Stewart Peak is a mountain in the
Cheam Range
The Cheam Range (pronounced or ) is a mountain range in the Fraser Valley region of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia near the city of Chilliwack. The region is also a part of the Skagit Range of the Canadian Cascades and contains many rugg ...
, located 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 ...
near
Chilliwack
Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the gr ...
. It is situated west of
The Still Peak and east of
Baby Munday Peak. The mountain is named after one of the partners in the engineering firm
Foley, Welch and Stewart
Foley, Welch and Stewart was an early 20th-century American-Canadian railroad construction partnership.
Earlier lumber and construction involvement
In 1897, Peter Larson, Patrick Welch, John (Jack) William Stewart, and the Foley Brothers formed a ...
who built and operated the
Lucky Four Mine located near the peak. Nearby peaks are also named after the other partners (
Foley Peak and
Welch Peak
Welch Peak is a mountain summit in the Cheam Range, located in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, near Chilliwack. It is the highest summit in the range. The mountain is named after one of the partners in the engineering firm Foley, Welc ...
).
Geology
The history of the formation of the Cascade Mountains dates back millions of years ago to the late
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
Epoch.
With the
North American Plate overriding the
Pacific Plate, episodes of
volcanic igneous activity persisted.
[ In addition, small fragments of the ]oceanic
Oceanic may refer to:
*Of or relating to the ocean
*Of or relating to Oceania
**Oceanic climate
**Oceanic languages
**Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)"
Places
* Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...
and continental lithosphere
A lithosphere () is the rigid, outermost rocky shell of a terrestrial planet or natural satellite. On Earth, it is composed of the crust and the lithospheric mantle, the topmost portion of the upper mantle that behaves elastically on time sc ...
called terrane
In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and accreted or " sutured" to crust lying on another plate. The crustal block or fragment preserves its d ...
s created the North Cascades
The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and ...
about 50 million years ago.[
During the ]Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
period dating back over two million years ago, glaciation advancing and retreating repeatedly scoured the landscape leaving deposits of rock debris.[ The U-shaped cross section of the river valleys is a result of recent glaciation. Uplift and faulting in combination with glaciation have been the dominant processes which have created the tall peaks and deep valleys of the North Cascades area.
The North Cascades features some of the most rugged topography in the ]Cascade Range
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...
with craggy peaks, granite spires, ridges, and deep glacial valley
U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight s ...
s. Geological events occurring many years ago created the diverse topography and drastic elevation changes over the Cascade Range leading to various climate differences.
Climate
Most weather front
A weather front is a boundary separating air masses for which several characteristics differ, such as air density, wind, temperature, and humidity. Disturbed and unstable weather due to these differences often arises along the boundary. For ins ...
s originate in the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
, and travel east toward the Cascade Mountains
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...
. As fronts approach the North Cascades
The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and ...
, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Cascade Range, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the Cascades (Orographic lift
Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...
). As a result, the west side of the North Cascades experiences higher precipitation than the east side, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall. During winter months, weather is usually cloudy, but, due to high pressure systems over the Pacific Ocean that intensify during summer months, there is often little or no cloud cover during the summer.[Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008.]
See also
* Geography of the North Cascades
The geography of the North Cascades describes a range of rugged mountains in British Columbia, Canada and Washington, United States. In Canada, the range is officially named the Cascade Mountains but is commonly referred to as the Canadian Cascad ...
* Canadian Cascade Arc
The Canadian Cascade Arc, also called the Canadian Cascades, is the Canada, Canadian segment of the North American Cascade Volcanic Arc. Located entirely within the Canadian province of British Columbia, it extends from the Cascade Mountains in th ...
References
{{reflist
Two-thousanders of British Columbia
Cheam Range
Yale Division Yale Land District