Mount Edziza

Mount Edziza ( əd-ZY-zə), sometimes called Edziza Mountain or Edziza Peak, is a stratovolcano in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the Big Raven Plateau of the Tahltan Highland which extends along the western side of the Stikine Plateau. The mountain has an elevation of 2,786 metres (9,140 feet), making it the highest volcano of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. However, it had an elevation of at least 3,396 metres (11,142 feet) before its original summit was likely destroyed by a violent, climactic eruption in the geologic past; its current flat summit contains an ice-filled, 2-kilometre (1.2-mile) in diameter crater. Mount Edziza contains several lava domes, cinder cones and lava fields on its flanks, as well as an ice cap that is characterized by several outlet glaciers stretching out to lower altitudes. All sides of the mountain are drained by tributaries of Mess Creek and Kakiddi Creek which are situated within the Stikine River watershed.

Mount Edziza consists of several types of volcanic rocks and at least six geological formations that formed during six distinct stages of volcanic activity. The first stage 1.1 million years ago produced basalt flows and a series of rhyolite and trachyte domes. Basalt flows and smaller amounts of trachyte, tristanite, trachybasalt, benmoreite and mugearite produced during the second stage about one million years ago form Ice Peak, a subsidiary peak on the southern flank of the volcano. The third and fourth stages 0.9 million years ago created basalt ridges and the central trachyte stratovolcano of Mount Edziza, respectively. Thick trachyte flows were issued during the fifth stage 0.3 million years ago, most of which have since eroded away. The sixth stage began in the last 20,000 years with the eruption of cinder cones, basalt flows and minor trachyte. Renewed volcanism could impact local streams and disrupt air traffic.

Indigenous peoples have lived adjacent to Mount Edziza for thousands of years. The local Tahltan people historically used volcanic glass from Mount Edziza to make tools and weaponry. Mineral exploration just southeast of Mount Edziza commenced in at least the 1950s where gold, silver and other metals were discovered. This mineral exploration was conducted by several mineral exploration companies into the early 1990s. Mount Edziza and the surrounding area was made into a large provincial park in the early 1970s to showcase the volcanic landscape. The volcano and provincial park can only be accessed by aircraft or by a network of footpaths from surrounding roads.