Raspberry Formation

{{Short description|Geological formation in British Columbia}}

{{Infobox Rockunit

| name = Raspberry Formation

| image = File:Raspberry Formation.png

| caption = Paleogeological map of the Raspberry Formation at the end of the Raspberry eruptive period

| type = Geological formation{{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=3, 32, 47, 61, 249, 267|isbn=0-660-14407-7|doi=10.4095/133497|doi-access=free}}

| age = {{Fossil range|11.4|5.5}}

| period = Miocene

| prilithology = Alkali basalt, hawaiite

| otherlithology =

| namedfor = Raspberry Pass

| namedby = Souther et al., 1984{{cite web|url=https://weblex.canada.ca/html/012000/GSCC00053012505.html|title=Raspberry Formation|work=Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units|publisher=Government of Canada|access-date=2023-08-04}}

| year_ts = 1894

| region = British Columbia

| country = Canada

| coordinates = {{coord|57.5|N|130.6|W|display=inline,title}}{{cite thesis|last1=Edwards|first1=Benjamin Ralph|degree=PhD|title=Field, kinetic, and thermodynamic studies of magmatic assimilation in the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province, northwestern British Columbia|publisher=University of British Columbia|year=1997|page=10|isbn=0-612-25005-9}}

| unitof = Mount Edziza volcanic complex

| subunits =

| underlies = Little Iskut Formation
Armadillo Formation

| overlies = Stikinia

| thickness =

| extent =

| area =

| map =

| map_caption =

}}

The Raspberry Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Miocene age in northwestern British Columbia, Canada.

Name

The Raspberry Formation takes its name from Raspberry Pass, a mountain pass cutting through the central portion of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.{{cite bcgnis|id=23319|name=Raspberry Pass|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019052118/https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/23319.html|archive-date=2021-10-19|access-date=2023-04-17}}

Geology

The Raspberry Formation has a volume of {{Convert|119|km3|mi3|abbr=on}}, making it the third most voluminous geological formation comprising the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. It varies in elevation from less than {{Convert|1310|m|ft|abbr=on}} along the Mess Creek Escarpment to {{Convert|1740|m|ft|abbr=on}} near Armadillo Peak.

The Raspberry Formation is overlain conformably by the Little Iskut Formation. An erosion surface separates the Raspberry Formation from the overlying Armadillo Formation and younger geological formations. Rocks of the Stikinia terrane underlie the Raspberry Formation.

The Raspberry Formation consists of flat-lying alkali basalt and hawaiite flows. These flows are rusty brown and are interbedded with reddish-brown to yellow or orange scoria. The Raspberry Formation represents three overlapping Miocene shield volcanoes.

K–Ar dating has yielded ages of 11.4 ± 1.5 million years, 8.4 ± 0.4 million years and 6.4 ± 0.3 million years for Raspberry hawaiite and 6.1 ± 0.4 million years and 5.5 ± 0.1 million years for Raspberry alkali basalt.

See also

References