If Mountains Could Talk
wonders of Garibaldi Park
Dr. Bob Turner Bowen Island, Howe Sound [email protected] Retired, Geological Survey of Canada
Garibaldi Lake Ranger Station Sept 2014 Black Tusk, May 1986 Standing at the rails, going to Bowen
Ferry heading to Bowen Island Bioregionalism: Taking root in my home watershed
Garibaldi
Bowen Island Garibaldi Geology 6 Big Thoughts
Deception Peak from Polemonium Ridge Black Tusk from Panorama Ridge
Big Thought #1: The bedrock mosaic Black Tusk Ashlu Range 200,000 year 155,000,000 year old magma (granite) old volcano
Panorama Ridge 105,000,000 year old seafloor layers, BigThe ThoughtIce Ages #2: The Ice Age 2 million to 10,000 years ago
2 million to 10,000 years ago
cpgeosystems.com You can see the glacier limits
Ice Age Glacier Big Thought #3: The Little Ice Age
The Ice Age ended 10,000 years ago. But the Little Ice Age just ended 100-200 years ago Warren Glacier about 1800 Big Thought #4: We are in Collision!
Garibaldi
SW BC is a crustal collision zone (subduction zone) Volcanoes the inevitable consequence Garibaldi of collision (subduction) zones
The volcano zone Mount Garibaldi
Garibaldi just the top end of a 60-100 km deep plumbing system
Volcanic eruption through glacier, Icelend
Big Thought #5 erupted during the Ice Age Mamquam Mountain Photo of castle crags, tantalus range
Granite peaks! The Chief
Big Thought #6: Coast Mountains is granite country
map of Garibaldi Lake Sea to Sky Mt country Garibaldi
Granite = pink, red, and orange Granite the roots of ancient volcanoes
The BC Coast has been producing granite for 180 million years
The granite factory Garibaldi 3.5 km
2 km
Uplift in 2 km Last 10 million years
After Parrish, 1981
The Coast Mountains are rising Bringing granite to the surface! 2 mm/year uplift for 10 million yrs = 20 km Uplift
So rocks that form deep in the Earth end up at surface
Whistler Cheakamus Lake Access Garibaldi Castle Rubble Creek Access Lake Towers
Mt Garibaldi Mamquam Mtn Elphin Lakes
Diamond Head Access
Squamish Elphin Lakes hike
Why such soft ridges amid rugged mountains? And why such rich meadows? Granite
Volcanic rock
Soft underlying volcanic rocks weather to soft ridges and rich soils. Also, soft sedimentary rock uncommon in the Coast Mountains!
100 million year old seafloor rubble (conglomerate), Elphin Lakes Geological Materials of Garibaldi - viewed in cross section - Volcanic Rocks 1.3 my to 9000 years old Sedimentary Rocks About 100 million years old Garibaldi Lake
Hwy 99 Granite 150 to 90 million years old Volcanic Rocks Volcanoes Black Tusk Lava Flows Mt. Garibaldi Ring Creek Sedimentary Rocks Table Barrier Cinder Cone Helm Creek Panorama Ridge Mt Price Gentian Ridge Opal Cone Elphin Lakes Garibaldi Lake
Hwy Granite 99 Castle Towers, Guard Mtn, The Sphinx, Mamquam Mtn
Geology controls geography Western Garibaldi is a volcanic field: with many volcanoes, lava flows, and eroded volcanic rocks
Black Tusk Helm Cr lava flow Cinder Cone Garibaldi Lake
Mt Price, Table Barrier lava flow Mt Garibaldi
Opal Cone
Elphin Lakes
Diamond Head parking lot
Half the volcano is gone.
