Global Volcanism Program | Atlin Volcanic Field

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Atlin Volcanic Field.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Atlin Volcanic Field.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Atlin Volcanic Field.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Synonyms

Surprise Lake Volcanic Field | Llangorse Volcanic Field

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Chikoida Mountain

Cone

Cracker Creek Cone

Cone

1320 m

59° 42' 0" N

133° 17' 25" W

Llangorse Mountain

Cone

Ruby Creek

Vent

59° 39' 0" N

133° 21' 35" W

Ruby Mountain

Cone

1880 m

59° 42' 0" N

133° 23' 0" W

Sanford, Mount

Cone

Volcanic Creek Cone

Pyroclastic cone

1600 m

59° 45' 0" N

133° 27' 0" W

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

320030

Unknown - Evidence Credible

1,880 m / 6,168 ft

59.708°N
133.358°W

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Cluster

Volcano Types
Pyroclastic cone(s)

Rock Types

Major
Trachybasalt / Tephrite Basanite
Basalt / Picro-Basalt

Minor
Foidite

Tectonic Setting

Intraplate
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Population

Within 5 km
Within 10 km
Within 30 km
Within 100 km

0
0
94
956

Geological Summary

The Surprise Lake volcanic field in the Atlin volcanic district is a group of late-Pleistocene to Holocene cinder cones on the Teslin Plateau in NW-most British Columbia, between Atlin Lake on the W and Surprise Lake on the E. The largest volcanic feature is Ruby Mountain (named for the brilliantly colored tephra deposits on the summit and flanks), which has been partially dissected by Pleistocene and post-Wisconsin glaciation. Two basaltic cinder cones at the heads of Cracker and Volcanic Creeks lie within glacially dissected U-shaped valleys and were considered to be post-glacial (Edwards et al., 1996). Placer miners working in the region at the end of the 19th century reported an eruption from the Ruby Mountain area about 80 km S of Gladys Lake (Hickson et al., 1994; Edwards et al., 1996) during which ash fell for several days and the miners were able to work at night due to incandescent glow. No field evidence has been found, however, for a volcanic cone or lava flow in the area young enough to have been the product of an historical eruption, and the report is considered uncertain.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

Aitken J D, 1959. Atlin map-area, British Columbia. Geol Surv Can Mem, 307: 1-89.

Edwards B R, Hamilton T S, Nicholls J, Stout M Z, Russell J K, Simpson K, 1996. Late Tertiary to Quaternary volcanism in the Atlin area, northwestern British Columbia. Geol Surv Can, Current Res 1996-A: 29-36.

Edwards B R, Russell J K, Anderson R G, Harder M, 2003. Overview of Neogene to Recent volcanism in the Atlin volcanic district, Northern Cordilleran province, northwestern British Columbia. Geol Surv Canada, Current Res, 2003-A8: 1-6.

Harder M, Russell J K, 2007. Basanite glaciovolcanism at Llangorse Mountain, northern British Columbia, Canada. Bull Volcanol, 69: 329-340.

Hickson C J, Edwards B R, 2001. Volcanoes and Volcanic Hazards in Canada. In; Brooks G R (ed) A Synthesis of Geological Hazards in Canada, Geol Surv Can Bull, 548: 1-248.

Hickson C J, Soos A, Wright R, 1994. Catalogue of Canadian volcanoes. Geol Surv Canada Open-File Rpt.

Holland S S, 1976. Landforms of British Columbia, a physiographic outline. Brit Columbia Dept Mines Petrol Resour Bull, 48: 1-138 (2nd printing).

IAVCEI, 1973-80. Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome: Internatl Assoc Volc Chemistry Earth's Interior.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 0 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

[ 1898 Nov 8 ] Uncertain Eruption

Episode 1 | Eruption

1898 Nov 8 - Unknown

Evidence from Unknown

List of 1 Events for Episode 1

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	- - - -	- - - -	Explosion	Uncertain

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Atlin Volcanic Field.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Atlin Volcanic Field.

Photo Gallery

Cracker Creek cone (center), the small vegetated hill seen here from the west, is the youngest feature of the Atlin Volcanic Field on the Teslin Plateau in NW British Columbia. The small scoria cone lies at the head of Cracker Creek, immediately east of Ruby Mountain volcano, and may have been the source of a large lava flow that partly filled Ruby Creek. The lower west side of the cone appears to be partly covered by glacial till, suggesting that the cone is older than the most recent glacial advances down Ruby Creek.

Photo by Ben Edwards, 2000 (Dickinson College, Pennsylvania).

GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Atlin Volcanic Field in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

MIROVA

Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA) is a near real time volcanic hot-spot detection system based on the analysis of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. In particular, MIROVA uses the Middle InfraRed Radiation (MIR), measured over target volcanoes, in order to detect, locate and measure the heat radiation sourced from volcanic activity.

MODVOLC Thermal Alerts

Using infrared satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, scientists at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, developed an automated system called MODVOLC to map thermal hot-spots in near real time. For each MODIS image, the algorithm automatically scans each 1 km pixel within it to check for high-temperature hot-spots. When one is found the date, time, location, and intensity are recorded. MODIS looks at every square km of the Earth every 48 hours, once during the day and once during the night, and the presence of two MODIS sensors in space allows at least four hot-spot observations every two days. Each day updated global maps are compiled to display the locations of all hot spots detected in the previous 24 hours. There is a drop-down list with volcano names which allow users to 'zoom-in' and examine the distribution of hot-spots at a variety of spatial scales.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

Volcanic Hazard Maps

The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk has a Volcanic Hazard Maps database designed to serve as a resource for hazard mappers (or other interested parties) to explore how common issues in hazard map development have been addressed at different volcanoes, in different countries, for different hazards, and for different intended audiences. In addition to the comprehensive, searchable Volcanic Hazard Maps Database, this website contains information about diversity of volcanic hazard maps, illustrated using examples from the database. This site is for educational purposes related to volcanic hazard maps. Hazard maps found on this website should not be used for emergency purposes. For the most recent, official hazard map for a particular volcano, please seek out the proper institutional authorities on the matter.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Atlin Volcanic Field. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Atlin Volcanic Field. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

DECADE Data

The DECADE portal, still in the developmental stage, serves as an example of the proposed interoperability between The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the Mapping Gas Emissions (MaGa) Database, and the EarthChem Geochemical Portal. The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) initiative seeks to use new and established technologies to determine accurate global fluxes of volcanic CO₂ to the atmosphere, but installing CO₂ monitoring networks on 20 of the world's 150 most actively degassing volcanoes. The group uses related laboratory-based studies (direct gas sampling and analysis, melt inclusions) to provide new data for direct degassing of deep earth carbon to the atmosphere.

Large Eruptions of Atlin Volcanic Field

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).