The Monashees

The Monashees
Brydon Redding and Rob Mitchell
GEOG 476 – Dr. Dan Smith
27 January 2013
Columbia Mountains
Monashee Range
Context
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~400 km long(north-south)
Avg. 50 km wide
Bordered by Cariboo Mountains(N), Selkirks+Arrow Lakes(E),
Columbia R.(S), Okanagan Highlands+Interior Plateau(W)
Many subranges(Gold, Jordan, Midway, Kettle River etc.)
TNRD Film
3) Prominent components
- Highest peaks: Mt. Monashee
(3274m), Hallam Peak (3205m), Mt.
Thor (3146m)
- North: Robson Valley, Alberta
boundary
- East: Arrow Lakes, Columbia River
- South: Kettle River and Columbia
River
- West: North Thompson River, Interior
Plateau
Topography: North
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~6 Major peaks >3050m
Sharp peaks, arêtes, hanging valleys
Steep valley walls
: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Monashee_peaks.JPG
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Relief up to 2400m
Peaks over ~2450m served as nunataks during
pleistocene
http://bivouac.com/TempFiles/Thumb/Mtn/2209_5813.jpg
Topography: South
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Elevation drop South of
Revelstoke
Peaks buried in Pleistocene
http://peakery.com/mount-tanner/
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Monashee_Mountains2.jpg
Midway range max: 2252m
Rounded peaks prevail
Fluvial+till deposits more abundant
5) Climate
Moore et al. (n.d.)
(NavCanada, n.d.)
- Aleutian low brings moist air west
- Orographic lifting over vancouver island and coast
mountains leads to condensation
- Clouds have less moisture by the time they are lifted
by the Monashees
(NavCanada, n.d.)
North-South Variation in Climate
- Climate varies with latitude and elevation
A) Hallam Peak
- MAT: -4.4°C
- MAP: 2127mm
- PAS: 1624mm
- NFFD: 60
B) Whatshan Peak
- MAT: 1.1°C
- MAP: 1074mm
- PAS: 563mm
- NFFD: 126
C) Old Glory Mountain Peak
- MAT: 4.3°C
- MAP: 851mm
- PAS: 346mm
- NFFD: 176
(ClimateBC, 2013)
Hydrology
Columbia River Watershed
Glaciers
West Draining:
-Oventop Glacier
-Serpentine Neve
-Pancake Glacier
East Draining:
glacialhelicopters.ca
-Blanket Glacier/Icefields
-Hallam Glacier
-Foster Glacier
Annual Runoff
-Similar runoff to coast
-2nd phase of orographic
rain
-High spring flow due to
snowmelt season
-Conservative year-to-year
runoff behaviour indicates
dominant snowmelt regime
(Eaton & Moore, n.d.)
7) Geology
- Northern region: meta-sedimentary
rocks
- Middle region: gneissic rocks of the
Shuswap terrane
- Southern region: batholiths and
foliated gneisses
(Holland, 1976)
Church and Ryder (2010)
The Monashee Complex
- Assemblage of meta-sedimentary rocks overlying
a base of gneiss and granitic batholiths
- Subdivided into the Frenchman Cap and ThorOdin complex
- Extensive folding and refolding
(Brown and Read, 1983)
(Williams, 2011)
(Journeay, 1981)
The Shuswap Terrane
• Long after breakup of Rodinia,
oceanic crust and volcanic deposits
along the ocean-continent margin
were carried eastward (Trenhaille, 2010)
• Exotic terranes were accreted to
continent
• This process produced the Shuswap
terrane, a metamorphic core
complex contributing to the geology
of the Monashee range (Brown and Read,
1983)
(Church and Jones, 1999)
Geomorphic History
-Primary ice accumulation zone
-Glacial history stored at Mud Lake
-Large sediment deposits at start of Holocene
-300m thick deposits in as little as 200yrs
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9) Vegetation
- Biogeoclimatic zone: Engelmann spruce – subalpine fir zone
- represents all land below alpine tundra in the Columbia Mountains, and the majority of the
Monashee range
- Engelmann spruce generally
dominates the canopy, while
subalpine fir occupies the
understory (Coupe et al., n.d.)
- limber pine, lodgepole pine, alpine
larch, western hemlock, and western
redcedar are also abundant (Coupe et al.,
n.d.)
- Shrubs: rhododendron is
dominant; also huckleberry,
gooseberry, and false azalea
(BC
Ministry of Forests, 1998)
- Subalpine meadows occur where
soil is moist; contain herbs such as
Indian hellebore, subalpine daisy,
paintbrush, and Sitka valerian
- Some subalpine grasslands exist,
but only in drier, southern areas
(Church and Ryder, 2010)
- Biogeoclimatic zone: Alpine tundra zone
- represents all land above the Engelmann spruce – subalpine fir zone in the Columbia
Mountains
- harsh climate; no trees
- low-growing vegetation dominates,
including shrubs (eg. dwarf
willows), grasses and sedges (eg.
fescue, wheatgrasses and
bluegrasses, alpine sweatgrass,
etc.) and lichens
(BC Ministry of Forests, 1998)
Mt. Thor
Soils
- humo-ferric podzols are
dominant
-high acidity
-iron and aluminum-rich red
horizon
-little organic material
(Church and Ryder, 2010)
(Church and Ryder, 2010)
References
B.C. Ministry of Forests (1998). The ecology of the Engelmann spruce – subalpine fir zone. Retrieved January 25, 2013 from
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/bro /bro55.pdf
B.C. Ministry of Forests (1998). The ecology of the alpine tundra zone. Retrieved January 25, 2013 from
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/bro/bro56.pdf
Brown, R.L., & Read, P.B. (1983). Shuswap terrane of British Columbia: A Mesozoic “core complex”. Geology, 11(3), 164168.
Church, B.N., & Jones, L.D. (1999). Metallogeny of the Bridge River mining camp. Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Natural
Gas. Retrieved January 25, 2013 from http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/mining/geoscience/minfile/products
downloads/publicationslist/pages/bridge.aspx
Church, M., & Ryder, J.M. (2010). Physiography of British Columbia. Retrieved January 25, 2013 from http://www.geog.
uvic.ca/geog476/church2010.pdf
ClimateBC (Version 4.70) [Software]. Centre for Forest Conservation Genetics. Available from http://www.genetics.forestry.
ubc.ca/cfcg/ClimateBC/ClimateBC.html#desktop
Coupe, R., Stewart, A.C., & Wikeem, B.M. (n.d.). Engelmann spruce – subalpine fir zone. Retrieved January 25, 2013 from
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/srs/Srs06/ chap15.pdf
Google Earth (Version 6.1) [Software]. Google Inc. (2011) Holland, S.S. (1976). Landforms of British Columbia: A
physiographic outline. Retrieved January 25, 2013 from http://www.geog.uvic.ca/geog476/holland1976.pdf.
Journeay, J.M. (1981). Structural setting along the northwest flank of Frenchman Cap Dome Monashee complex. British
Columbia Geological Survey Fieldwork, 187-201.
Moore, R.D., Spittlehouse, D.L., Whitfield, D.H., & Stahl, K. (n.d.). Weather and climate. Retrieved January 25, 2013 from
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/Docs/Lmh/L mh66/Lmh66_ch03.pdf
NavCanada (n.d.). Weather patterns of British Columbia. Retrieved January 25, 2013 from http://www.navcanada.ca/
contentdefinitionfiles/publications/lak/bc/3-bc31e.pdf
Williams, P.F. (2011). Cyclicity folding in the Monashee complex of the Canadian Cordillera. Journal of Structural Geology,
33(3), 187.