Mount Harper is a deeply eroded
Late Proterozoic
The Neoproterozoic Era is the last of the three geologic eras of the Proterozoic eon, spanning from 1 billion to 538.8 million years ago, and is the last era of the Precambrian "supereon". It is preceded by the Mesoproterozoic era and succeeded b ...
volcanic complex located north of
Dawson City
Dawson City is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest municipality in Yukon.
History
Prior t ...
and west of
Mount Gibben. Mount Harper is in the
Ogilvie Mountains
The Ogilvie Mountains are a mountain range in the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada.
Geologically they are part of the Yukon Ranges, in the upper Laramide Belt of the North American Cordillera.
Geography
The range lies north of Dawson Ci ...
and is the thick remnant of a subaqueous-to-emergent
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
ic
shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...
capped by small
rhyodacitic and
andesitic
Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...
lava flows. It oversteps the
Harper Fault.
In 1888,
William Olgilvie named the mountain in honor of
Arthur Harper, recognized as the first man to enter the
Yukon
Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
country seeking gold.
See also
*
List of volcanoes in Canada
List of volcanoes in Canada is an incomplete list of volcanoes found in Geography of Canada, mainland Canada, in the Islands of Canada, Canadian islands and in Canadian waters. All but two Provinces of Canada, provinces, Prince Edward Island and ...
*
Volcanism in Canada
Volcanism, Volcanic activity is a major part of the geology of Canada and is characterized by many types of volcanic landform, including lava flows, volcanic plateaus, lava domes, cinder cones, stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, submarine volcan ...
References
External links
Mount Harperin the Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia
Volcanoes of Yukon
One-thousanders of Yukon
Proterozoic volcanoes
Shield volcanoes of Canada
Polygenetic shield volcanoes
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