Mount Denison is a

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

and one of the highest peaks on the

Alaska Peninsula The Alaska Peninsula (also called Aleut Peninsula or Aleutian Peninsula, ; Sugpiaq language, Sugpiaq: ''Aluuwiq'', ''Al'uwiq'') is a peninsula extending about to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. T ...

. Discovered in 1923 by

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

professor Kirtley Fletcher Mather, the mountain was named for the geologist's

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

Denison University Denison University is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, United States. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. It was first called ...

. The mountain's connection to Denison also include its first climbers: all members of the first two ascent teams as well as the group that attempted in 1977 were either students, alumni, or faculty of the university. Mount Denison is located at the end of a volcanic chain in a heavily glaciated and very remote section of Katmai National Park. It is possibly the tallest mountain in the national park, though some sources list Mount Griggs as the highest. Mount Griggs, on the other hand, is much more accessible, being next to the

Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes is a valley within Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska which is filled with ash flow from the eruption of Novarupta on June 6–8, 1912. Following the eruption, thousands of fumaroles vented steam fr ...

, which can be reached via the road from the national park's visitor center. There is no record of an eruption, but Mount Denison was probably active some time in the last 10,000 years (the

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

epoch).

Notes

External links

* Mountains of Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska Volcanoes of Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska Volcanoes of Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska Mountains of Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska Two-thousanders of the United States Stratovolcanoes of Alaska Highest points of United States national parks Aleutian Range {{LakeandPeninsulaAK-geo-stub

See also

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External links