Mansfield Creek is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the

Little Tuya River The Little Tuya River is a tributary of the Tuya River in northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It flows generally south and east about Length measured using BCGNIS coordinates, topographic maps, anToporama/ref> to join the Tu ...

, which in turn is a tributary of the

Tuya River The Tuya River is a major tributary of the Stikine River in northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada. From its source at High Tuya Lake in Tuya Mountains Provincial Park just south of Ash Mountain, the highest peak of the Tuya ...

, part of the

Stikine River The Stikine River is a major river in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States. It drains a large, remote upland area known as the Stikine Country east of the Coast Mountains. Flowing west and south f ...

watershed in northwest part of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It flows generally south and east for roughly Length measured using BCGNIS coordinates, topographic maps, an
Toporama
/ref> to join the Little Tuya River about west-northwest of the Little Tuya's confluence with the Tuya River. Mansfield Creek's watershed covers , and its mean annual discharge is estimated at . The mouth of Mansfield Creek is located about northeast of

Telegraph Creek Telegraph Creek is a small community located off Highway 37 in northern British Columbia at the confluence of the Stikine River and Telegraph Creek. The only permanent settlement on the Stikine River, it is home to approximately 250 members of ...

, British Columbia, about west-southwest of

Dease Lake Dease Lake is a small community located in the Cassiar Country of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located a few hours south of the Yukon border on Stewart–Cassiar Highway (Highway 37) at the south end of the lake ...

, British Columbia, and about east of Juneau, Alaska. Mansfield Creek's watershed's land cover is classified as 40.5% shrubland, 35.3% conifer forest, 17.6%

mixed forest Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These fo ...

, and small amounts of other cover. Mansfield Creek is in the traditional territory of the

Tahltan First Nation The Tahltan First Nation, also known as the Tahltan Indian Band, is a band government of the Tahltan people. Their main community and reserves are located at Telegraph Creek, British Columbia. Their language is the Tahltan language, which is an ...

, of the

Tahltan The Tahltan or Nahani are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut. The Tahltan constitute the fourth division of the ''Nahane' ...

people.

Geography

Mansfield Creek originates on the south flank of the massive

Level Mountain Level Mountain is a large volcanic complex in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located north-northwest of Telegraph Creek and west of Dease Lake on the Nahlin Plateau. With a maximum elevation of , it is the second-h ...

shield volcano, about southeast of

Meszah Peak Meszah Peak is a volcanic cone located north of Telegraph Creek and southwest of Zus Mountain in British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest peak of the Level Mountain Range, a cluster of bare peaks on the summit of the massive Level Mountain ...

, the highest peak of the Level Mountain Range, a cluster of bare peaks on the summit of Level Mountain. From its source near the large

U-shaped valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight s ...

through which Beatty Creek runs, Mansfield Creek flows generally south then east through wetlands, lakes, and barren lands atop Level Mountain's high

lava plateau A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanism, volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic plateaus. Lava plateau Lava plateaus are formed by highly fluid basaltic lava during numerous successive erup ...

. From this high plateau Mansfield Creek enters a steep forested canyon carved into the

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

on Level Mountain's southeastern edge, through which the creek flows east to empty into the Little Tuya River.

References

{{Reflist Cassiar Land District Level Mountain Nahlin Plateau Rivers of British Columbia Stikine Country Tahltan

Geography

See also

References