Solitary Mountain facts for kids

Solitary Mountain is a mountain located in the Big Salmon Range. This mountain range is part of the larger Pelly Mountains in the southern part of Yukon, Canada. Solitary Mountain is about 49 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of a town called Faro.

The mountain gets its name, "Solitary," because it stands quite alone compared to other mountains in the area. It is found south of the Robert Campbell Highway, which is a major road in the Yukon.

How Solitary Mountain Was Formed

Solitary Mountain is made up of special rocks called volcanics. These rocks formed a very long time ago, during a period known as the Late Cretaceous period. This was about 70 million years ago, when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth!

The Carmacks Group

The volcanic rocks that make up Solitary Mountain are part of a much bigger group of rocks called the Carmacks Group. This group covers a huge area, about 63,000 square kilometers (24,000 square miles).

• Scientists think these rocks might have come from a very hot spot deep inside the Earth. This hot spot is similar to the one that created the volcanoes in Yellowstone National Park today.
• Imagine a giant bubble of super-hot rock rising from deep within the Earth. When it reaches the surface, it can cause volcanoes to erupt and create new land.

The Teslin Fault

What makes Solitary Mountain a bit unique is that its volcanic rocks are separated by something called the Teslin Fault.

• A fault is like a giant crack in the Earth's crust.
• The Teslin Fault is a strike-slip fault. This means that the rocks on either side of the fault slide past each other horizontally, rather than moving up or down. This movement has separated the rocks of Solitary Mountain from other parts of the Carmacks Group.