The Karmutsen Formation is a

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch a ...

volcanic sequence of tholeiitic pillow basalts and breccias on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

, British Columbia, Canada. It is perhaps the thickest accreted section of an

oceanic plateau An oceanic or submarine plateau is a large, relatively flat elevation that is higher than the surrounding relief with one or more relatively steep sides. There are 184 oceanic plateaus in the world, covering an area of or about 5.11% of the o ...

worldwide, exposing up to 6000 m of basal sediment- sill complexes,

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

ic to picritic pillow lavas, pillow

breccia Breccia ( , ; ) is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or Rock (geology), rocks cementation (geology), cemented together by a fine-grained matrix (geology), matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language ...

, and thick, massive basalt flows. The widespread succession of basalts and breccias are part of the Insular Mountains, a large volcanic

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 aris ...

that forms Vancouver Island and

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; / , literally "Islands of the Haida people"), previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago located between off the British Columbia Coast, northern Pacific coast in the Canadian province of British Columbia ...

. In

Strathcona Provincial Park Strathcona Provincial Park is the oldest provincial park in British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rock ...

pillow basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron ( mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% o ...

is the most abundant rock unit.Geology of Strathcona Park - The Volcanic Flood
Retrieved on 2007-11-24 About half the mountains, including the highest ones, are carved from these basalts, such as

Golden Hinde ''Golden Hind'' was a galleon captained by Francis Drake in his circumnavigation of the world between 1577 and 1580. She was originally known as ''Pelican,'' but Drake renamed her mid-voyage in 1578, in honour of his patron, Sir Christopher Ha ...

, which is the highest peak on Vancouver Island.

References

Volcanism of British Columbia Geography of Vancouver Island Flood basalts Triassic volcanism Triassic British Columbia {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub

See also

References