Mount Shanks is a mountain

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

located in

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.

Description

Mount Shanks is situated west of the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

on the boundary that

Kootenay National Park Kootenay National Park is a national park of Canada in southeastern British Columbia. The park consists of of the Canadian Rockies, including parts of the Kootenay and Park mountain ranges, the Kootenay River and the entirety of the Vermili ...

shares with

Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located around Mount Assiniboine. History The park was established 1922. Some of the more recent history that is explorable within the park include Wheeler's Wo ...

. The peak is part of the

Ball Range The Ball Range is a mountain range on the Continental Divide between Vermilion Pass and Red Earth Pass in Kootenay National Park, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and th ...

which is a sub-range of 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 ...

. Precipitation runoff from the peak's north and east slopes flows into tributaries of the

Simpson River Simpson River is a river of Chile located in the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region. The river originates east of the Andes mountains. It forms the western boundary of the city of Coihaique, which is bordered on the north by the ...

, whereas the west slope drains into the Vermilion River.

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as the summit rises 1,600 metres (5,249 ft) above the Vermilion River in and 1,340 metres (4,396 ft) above the Simpson River in .

History

This landform's original local name was "Folding Mountain" until the mountain was renamed in 1927 by

Dominion Land Survey The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; ) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km2) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United St ...

staff in honor of their colleague, the late Thomas Shanks, Assistant Director General of Surveys of Canada. The mountain's toponym was officially adopted on July 31, 1927, by the

Geographical Names Board of Canada The Geographical Names Board of Canada (GNBC) is a national committee with a secretariat in Natural Resources Canada, part of the Government of Canada, which authorizes the names used and name changes on official federal government maps of Canad ...

. The mountain was first climbed in September 1976 by P. Spear and R. Workum.Glen W. Boles, Robert Kruszyna, William Lowell Putnam (1979), ''The Rocky Mountains of Canada, South'', American Alpine Club, , p.228.

Geology

Mount Shanks 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 during 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 ...

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 ...

, Mount Shanks is located 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.

Gallery

File:Shanks mountain.jpg, Southwest aspect from Highway 93 File:Canada 20140411 174049 (13832552264).jpg, Mt. Shanks centered, aerial view looking north

References

External links

* Mount Shanks
weather forecastMount Assiniboine Provincial Park
* Parks Canada web site
Kootenay National Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shanks, Mount Two-thousanders of British Columbia Ball Range Kootenay Land District Mountains of Kootenay National Park