List of Northern Cordilleran volcanoes

Minor and major volcanoes of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province, including the Queen Charlotte, Denali and Tintina fault zones

The geography of northwestern British Columbia and Yukon, Canada is dominated by volcanoes of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province formed due to continental rifting of the North American Plate. It is the most active volcanic region in Canada.^[1] Some of the volcanoes are notable for their eruptions, for instance, Tseax Cone for its catastrophic eruption estimated to have occurred in the 18th century which was responsible for the death of at least 2,000 Nisga'a people from poisonous volcanic gases,^[2] the Mount Edziza volcanic complex for at least 20 eruptions throughout the past 10,000 years, and The Volcano (also known as Lava Fork volcano) for the most recent eruption in Canada during 1904.^[3] The majority of volcanoes in the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province lie in Canada while a very small portion of the volcanic province lies in the U.S. state of Alaska.

Volcanoes of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province are a part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The largest and most persistent volcanoes are the Mount Edziza volcanic complex and Level Mountain in northwestern British Columbia which have had volcanic activity for millions of years. In the past 7.5 million years, the Mount Edziza volcanic complex has had five phases of volcanic activity while Level Mountain north of Edziza has had three phases of volcanic activity in the past 14.9 million years.^[4] The 1,000 km² (390 sq mi) Mount Edziza volcanic complex has been made into a provincial park since 1972 to protect its volcanic landscape. The 102 Northern Cordilleran volcanoes in the list below are grouped into their political regions in north-south order.

Scope

There is no single standard definition for a volcano. It can be defined from individual vents, volcanic edifices or volcanic fields. Interior of ancient volcanoes may have been eroded, creating a new subsurface magma chamber as a separate volcano. Many contemporary volcanoes rise as young parasitic cones from flank vents or at a central crater. Some volcanoes are grouped into one volcano name, for instance, the Mount Edziza volcanic complex, although individual vents are named by local people. The status of a volcano, either active, dormant or extinct, cannot be defined precisely. An indication of a volcano is determined by either its historical records, potassium-argon dating, radiocarbon dating, or geothermal activities.

The primary source of the list below is taken from the Geological Survey of Canada website, compiled by the Earth Sciences Sector of Natural Resources Canada, in which Northern Cordilleran volcanoes in the past 66.4 million years are listed.^[5] The Geological Survey of Canada use a catalogue of volcanoes grouped by volcano fields, lava fields and mountain ranges.^[5] The Geological Survey of Canada list is the most complete list of volcanoes in the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province, but work of understanding the frequency and eruption characteristics at volcanoes in Canada is a slow process.^[6] This is because most of Canada's dormant and potentially active volcanoes are located in isolated jagged regions, very few scientists study Canadian volcanoes and the provision of money in the Canadian government is limited.^[6] Because of these issues, scientists that study Canada's volcanoes have a basic understanding of Canada's volcanic heritage and how it might impact people in the future.^[6] Therefore, instead of using the dates of recorded eruptions, the Geological Survey of Canada mostly uses geological epochs for estimating when a volcano last erupted. Geological epoches include the Cenozoic (66.4 million years ago to present)^[7] and its subdivisions Miocene (23.7 to 5.3 million years ago),^[8] Pliocene (5.3 to 1.6 million years ago),^[9] Quaternary (1.6 million years ago to present),^[10] Pleistocene (1.6 to 0.01 million years ago)^[11] and Holocene (0.01 million years ago to present).^[12]

Political groups