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The Geology of the Yukon Michael Dorsey David Palmieri Canada 111B 05/10/12

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Michael Dorsey David Palmieri Canada 111B 05/10/12 The Geology of the Yukon The Yukon is an interesting geological area that exhibits many geological features. The Yukon is home to two major faults the tallest mountain in Canada volcanoes and an interesting past, but how does geology impact and shape the Yukon? The Yukon is not part of the Canadian Shield which is the tectonically stable interior of the continent. Because all of the continents are on plates that are constantly drifting on the athenosphere the edges of the plates are under stress either splitting apart or colliding together. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is the divide where the North American plate is drifting away from the Eurasian plate leaving a gap where magma can ooze up through. The opposite is happening at the San Andreas Fault. The Canadian Shield is simply the part of the continent that has had all of the material striped off the top of it leaving just the basement rock. The Yukon has 134 miles of coastline and coastal plain and a 670 mile border with the United States. 8 out of the ten tallest Canadian peaks are in the Yukon. The Yukon is home to Mt. Logan the tallest mountain in Canada at a summit altitude of 19,551ft above sea level. It is also still rising because of tectonic uplift. It was named after Sir William Edmond Logan, a geologist and the founder of the Geological Survey of Canada. The Yukon is also part of the

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American Cordillera which is a series of mountain ranges that run north to south. There are many glaciers in the Yukon Territory. The Hubbard Glacier is one of the most prominent ones. The Yukon is geologically diverse. There are many mineral deposits and two major faults. The two major faults that run through the Yukon are the Denali fault and the Tintina fault. The Yukon borders the ring of fire which is the area around the Pacific Ocean that is tectonically active. The faulting in the Yukon is responsible for the earthquakes in the area. The graphic depicts the epicenter of the earthquakes around the Denali fault. The purple large dots are the earthquakes greater than 6 on the Richter scale. The fault is a right lateral strike slip fault. This means that the plates are moving past each other with the right side appearing to move south and the left side to appear to move north. Because the Yukon sits in the ring of fire there are also many volcanoes in the area. Most are extinct or dormant but one that is still active is a cinder cone named Volcano Mountain. A cinder cone is a geologic feature that accompanies a volcanic vent and is made up of volcanic ash. The last time the volcano erupted was within the last few hundred years. The volcano is not an explosive one like Mt. St. Helens but rather a gentle volcano that effuses a lot of lava. This conclusion was

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drawn due to the lack of pyroclastic material found at the volcano. Pyroclastic is the word used to describe rocks and material from an explosive volcanic event. The geology of the Yukon has attracted people to study it, for its beauty, and for its resources. There are many mineral deposits in the Yukon there was multiple Gold Rushes that drew people from across the Americas to prospect for gold. There are many mineral deposits in the Yukon they range from gold, copper, lead, zinc, silver, tungsten, and coal. The Yukon is home to one of the largest iron deposit in world. The Yukon is home to many glaciers along its coast. During the last glacial maximum or the Ice age around 20,000 years ago (13,000BC) much of the world was covered by glaciers. In the Yukon although it is in an arctic climate most of it was left untouched. The Laurentide ice sheet that was centered in Hudson Bay and the glaciers in the mountains to the west didnt close the gap completely. This opening was where archeologists believe the first humans came through or by a sea rout. The glaciers retreated at the end of the ice age leaving there mark on the landscape. This is evident all throughout the northern Americas. Long Island is a terminal moraine or the farthest the glacier advanced before melting. Hudson Bay is also believed to be a depression caused by the massive weight of the glacier compressing the asthenosphere. The present day glaciers are the Donjek Glacier, Hubbard Glacier, Klutlan Glacier, and Logan Glacier. The Hubbard Glacier is a popular one. Hubbard Glacier is the largest glacier in North America. It has been advancing since 1895. A glacier is a flowing system like a river. It takes almost 400 years for ice to move from the top to the snout of the glacier. As the glacier advances and calves1 back the lake Russell Fiord becomes the largest glacial dammed lake in the Americas. The lake also constantly shifts from fresh to salt water depending on the position of the glacier.

1 When the glacier is no longer attached to its bed and floats in water it causes large portions of ice to break off the front of the glacier.

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The Yukon is geological diverse like the rest of the Earth, but how does geology impact and shape the Yukon? The Yukon is isolated from the rest of Canada in many ways. Its power grid is confined to itself only it has few roads and is in one of the most isolated places in our continent. The geology play a role in effecting peoples everyday life. Transportation is made more difficult by having to traverse the mountains and valleys of the Yukon. Structures have to be able to stand the earthquakes because of the active faults. The trade off of the geology is that mining for minerals is a business that keeps many people on their feet.