Mess Creek
{{Infobox river
| name = Mess Creek
| name_native =
| name_native_lang =
| name_other =
| name_etymology =
| image =
| image_caption =
| map =
| map_size =
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map = British Columbia
| pushpin_map_size =
| pushpin_map_caption = Mouth of Mess Creek
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = Canada
| subdivision_type2 = Province
| subdivision_name2 = British Columbia
| subdivision_type3 = District
| subdivision_name3 = Cassiar Land District
| subdivision_type4 =
| subdivision_name4 =
| subdivision_type5 =
| subdivision_name5 =
| length = {{convert|110|km|abbr=on}}Elevation, length and coordinates derived from Google Earth and the [https://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/search-place-names/search Canadian Geographical Names Database]
| width_min =
| width_avg =
| width_max =
| depth_min =
| depth_avg =
| depth_max =
| discharge1_location =
| discharge1_min =
| discharge1_avg = {{convert|59.3|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}{{cite web |url= https://nwwt.bcwatertool.ca |title= Northwest Water Tool |work= BC Water Tool |publisher= GeoBC, Integrated Land Management Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Government of British Columbia |accessdate= 2023-09-26}}
| discharge1_max =
| source1 = Unnamed lake
| source1_location = Boundary Ranges
| source1_coordinates = {{coord|57|07|42|N|130|56|12|W|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation = {{convert|1022|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth = Stikine River
| mouth_location =
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|57|53|25|N|131|12|29|W|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation = {{convert|170|m|abbr=on}}
| progression =
| river_system =
| basin_size = {{convert|2330|km2|abbr=on}}
| tributaries_left = Schaft Creek, Tudadela Creek
| tributaries_right = Crayke Creek, Dagaichess Creek, Elwyn Creek, Kitsu Creek, Raspberry Creek, Tadekho Creek, Taweh Creek
| custom_label = Topo map
| custom_data = NTS {{Canada NTS Map Sheet|104|G|15}}
NTS {{Canada NTS Map Sheet|104|G|14}}
NTS {{Canada NTS Map Sheet|104|G|7}}
| extra =
}}
Mess Creek, formerly known as Mestua, is a tributary of the Stikine River in northwestern British Columbia, Canada.{{BCGNIS|22550|Mess Creek|access-date=2023-09-26}} It flows north and northwest for about {{convert|110|km|abbr=on}}, through a lake and a gorge to join the Stikine River, which in turn flows southwest across the Canada–United States border into Alaska where it empties into various straits of the Inside Passage.{{BCGNIS|7821|Stikine River|access-date=2023-09-26}} The northern half of Mess Creek forms a western boundary of Mount Edziza Provincial Park which lies within the traditional territory of the Tahltan people.{{cite map|url=https://volcano.si.edu/maps/GVAlaskaCanada/G910509-006.jpg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502071600/https://volcano.si.edu/maps/GVAlaskaCanada/G910509-006.jpg|title=Telegraph Creek, Cassiar Land District, British Columbia|scale=1:250,000|series=104 G|map=A 502|edition=3|type=Topographic map|publisher=Department of Energy, Mines and Resources|year=1989|language=en,fr|access-date=2021-09-25|archive-date=2021-05-02}}{{cite book|last1=Markey|first1=Sean|last2=Halseth|first2=Greg|last3=Manson|first3=Don|title=Investing in Place: Economic Renewal in Northern British Columbia|publisher=University of British Columbia Press|page=242|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7748-2293-0}}
Mess Creek's watershed covers {{convert|2330|km2|abbr=on}} and its estimated mean annual discharge is {{convert|59.3|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}. The mouth of Mess Creek is located about {{convert|3|km|abbr=on}} southwest of Telegraph Creek, about {{convert|73|km|abbr=on}} west of Iskut and about {{convert|94|km|abbr=on}} southwest of Dease Lake in Cassiar Land District. Mess Creek's watershed's land cover is classified as 38.7% conifer forest, 25% barren, 15.9% shrubland, 10% snow/glacier, 8.3% herbaceous and small amounts of other cover.
Geography
Mess Creek originates from an unnamed lake behind an alluvial fan at {{coord|57|07|42|N|130|56|12|W|display=inline}}. From its source the creek flows about {{convert|45|km|abbr=on}} north into Mess Lake and then continues northwest for another {{convert|63|km|abbr=on}} into the Stikine River. About midway through its course, Mess Creek is bounded on the east by the Mess Creek Escarpment. This is a long, often cliff-like feature forming the western edge of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.{{cite bcgnis|id=22549|name=Mess Lake Escarpment|access-date=2023-09-26}}{{Cite report|last1=Souther|first1=J. G.|author-link1=Jack Souther|title=The Late Cenozoic Mount Edziza Volcanic Complex, British Columbia|work=Geological Survey of Canada|publisher=Canada Communication Group|series=Memoir 420|year=1992|pages=32, 241, 242|isbn=0-660-14407-7|doi=10.4095/133497|doi-access=free}} The final {{convert|12|km|abbr=on}} of Mess Creek flows through a gorge.
