Mount MacKenzie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mount MacKenzie |
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 Mount MacKenzie
Location in British Columbia
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 2,143 m (7,031 ft) |
| Prominence | 378 m (1,240 ft) |
| Listing | List of volcanoes in Canada |
| Geography | |
| Location | British Columbia, Canada |
| Parent range | Rainbow Range |
| Topo map | NTS 92D/09 |
| Geology | |
| Volcanic arc/belt | Anahim Volcanic Belt |
Mount MacKenzie is a special kind of mountain called a volcanic peak. It's located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of a place called Hagensborg in British Columbia, Canada. This mountain is part of a larger group of volcanoes known as the Rainbow Range.
Exploring Mount MacKenzie
Mount MacKenzie isn't just any mountain; it's a volcanic peak. This means it was formed by a volcano! It's part of a group of volcanoes in the Rainbow Range. These volcanoes are mostly "shield volcanoes." Imagine a warrior's shield lying on the ground – that's what a shield volcano looks like. They have wide, gentle slopes, unlike the steep, cone-shaped volcanoes you might usually picture.
How Mount MacKenzie Was Born
Mount MacKenzie was created in a really cool way, thanks to something called a "hotspot." Think of a hotspot as a super hot spot deep inside Earth. This hot spot melts rock, and that melted rock (called magma) rises to the surface, forming volcanoes.
Mount MacKenzie formed when the North American Plate moved over this hotspot. The Earth's surface is made of huge pieces called "plates" that are always moving very slowly. As the North American Plate moved, the hotspot kept melting new rock, creating a chain of volcanoes. This is similar to how the Hawaiian Islands were formed by their own hotspot! The hotspot that created Mount MacKenzie is known as the Anahim hotspot.
The Anahim Volcanic Belt
Mount MacKenzie is one of the important volcanoes in the Anahim Volcanic Belt. This belt is a long chain of volcanoes that stretches across British Columbia. It's made up of three main shield volcanoes, and the Rainbow Range, where Mount MacKenzie is found, is one of them. These volcanoes tell us a lot about the powerful forces at work deep inside our planet.
