Big Bend Peak
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Big Bend Peak is a mountain summit located in the upper
North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...
valley in
Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada, Canada's first National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous ter ...
, in the
Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...
of
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. Its nearest higher peak is Mount Saskatchewan, to the south. Big Bend Peak is situated on the west side of the
Icefields Parkway Highway 93 is a north–south highway in Alberta, Canada. It is also known as the Banff-Windermere Parkway south of the Trans-Canada Highway ( Highway 1) and the Icefields Parkway north of the Trans-Canada Highway. It travels through Banff Nat ...
four kilometres southwest of the "big bend" in the road, hence the peak's name origin.


Geology

Like other mountains in Banff Park, Big Bend Peak is composed of
sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...
laid down from the
Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...
to
Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...
periods. Formed in shallow seas, this sedimentary rock was pushed east and over the top of younger rock during the
Laramide orogeny The Laramide orogeny was a time period of mountain building in western North America, which started in the Late Cretaceous, 80 to 70 million years ago, and ended 55 to 35 million years ago. The exact duration and ages of beginning and end of the o ...
.


Climate

Based on the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
, Big Bend Peak is in a
subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...
zone with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers. Winter temperatures can drop below -20 °C with wind chill factors below -30 °C. Precipitation runoff from Big Bend Peak drains into the
North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...
.


Gallery

File:Big Bend Peak.jpg, Northeast aspect of Big Bend Peak seen from the big bend of the Icefields Parkway File:Big Bend Peak from Icefields Parkway.jpg, Northeast aspect of Big Bend Peak seen from the Icefields Parkway File:Summit (50015972498).jpg


See also

*
List of mountains of Canada Most mountain peaks of Canada lie in the west, specifically in British Columbia, Alberta, and the Yukon. Mountains can be found all over British Columbia while those in Alberta are mainly situated on the eastern side of the Canadian Rockies. The ...
*
Geography of Alberta Alberta is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. Located in Western Canada, the province has an area of and is bounded to the south by the United States state of Montana along 49° north for ; to the east at 110° west b ...
*


References


External links

* Parks Canada web site
Banff National Park
* StevenSong.com
Climbing Big Bend Peak
{{Canadian Rockies, state=collapsed Two-thousanders of Alberta Mountains of Banff National Park Alberta's Rockies