Maitland Volcano

Maitland Volcano
Maitland Volcano Location of Maitland Volcano in British Columbia
Highest point
Coordinates	57°24′N 129°42′W / 57.4°N 129.7°W / 57.4; -129.7Coordinates: 57°24′N 129°42′W / 57.4°N 129.7°W / 57.4; -129.7
Geography
Location	British Columbia, Canada
Parent range	Klappan Range
Geology
Age of rock	5.2 to 4.7 million years old
Mountain type	Shield volcano
Volcanic arc/belt	Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province
Last eruption	4.6 million years ago

Maitland Volcano is a heavily eroded shield volcano that resides in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located 83 km (52 mi) southeast of the small community of Telegraph Creek in what is now the Klappan Range of the northern Skeena Mountains. This multi-vent volcano covered a remarkably large area and was topped by a younger volcanic edifice. Little remains of Maitland Volcano today, limited only to eroded lava flows and distinctive upstanding landforms created when magma hardened within the vents of the volcano.

The shield is associated with an extensive group of related volcanoes called the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province (NCVP). This forms part of the much larger Ring of Fire, which surrounds most of the Pacific Ocean basin. Geologic studies have shown that Maitland was a comparatively short-lived volcano. It had volcanic activity for less than a million years, a time span unique from other massive NCVP shields. The volcano is known to have produced at least four types of lava, namely alkali basalt, hawaiite, trachyte and trachybasalt. These have been studied by scientists since the 1950s.

Maitland Volcano was one of the most voluminous shield volcanoes in the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province along with Heart Peaks, Level Mountain and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. Its structure was about 50 km (31 mi) long and 40 km (25 mi) wide, covering an area of at least 1,000 km² (390 sq mi). This is similar in size to the Mount Edziza complex approximately 40 km (25 mi) west of Maitland Volcano. Like most shields, Maitland consisted of several basaltic lava flows which have low viscosity. This gave the volcano its massive profile and consequently Maitland might have had a broad lava plateau like other large NCVP shields.