Original volcano Present location of Elphin Lakes 1 Eruption on Ice Age glacier Present location of Garibaldi Lake
2 Explosive eruptions
Mt Garibaldi
3 Collapse as glacier recedes
4Clinker Peak Dalton Dome Opal Cone Cheekeye Ridge
Cheekeye Basin How Mt Garibaldi came to be Mayon Diamond Head: remnant of original volcano slope
Diamond Head
Original volcano slope Diamond Eruption layer Head
Eroding Cheekeye Basin Exposes eruption layers that built volcano The view approaching Elphin Lakes Opal Cone Ring Creek valley Trail 9500 years ago
Ring Creek lava flow
Eruption of Opal Cone and Ring Creek Flow Cinder
Ring Creek lava flow Opal Cone crater
Cinder Nyamuragira Volcano, ,Democratic Republic of the Congo
Opal Cone 9500 years ago Opal Cone
Ring Creek lava flow Opal Cone Barrier047_Till.jpg Aerial Post3.jpg
Ring Creek lava flow Photo by Paul Adams Opal Cone
Lateral ridges form edge of lava flow
Ring Creek Lava flow
Pressure ridges How ridges form on a lava flow
Inflated Cooled lava rock flow Hot lava crust
Deflating Collapse Lava collapses; flow stand
Ridged Lava Ring Creek lava flow flow Opal Cone
Ridges of Trail glacial debris (moraines) The Little Ice Age -1300 AD to 1850 AD Ring Creek Valley New land surface exposed by glacier retreat Opal Cone
Old Forests Moraine
Trail Garibaldi Lake Trail
Rubble Creek trailhead Black Tusk Helm Glacier
Panorama Ridge
Sphinx Glacier
Sentinel Glacier The Table The Barrier
The Barrier
Hwy 99 1856 Landslide debris
Cheakamus River
A buried forest Modern forest floor
Buried forest floor Mt Price
Garibaldi Lake campground
Taylor Meadows campground
Barrier viewpoint
Trail Garibaldi Lake campground
Taylor Meadows campground
Barrier viewpoint
Trail Garibaldi Lake campground
Taylor Meadows campground
Barrier viewpoint
Trail Walking on a lava flow Volcanic rock View of Barrier lava flow from Mt Price
Barrier
Main flow of lava Secondary lava lobes North of the Lake: Black Tusk, Cinder Cone, Helm Glacier, Panorama Ridge Black Tusk: the eroded remnant of a volcano
Black Tusk volcano 200,000 years ago Magma feeder of volcano Glacier Flow direction
Trail
Trail Castle Towers 1920 View A B From C C
Black Helm Glacier Tusk: D Helm E
Glacier Panorama Ridge Trail CT 2014 Castle Towers A
A C B
Helm Glacier C
D
E Panorama Ridge Trail Helm Glacier 1910s and 1920s GentianGentian Ridge: Ridge A sedimentary rock ridge
Folded layers of sandstone(grey) and shale (brown)
Helm Glacier Panorama Ridge
Trail
Sedimentary layers
Conglomerate along trail View from Black Tusk: Geology makes the geography
Granite peaks
Volcanic and Sedimentary Rocks Panorama Ridge viewpoint There is no larger lake at higher elevation in BC
Sentinel Glacier Mt Price Clinker Peak Sphinx Glacier
Campground Once it was a mountain valley drained by Ring Creek Then Mt Price and later Clinker Peak erupted
Lava eruptions block creek Today, Garibaldi Lake: a lava-dammed lake
Mt Price Clinker Peak The Table
Campground The Table: A very odd mountain Mt Garibaldi
The Table Lava layers
Lava x x Ancient lava lake
View from a plane today Lava lake
Glacier surface
View from a plane 12,000 years ago Retreat of Sphinx Glacier viewed from Panorama Ridge
Koch et al, 2004
Location, Burton Hut Late Ridges in valley from side valley
Ridges mark glacier Glacier debris snout position ridge Burton glacier Hut debris 1860s 1928 ridge 1690s Burton Hut and Sphinx Glacier valley
If Mountains Could Talk
wonders of Garibaldi Park
Dr. Bob Turner Bowen Island, Howe Sound [email protected] Retired, Geological Survey of Canada
A geological map of Garibaldi area
Most of the high ground in western Garibaldi Park volcanic (yellow) or sedimentary (olive). 19121912 Glacier snout near Garibaldi Lake Retreat of Sentinel Glacier
2013
Location, Sentinel Huts (Glaciology Huts) Glacier scratches
Sentinel Valley Huts (Glaciology Huts) site under the Sentinel Glacier in 1912 Opal Cone
Ring Creek lava flow A view of Garibaldi area
Most of the high ground in western Garibaldi Park volcanic (yellow) or sedimentary (olive).
A patchwork quilt of different rocks
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