Dragon Cone is a monogenetic

cinder cone A cinder cone (or scoria cone) is a steep conical hill of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic clinkers, volcanic ash, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions o ...

located in

Wells Gray Provincial Park Wells Gray Provincial Park is a large wilderness park located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. The park protects most of the southern, and highest, regions of the Cariboo Mountains and covers 5,250 square kilometres (524,990 hectares or ...

in east-central British Columbia. It is the source of a long

lava flow Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or und ...

, called Dragon's Tongue. This lava covered the floor of narrow Falls Creek Valley and terminated at the Clearwater River, damming it to a height of and raising the level of existing Clearwater Lake upstream. Geologists have recovered some peat buried by the lava and

radiocarbon Carbon-14, C-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and coll ...

dating produced an age of 7560 years plus or minus 100 years.Hickson, Cathie with Hollinger, Jason (2014). ''Wells Gray Rocks''. Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC. Flows from nearby

Flourmill Cone The Flourmill Volcanoes, also known as The Flourmills, are a small volcano range near the west boundary of Wells Gray Provincial Park in east-central British Columbia, Canada. Located north of Mahood Lake and west of the Clearwater River, they fo ...

Kostal Cone Kostal Cone, also called Kostal Volcano and Fire Mountain, is a young cinder cone in Wells Gray Provincial Park in east-central British Columbia, Canada. It rises from the northeast shore of Kostal Lake in the Cariboo Mountains. With an elevation o ...

and

Spanish Lake Cone Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

s rest on glaciated bedrock without an intervening paleosol, suggesting an early

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

age. Visits to Dragon Cone are very rare due to difficult access. The nearest trail is the overgrown

Kostal Lake Kostal Lake is a lake located in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada. It is located west of Murtle Lake Murtle Lake is a lava dammed lake located in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada ...

Trail, over to the south. Falls Creek is impassable for boats. The cone is best viewed from the air, but float plane landings on nearby

Ray Lake Ray Lake is a lake located in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada. It is fed by and drained by Falls Creek which flows into the Clearwater River (British Columbia), Clearwater River at its outlet from Clearwater Lake ...

are not permitted.Neave, Roland (2015). ''Exploring Wells Gray Park'', 6th edition. Wells Gray Tours, Kamloops, BC. .

References

*{{cite web , url=http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/volcanoes/cat/volcano_e.php?id=wcb_dcn_007 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604161238/http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/volcanoes/cat/volcano_e.php?id=wcb_dcn_007 , archivedate=2011-06-04 , title=Dragon Cone , publisher=Catalogue of Canadian volcanoes , accessdate= Wells Gray-Clearwater Cinder cones of British Columbia Holocene volcanoes Monogenetic volcanoes One-thousanders of British Columbia

See also

References