Canada contains 21 active volcanoes.
Of these, the vast majority are located within British Columbia, such as the Tseax Cone,
which last erupted in 1700.
However, in the western part of the province there is a unique active volcano which few
have visited due to its extreme remoteness.
The volcano in question is covered by a thick glacier, and contains beautiful columns of
volcanic rock called hoodoos.
Because of these hoodoos, the volcano is called Hoodoo Mountain.
It last erupted in 7050 BC, and will eventually erupt again.
This video will discuss this volcano, and mention what its future hazards are.
Hoodoo Mountain is located in an isolated portion of northwest British Columbia.
Specifically, it is 34 kilometers east of the border with Alaska, and lies just north
of the Iskut River.
The reason why the remote volcano exists relates to the regional plate tectonics.
In this section of British Columbia, tectonic forces are slowly stretching the crust to
the east and west.
This stretching of the crust creates a series of cracks, which then allows magma to travel
upwards and erupt onto the surface.
Hoodoo Mountain began forming 100,000 years ago, when a volume of silica rich magma in
the crust raced upwards and erupted in an explosive manner.
At the time, the ice age had been ongoing for 2 million years, and a 2000 meter thick
glacier towered above all of the peaks in the vicinity.
Since this lava erupted into a glacier, it could not travel very far and slowly built
up into a steep sided hill.
Eventually, a large section of the overlying glacier was melted by its proximity to the
lava, forming a small subglacial lake.
As subsequent eruptions continued, the volcanic cone eventually reached the height of the
lake.
Lavas then slowly deposited along the level of the lake water, forming a flat top.
By the time the eruptive series had ended, what remained was a unique subglacial volcano
termed a "tuya".
This flat topped edifice was the first of several layers which would form during the
construction of this volcano.
The next eruptive period approximately 65,000 years ago resulted in the creation of a secondary
volcanic cone 4 kilometers to the north of the newly formed tuya.
This secondary cone eventually formed a smaller tuya which today is called Little Bear Mountain.
Eventually, eruptions at this subglacial volcanic complex became far more explosive.
Subsequent eruptions ejected large volumes of ash forming a rare rock type called ignimbrite.
Around the volcano, a 100 meter thick bed of this yellow ash can be seen which originated
from this time period.
From 40,000 to 30,000 years ago, another less explosive eruptive series occurred, creating
another flat topped layer out of a gray rock type called trachyte.
After the end of the last ice age, much of the glaciers melted away, thus allowing for
magma to erupt once again.
In 7050 BC, a small effusive eruption began on the northwest slope of the volcano.
Over the course of this eruption, the slowly moving lava flow advanced 4 kilometers across
the western side of Hoodoo Mountain.
Then, another flank vent opened, creating a second concurrent lava flow.
This secondary lava flow traveled a similar distance before this most recent eruption
ended.
Since then, no additional volcanic activity has occurred.
However, we know that this volcano is still active because Hoodoo Mountain has produced
several earthquake swarms associated with the presence of a liquid at depth magma chamber.
Thus, it will most likely erupt again in the future.
If Hoodoo Mountain was to erupt again, it wouldn't pose much of a hazard to anyone due
to its remoteness and largely effusive eruptions.
With this being said, one potential hazard remains.
Any future eruption would melt a large volume of glacial ice on and adjacent to the volcano.
This runoff would then flow into the adjacent river, flow downstream, and potentially trigger
severe river flooding at locations up to 60 kilometers away.
Such a flood could impact a number of mining camps in the region.
Using the US Geological Survey method of rating volcanoes, Hoodoo Mountain would be classified
as a very low threat volcano.
I hope that you enjoyed this video!
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