Portal:Volcanism of Canada
The Volcanism of Canada Portal
Volcanism of Canada, a country occupying much of the northern part of North America, produces lava flows, lava plateaus, lava domes, cinder cones, stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, submarine volcanoes, calderas, diatremes, and maars, along with examples of more less common volcanic forms such as tuyas and subglacial mounds. It has a very complex volcanological history spaning from the Precambrian period at least 3.11 billion years ago when this part of the North American continent began to form.
Although the country's volcanic activity dates back to the Precambrian period, volcanism continues to occur in Western and Northern Canada where it forms part of an encircling chain of volcanoes and frequent earthquakes around the Pacific Ocean called the Pacific Ring of Fire. But because volcanoes in Western and Northern Canada are in remote rugged areas and the level of volcanic activity is less frequent then with other volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean, Canada is commonly thought to occupy a gap in the Pacific Ring of Fire between the volcanoes of western United States to the south and the Aleutian volcanoes of Alaska to the north. However, the mountainous landscape of Western and Northern Canada includes more than 100 volcanoes that have been active during the past two million years and have claimed many lives. Volcanic activity has been responsible for many of Canada's geological and geographical features and mineralization, including the nucleus of North America called the Canadian Shield.
Volcanism has led to the formation of hundreds of volcanic areas and extensive lava formations across Canada, indicating volcanism played a major role in shaping its surface. The country's different volcano and lava types originate from different tectonic settings and types of volcanic eruptions, ranging from passive lava eruptions to violent explosive eruptions. Canada has a rich record of very large volumes of magmatic rock called large igneous provinces. They are represented by deep-level plumbing systems consisting of giant dike swarms, sill provinces and layered intrusions. The most capable large igneous provinces in Canada are Archean (3,800-2,500 million years ago) age greenstone belts containing a rare volcanic rock called komatiite.
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Did you know...
- ...that the Tseax Cone in British Columbia was the source for one of Canada's worst known geophysical disasters?
- ...that the Bowie Seamount on the British Columbia Coast is one of the most biologically rich submarine volcanoes on Earth and was an active volcanic island throughout the last glacial period?
- ...that the Sturgeon Lake Caldera in Northwestern Ontario is one of the world's best preserved mineralized Neoarchean caldera complexes?
- ...that Mount Meager in southwestern British Columbia poses a significant long-distance threat to communities across southern British Columbia and Alberta?
- ...that the Mount Pleasant Caldera in southwestern New Brunswick has a long history of exploration and development in mining?
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The Volcanism of Canada Workgroup is the central point of coordination for Wikipedia's coverage of Canadian volcanoes, volcanology, igneous petrology, and related subjects. Please feel free to join the workgroup and help!
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International volcanism news
- News
- 4 June 2011: An eruption occurs on Puyehue, Chile.
- 21 May 2011: Grímsvötn, in Iceland, erupts, disrupting European air travel.
- 19 February 2011: Mount Etna in Italy erupts for the second time this year. The event is of Stromobolian-type activity.
- 17 February 2011: Earthquake activity occurs at Mount St. Helens, USA. The earthquake swarms occurred in the same area as those preceding St. Helen's famous 1980 eruption. No actions have yet taken place.
- 26 January 2011: An eruption has occurred at Kirishima, Japan, causing some residents of the area to evacuate.
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