The Mess Lake Lava Field is a volcanic field associated with the Mount Edziza volcanic complex of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It lies northwest of the

Spectrum Range The Spectrum Range, formerly called the Spectrum Mountains and the Rainbow Mountains, is a subrange of the Tahltan Highland in the Stikine Country of northwestern British Columbia, 20 km west of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, south of Mount ...

on the Kitsu Plateau and consists of young basaltic lava flows and tephra. The source for the basaltic lava and tephra was three

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 ...

s, including Mess Lake Cone and

The Ash Pit The Ash Pit is an inactive volcanic crater, located in the Spectrum Range in British Columbia, Canada. It is Holocene in age and is considered the youngest feature in the Spectrum Range volcanic complex. It is within the Northern Cordilleran Volc ...

, which may be the youngest volcanic feature of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. The Mess Lake Lava Field is noticeable from satellite or aerial images due to its extremely black young basalt. Its westernmost and southwesternmost ends are flanked by the

Mess Creek Escarpment The Mess Creek Escarpment is an escarpment in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, located on the east side of Mess Creek below Mess Lake and southeast of Telegraph Creek. It forms the central-western flank of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex, ex ...

, forming a steep prominent cliff. This cliff exposes several layers of black columnar basaltic lava flows with distal rock fragments and

pyroclastic Pyroclastic rocks (derived from the el, πῦρ, links=no, meaning fire; and , meaning broken) are clastic rocks composed of rock fragments produced and ejected by explosive volcanic eruptions. The individual rock fragments are known as pyroc ...

deposits. Eruptions of the young Mess Lake Lava Field basalts likely cascaded down this steep lava cliff similar to what occurs at the island of Hawaii. Mess Lake Lava Field west

Near

Mess Lake The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

, inactive hot springs can be found and are most likely associated with the most recent eruptive activity in the Mess Lake Lava Field. Hot springs are closely associated with fumaroles, which are vents in an active volcanic area releasing steam and hot gases, such as

sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...

. In general, the water is rotating groundwater that comes into contact with rocks heated by magma and finds openings to the surface. The formation of the springs depends both on the rocks the water has passed through and the profusion of volcanic discharges mixed with the groundwater.

Iron oxide Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of whic ...

iron sulfide Iron sulfide or Iron sulphide can refer to range of chemical compounds composed of iron and sulfur. Minerals By increasing order of stability: * Iron(II) sulfide, FeS * Greigite, Fe3S4 (cubic) * Pyrrhotite, Fe1−xS (where x = 0 to 0.2) (monoclin ...

s and other substances usually color pools of boiling mud brilliant yellow, red, brown or green. Hot springs comprising significantly softened silica may deposit it to form

siliceous sinter Geyserite, or siliceous sinter, is a form of opaline silica that is often found as crusts or layers around hot springs and geysers. Botryoidal geyserite is known as fiorite. Geyserite is porous due to the silica enclosing many small cavities. Si ...

, whereas those comprising softened calcium carbonate deposit spongy-looking calcareous rock called tufa. Overflow of the springs can build masses, spires or stepped terraces of sinter or tufa.

References

{{coord, 57, 28, 55.0, N, 130, 45, 16.92, W, type:landmark, display=title Volcanism of British Columbia Holocene volcanism Landforms of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex Hot springs of British Columbia Lava fields Holocene British Columbia

See also

References