The Tuya Range is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in the

Stikine Ranges The Stikine Ranges are a group of mountain ranges and mountainous plateaus in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. They are the northernmost subdivision of the Cassiar Mountains and among the least explored and most undeveloped parts of the pro ...

of the

Cassiar Mountains , photo = Cassiar Highway.jpg , photo_size = 280px , photo_caption = Cassiar Mountains along Stewart-Cassiar Highway near Good Hope Lake , country = Canada , subdivision1_type = Provinces , subdivision1 ...

in the far north of the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

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, ...

, near its border with the

Yukon Territory Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

and to the southwest of

Watson Lake, Yukon Watson Lake is a town in Yukon, Canada, located at mile 635 on the Alaska Highway close to the British Columbia border. It has a population of 790 in 2016. The town is named for Frank Watson, an American-born trapper and prospector, who settled in ...

, which is the nearest major settlement.

Boundaries and landforms

The northern and northwest side of the range is drained by tributaries of the Cottonwood River; the southern and southwestern flank is formed by

Tuya Lake Tuya Lake, located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, presumably derives its name from the presence of nearby steep-sided, flat-topped volcanoes, known as tuyas. The lake is situated just south of Tuya Butte at a latitude of about 59 degree ...

and its tributary, Butte Creek, while the southeast flank is formed by the Cottonwood River and its tributaries (the Cottonwood is a tributary of the

Dease River The Dease River flows through northwestern British Columbia, Canada and is a tributary of the Liard River. The river descends from Dease Lake (British Columbia), Dease Lake, though its ultimate origin is in the headwaters of Little Dease Creek a ...

, the Tuya of the Stikine). The range's northern boundary is formed by the upper

Jennings River The Jennings River is a river in far northern British Columbia, Canada. It is approximately long. The river was named for William T. Jennings (1846-1906), a civil engineer who, in 1897, assessed various road and railroad routes from the Pacific ...

, a tributary of the

Teslin River The Teslin River is a river in southern Yukon Territory and northwestern British Columbia, Canada, that flows from its source south of Teslin Lake to its confluence with the Yukon River. During the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896–99, the river beca ...

system which is part of the

Yukon River The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...

drainage. Thus, the triple divide between the

Mackenzie Mackenzie, Mckenzie, MacKenzie, or McKenzie may refer to: People * Mackenzie (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Mackenzie (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Clan Mackenzie, a Sco ...

, Stikine, and

basins lies within the range. The

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

transits the eastern side of the range, though does not touch on its highest summit, Ash Mountain, which is at the north end of the range and is within the basin of the Jennings. The range has an area of and, other than Ash Mountain, includes

Tuya Butte Tuya Butte is a tuya in the Tuya Range of north-central British Columbia, Canada. It is a bit less isolated from other ranges than neighbouring Mount Josephine. Some of the other volcanoes in the area include South Tuya, Ash Mountain, and Math ...

Mathews Tuya Mathews Tuya is a tuya in northcentral British Columbia. It is one of the six tuyas close to Tuya Lake. It has been partly glaciated and Ar-Ar geochronology shows that is it about 730,000 years old. It mainly comprises palagonitized tephra (tuff, ...

Caribou Tuya Caribou Tuya is a basaltic subglacial mound in far northwestern British Columbia that began eruptive activity under glacial ice during the Fraser glaciation (25 to 10 ka). Like Ash Mountain and South Tuya, sections of the subglacial mound reveal ...

, and

South Tuya South Tuya, also called Southern Tuya, is a tuya clustered around Tuya Lake in the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province in British Columbia, Canada. The base of South Tuya comprises hyaloclastite and pillow lava indicating that the volcano forme ...

. All of these are part of the Tuya Volcanic Field, which includes other volcanic features north and west of the range Ash Mountain is the highest tuya in the range. The nearby

Kawdy Plateau The Kawdy Plateau is a plateau in northern British Columbia, Canada, located between the Nahlin and Tuya Rivers. It includes the granitic Atsutla Range and Nazcha Hills and the volcanic Kawdy Mountain Kawdy Mountain is a subglacial mound on t ...

to the west, to the southwest of Kawdy Mountain, is near-entirely formed by the spectacular

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...

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-hig ...

was the first tuya analyzed in the geological literature, and its name has since become standard worldwide among

volcanologist A volcanologist, or volcano scientist, is a geologist who focuses on understanding the formation and eruptive activity of volcanoes. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, sometimes active ones, to observe and monitor volcanic eruptions, col ...

s in referring to and writing about tuyas. The

Tuya Mountains Provincial Park Tuya Mountains Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, protecting the Tuya Range, a volcanic region at the head of the Tuya River. The park is located on the north side of Tuya Lake. The park is named for nearby Tuya ...

was recently established to protect this unusual landscape, which lies north of

and south of the

near the boundary with the Yukon Territory.

Black Spruce ''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of the province of Newfoundland and Labra ...

is a dominant tree in this area; this species is near the western limit of its range.C. Michael Hogan. 2008
''Black Spruce: Picea mariana'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg, November, 2008

References

*
Tuya Range entry, Canadian Mountain EncyclopediaAsh Mountain entry, Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia
{{Interior Mountains Stikine Ranges Volcanoes of British Columbia Tuyas of Canada Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province Cassiar Country Pleistocene volcanism Great Divide of North America

Boundaries and landforms

See also

References