly and then westerly into the head of Nahta Creek. Ejecta from the volcano extends about 500 metres (1,600 feet) to the west and 700 metres (2,300 feet) to the north. Access to this isolated volcanic cone is limited to float plane or helicopter.

Geography

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Nahta Cone is located in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada, near the northern edge of the Arctic Lake Plateau.[2][6][7] It has an elevation of 1,670 metres (5,480 feet) and rises about 60 metres (200 feet) above the glacially scored surface of the plateau to a circular crater breached on the east.[1][6] The cone is surrounded by Mess Creek valley to the west, Wetalth Ridge and Little Arctic Lake to the east, Tadekho Hill to the northeast, Exile Hill to the north and Arctic Lake to the south.[3] Between Nahta Cone and Tadekho Hill is Nahta Creek which flows west through a valley into Mess Creek, a northwest-flowing tributary of the Stikine River.[5][8]

Nahta Cone lies in the southwestern corner of Mount Edziza Provincial Park about 70 kilometres (43 miles) south-southeast of the community of Telegraph Creek.[3] With an area of 266,180 hectares (657,700 acres), Mount Edziza Provincial Park is one of the largest provincial parks in British Columbia and was established in 1972 to showcase the volcanic landscape.[9][10] It also includes the Spectrum Range to the northeast and Mount Edziza further to the north which are separated by the broad east–west valley of Raspberry Pass.[10][11] Mount Edziza Provincial Park is in the Tahltan Highland, a southeast-trending upland area extending along the western side of the Stikine Plateau.[3][12]

Geology

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Nahta Cone is the southernmost cinder cone of the Big Raven Formation, the youngest and least voluminous geological formation of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.[13][14] It formed on top of a limestone hill that overlies a contact between Early Devonian granitic rocks and Early Carboniferous volcanic rocks of the Stikine Assemblage, the oldest exposed stratified rocks of the Stikinia terrane which accreted to the continental margin of North America during the Jurassic.[15][16][17] Five tiny hawaiite conelets consisting of black and brick-red scoria blocks comprise Nahta Cone; the hawaiite contains phenocrysts of olivine and plagioclase.[5][6][18] Nahta Cone is somewhat older than The Ash Pit in the Mess Lake Lava Field which may be the youngest cinder cone of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.[19]

Nahta Cone was the source of air-fall tephra and a roughly 3-kilometre-long (1.9-mile) lava flow which extends northerly and then westerly into the head of Nahta Creek.[5][6] The air-fall tephra is lapilli-sized and distributed about 500 metres (1,600 feet) west and 700 metres (2,300 feet) north of the cone, suggesting the volcano was volcanically active at least twice during different wind conditions.[6][18] Erosion has unmodified the blocky surface of the lava flow, but Nahta Creek at its distal end has begun to etch a new channel where it displaced the stream.[6] Canadian volcanologist Jack Souther obtained a radiocarbon date of 1,340 years from the lava flow in 1970.[18]

Name and etymology

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A dark-coloured volcanic cone with a summit crater rising above a sparsely snow-covered plateau with little vegetation.
Nahta Cone and lava flow from the southeast with the Spectrum Range obscured by clouds in the background

The name of the cone was adopted 2 January 1980 on the National Topographic System map 104G/7 after being submitted to the BC Geographical Names office by the Geological Survey of Canada. It means seven in the Tahltan language, referring to the last seven survivors of the Wetalth people who were outcasted or exiled from the Tahltans in times past.[2] Several other features on the Arctic Lake Plateau such as Wetalth Ridge, Outcast Hill, Exile Hill and Tadekho Hill also have names with Tahltan roots that were adopted 2 January 1980.[20][21][22][23][24]

Accessibility

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Nahta Cone can be accessed by float plane or helicopter, both of which are available for charter at the communities of Iskut and Dease Lake.[25] Arctic Lake about 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) south of Natha Cone and Little Arctic Lake about 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) east of Nahta Cone are large enough to be used by float-equipped aircraft.[3][25] Landing on Little Arctic Lake with a private aircraft requires a letter of authorization from the BC Parks Stikine Senior Park Ranger.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Global Volcanism Program: Spectrum Range, Synonyms & Subfeatures.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g BC Geographical Names: Nahta Cone.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Department of Energy, Mines and Resources 1989.
  4. ^ a b Natural Resources Canada: Nahta Cone.
  5. ^ a b c d Souther 1988.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Souther 1992, p. 235.
  7. ^ BC Geographical Names: Cassiar Land District.
  8. ^ BC Geographical Names: Mess Creek.
  9. ^ a b c BC Parks: Mount Edziza Provincial Park.
  10. ^ Souther 1992, p. 104.
  11. ^ Holland 1976, p. 49.
  12. ^ Souther 1992, p. 214.
  13. ^ Edwards 1997, pp. 10, 11.
  14. ^ Souther 1992, pp. 26, 39.
  15. ^ Logan & Drobe 1993, pp. 137, 141.
  16. ^ George et al. 2021, p. 4.
  17. ^ a b c Logan & Drobe 1993, p. 141.
  18. ^ Souther 1992, pp. 235, 236.
  19. ^ Souther 1992, pp. 199, 320.
  20. ^ BC Geographical Names: Wetalth Ridge.
  21. ^ BC Geographical Names: Outcast Hill.
  22. ^ BC Geographical Names: Exile Hill.
  23. ^ BC Geographical Names: Tadekho Hill.
  24. ^ a b Souther 1992, p. 31.

Sources

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