Haddington Island (British Columbia)
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Haddington Island is a small volcanic island in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located south of Malcolm Island and Broughton Strait. It is located in the Mount Waddington Regional District.
The closest major community to Haddington Island is Port Hardy.[1]
[edit] Geology
Haddington Island is a member in the chain of volcanic peaks that run from Brooks Peninsula northeastward across Vancouver Island to Port McNeill called the Alert Bay Volcanic Belt. The existence of felsite and andesite at Haddington Island suggests it might have formed 3.7 million years ago as the Juan de Fuca and Explorer Plate to its west have been subducting under the North American Plate at the Cascadia subduction zone.[2] As the ocean crust of the Juan de Fuca and the Explorer Plate melts, it creates magma that penetrates the crust, causing periodic eruptions of the volcanoes. The western end of the Alert Bay Volcanic Belt is now approximately 80 km (50 mi) northeast of the Nootka Fault, which separates the Explorer and Juan de Fuca plates. However, at the time of its formation Haddington Island may have been coincident with the subducted plate boundary.[2] Also, the timing of volcanism corresponds to shifts of plate motion and changes in the locus of volcanism along the Pemberton and Garibaldi volcanic fronts. This brief interval of plate motion adjustment approximately 3.5 million years ago may have triggered the generation of basaltic magma along the descending plate edge.[2]
The grey to bluff andesite on Haddington Island is considered by many to be British Columbia's finest building stone because it is easily profiled and carved. Some of British Columbia's landmark buildings were faced with Haddington Island andesite: the Hotel Vancouver and the British Columbia Parliament Buildings in Victoria.[3] Further information on the historic use of andesite on buildings in Vancouver can be found in the article Andesite in Vancouver Matters, BlueImprint Books, 2008 by Rob Brownie and Annabel Vaughan
[edit] See also
Island is currently being quarried by Haddington Island Stoneworks out of Burnaby British Columbia
[edit] References
- ^ Mineral Resources Education Program of BC
- ^ a b c Wood, Charles A.; Kienle, Jürgen (2001). Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521438117. OCLC 27910629.
- ^ Natural Landscape Stones - Bedrock Granite Sales, Andesite, Basalt, Rhyolite, Sandstone - Vancouver, BC, Canada
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