Flute Summit is a flat-topped summit in the
Fitzsimmons Range of the
Garibaldi Ranges
The Garibaldi Ranges are the next-to-southwesternmost subdivision of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains; only the North Shore Mountains are farther southwest. They lie between the valley formed by the pass between the Cheakamus River and ...
of the
Pacific Ranges
The Pacific Ranges are the southernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains portion of the Pacific Cordillera. Located entirely within British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada, they run northwest from the lower stretches of the Fraser River to B ...
in southwestern
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 Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
,
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 ...
. It is located on the north side of
Cheakamus Lake just southeast of the town of
Whistler in
Garibaldi Provincial Park. The mountain is part of a group of hills called the Musical Bumps.
Geology
In 2004, volcanologist
Jack Souther
Jack Gordon Souther (April 25, 1924 – June 1, 2014) was an American Canadian, American-born Canadian geologist, volcanologist, professor and engineer. He contributed significantly to the early understanding of Quaternary, recent volcanic activi ...
of the
Geological Survey of Canada
The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; , CGC) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the environment. A branch of the Earth Science ...
convinced that Flute Summit is an exposed
subvolcanic intrusion
In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...
of an ancient volcano. Nearby mountains, such as
Whistler Mountain
Whistler Mountain ( Lillooet/Ucwalmícwts: Nsqwítsu) is a mountain in the Fitzsimmons Range of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, located on the northwestern edge of Garibaldi Provincial Park. It is the location of the Whistler-Blac ...
and
Piccolo Summit, consist of lava flows that were erupted from a
volcano
A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...
about 100 million years ago during the
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...
period. The subvolcanic rock that comprises Flute Summit is
igneous rock
Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.
The magma can be derived from partial ...
that solidified inside the Late Cretaceous volcano. Subvolcanic rocks can remain semi-molten and hot for hundreds or thousands of years. Because the magma that forms subvolcanic rocks solidifies and crystallizes slower than magma erupted on the surface, mineral grains grow larger. This produces a coarse grained rock. As subvolcanic magma heats and sets up convention in nearby groundwater, a
hydrothermal system is created. This hydrothermal system can form quartz veins like those found at Flute Summit, combined with sulfurous gasses released from the magma, cause chemical alteration of both the crystallizing subvolcanic intrusion and the neighbouring rocks. This is how Flute Summit got its red colour.
See also
*
Gambier Group The Gambier Group is an Early Cretaceous aged geologic group in the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. It was formed on the easternmost point of the Wrangellia Terrane as a volcanic arc about 100 million years ago along a west-to ...
*
Volcanism of Western Canada
Volcanism of Western Canada has produced lava flows, lava plateaus, lava domes, cinder cones, stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, greenstone belts, submarine volcanoes, calderas, diatremes and maars, along with examples of more less common volca ...
References
External links
*
*{{cite bivouac, id=596, title=Flute Summit
Two-thousanders of British Columbia
Garibaldi Ranges
Volcanism of British Columbia
Igneous intrusions
Cretaceous volcanoes
New Westminster Land District