Silverthrone Caldera

Silverthrone Caldera is a remote volcanic complex in British Columbia’s Coast Mountains, buried beneath glaciers and the Ha-Iltzuk Icefield and drained by creeks and rivers on several sides. Rather than a single peak, it is a deeply eroded caldera about 25 by 20 kilometres across, containing Silverthrone Mountain and several other named volcanic summits. Its rocks preserve a long eruptive history, from ancient breccia to much younger lava flows and pyroclastic cones, though much remains hidden under ice. Because of its isolation, the volcano has been only intermittently studied, and its relation to regional volcanic belts remains debated. It also supplied obsidian to Indigenous peoples and has been considered for geothermal energy.

British Columbia · Canada