Mess Creek contains seven named right tributaries. The first one is Tadekho Creek which flows northwest into Mess Creek just south of Mess Lake.{{cite bcgnis|id=16745|name=Tadekho Creek|access-date=2023-09-26}} Kitsu Creek is the second named right tributary which flows northwest and then north into Mess Creek.{{cite bcgnis|id=4622|name=Kitsu Creek|access-date=2023-09-26}} The third named right tributary is Raspberry Creek which flows northwest into Mess Creek.{{cite bcgnis|id=23314|name=Raspberry Creek|access-date=2023-09-26}} Taweh Creek, the fourth named right tributary, flows northwest into Mess Creek west of Mount Edziza.{{cite bcgnis|id=18502|name=Taweh Creek|access-date=2023-09-26}} The fifth named right tributary, Crayke Creek, flows southwest into Mess Creek off Mount Edziza.{{cite bcgnis|id=4820|name=Crayke Creek|access-date=2023-09-26}} Elwyn Creek is the sixth named right tributary which flows west into Mess Creek.{{cite bcgnis|id=9936|name=Elwyn Creek|access-date=2023-09-26}} The seventh named right tributary is Dagaichess Creek which flows southeast into Mess Creek just south of Telegraph Creek.{{cite bcgnis|id=7546|name=Dagaichess Creek|access-date=2023-09-26}}
Only two left tributaries of Mess Creek are named. The first one is Schaft Creek which flows north into Mess Creek on the west side of Mount Edziza Provincial Park.{{cite bcgnis|id=17243|name=Schaft Creek|access-date=2023-09-26}} The other named left tributary, Tudadela Creek, flows north into Mess Creek.{{cite bcgnis|id=23924|name=Tudadela Creek|access-date=2023-09-26}}
Geology
Mess Creek flows through a long and narrow graben-like depression bounded by steeply-dipping faults that extend to the north. A more than {{Convert|24|km|mi|adj=mid|-long|abbr=on}} fault along the eastern edge of this structure shows signs of having been active contemporaneously with volcanism of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. It has vertically displaced Holocene basalt flows by {{Convert|15|to|20|m|ft|round=10|abbr=on}} and older basalt flows by {{Convert|91|to|122|m|ft|abbr=on}}, such that the western side of the fault has been downthrown. The downthrowing of this fault during the Holocene may have been due to the draining of magma chambers following eruptions at the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.{{cite report|last1=Souther|first1=Jack Gordon|author-link1=Jack Souther|title=Report of Activities, Part A: May to October, 1966|chapter=Cordilleran Volcanic Study, 1966|url=https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/rncan-nrcan/M41-1-4-67-1A-eng.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107151915/https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/rncan-nrcan/M41-1-4-67-1A-eng.pdf|archive-date=2023-01-07|publisher=Geological Survey of Canada|page=91|year=1966|access-date=2023-05-15}}
Two groups of hot springs occur along Mess Creek. The Mess Lake Hot Springs near the southeastern corner of Mess Lake have deposited massive tufa over an area of more than {{Convert|120|ha|abbr=on}}. Discharge at these hot springs may be linked to shallow hydrothermal systems driven by residual magmatic heat as they are adjacent to The Ash Pit, a recently active eruptive centre of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. The Mess Creek Hot Springs {{Convert|7|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of Mess Lake have a recorded temperature of {{Convert|42.5|C|F|abbr=on}} and may be discharging from a deeply circulating hydraulic system along a major fault on the western side of Mess Creek valley.
History
The historic Yukon Telegraph Trail runs along the eastern side of Mess Creek.{{cite book|editor-last1=Mussio|editor-first1=Russell|title=Northern BC Backroad Mapbook|publisher=Mussio Ventures|page=88|year=2018|isbn= 978-1-926806-87-7}} It was built to serve the nearly {{Convert|3000|km|mi|adj=mid|-long|abbr=on}} Yukon Telegraph Line which was constructed by the Dominion Government Telegraph Service between 1897 and 1901 to send messages from Ashcroft, British Columbia in the south to Dawson City, Yukon in the north.{{cite web|url=https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=17944|title=Yukon Telegraph Trail|publisher=Canadian Register of Historic Places|access-date=2023-09-26}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{cite cgndb|id=JBOFG|title=Mess Creek}}