Saint Elias Mountains

The Saint Elias Mountains form the highest coastal mountain range on Earth. It formed due to the subduction of the Yakutat microplate underneath the North American Plate. The Yakutat microplate is a wedge shaped oceanic plateau with a thickness of {{convert|20|to|30|km|mi|0}}.{{cite journal|last1=Christeson|first1=G.L.|last2=Gulick|first2=S.P.|last3=van Avendonk|first3=H.J.|last4=Worthington|first4=L.L.|last5=Reece|first5=R.S.|last6=Pavlis|first6=T.L.|title=The Yakutat terrane: Dramatic change in crustal thickness across the Transition fault, Alaska|journal=Geology|date=2010|volume=38|issue=10|pages=895–898|doi=10.1130/G31170.1|bibcode=2010Geo....38..895C }} Similar to the adjacent Pacific Plate, which has a crustal thickness of {{convert|7|km|mi|1}}, the Yakutat plate is moving northwestward at a rate of {{convert|50|mm|in|0}} per year with respect to North America.{{cite journal|last1=Elliott|first1=J.L.|last2=Larsen|first2=C.F.|last3=Freymueller|first3=J.T.|last4=Motyka|first4=R.J.|title=Tectonic block motion and glacial isostatic adjustment in southeast Alaska and adjacent Canada constrained by GPS measurements|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research|date=2010|volume=115|issue=B9 |page=B09407|doi=10.1029/2009JB007139|doi-access=free|bibcode=2010JGRB..115.9407E }} The Yakutat plate is transported northwards along the active Fairweather Fault, which probably started more than 35 million years ago. Due to its thickness, the Yakutat plate is buoyant, resulting in surface uplift of the overriding North American plate, which formed the Talkeetna Mountains and the Alaska Range in Southcentral Alaska, located above the subducted part of the Yakutat plate.{{cite journal|last1=Finzel|first1=E.S.|last2=Trop|first2=J.M.|last3=Ridgway|first3=K.D.|last4=Enkelmann|first4=E.|title=Upper plate proxies for flat-slab subduction processes in southern Alaska|journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters|date=2011|volume=303|issue=3–4|pages=348–360|doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2011.01.014|bibcode=2011E&PSL.303..348F }}

File:Yakutat Icefield.jpg – an expanse of ice in southeast Alaska – in 2018.]]

The Saint Elias Mountains formed at the plate boundary between the Yakutat and North American plates. The up-to-{{convert|12|km|mi|1|adj=on}}-thick sediments that have been deposited on top of the Yakutat plate became imbricated and deformed as they were scraped off and compose today the southern (coastal) flanks of the St. Elias Mountains. In contrast the high elevated regions of the drainage divide (Bagley Icefield, Seward Glacier) and north of it are composed of rocks that are part of the North American plate.{{cite book|editor-last1=Plafker|editor-first1=G.|editor-link=George Plafker|editor-last2=Berg|editor-first2=H.C.|title=The Geology of Alaska|date=1994|publisher=Geological Society of America|location=Boulder|pages=389–449|url=https://dggs.alaska.gov/pubs/id/22261|access-date=2023-11-05}}

The highest peaks of the St. Elias Mountains are located in the high ice field region of the Kluane National Park (Mount Logan, Mount Vancouver) and north of the Malaspina Glacier (Mount Saint Elias, Mount Cook), in the region known as the St. Elias syntaxis. At the syntaxis region the tectonic style changes from strike-slip motion along the Fairweather Fault to collision west of Malaspina Strait. This tectonic transition concentrates stress in the crust at the syntaxis that together with efficient glacial erosion results in positive feedback processes that through time forms extreme high mountain peaks and local relief, and rapid exhumation of rocks from up to {{cvt|10|km|mi}} depths to the surface.{{cite journal|last1=Enkelmann|first1=E.|last2=Zeitler|first2=P.K.|last3=Pavlis|first3=T.L.|last4=Garver|first4=J.I.|last5=Ridgway|first5=K.D.|title=Intense localized rock uplift and erosion in the St. Elias orogen of Alaska|journal=Nature Geoscience|date=2009|volume=2|issue=5|pages=360–363|doi=10.1038/NGEO502|bibcode=2009NatGe...2..360E |citeseerx=10.1.1.210.7143}}

The mountains are divided by the Duke Depression, with the shorter, more rounded Kluane Ranges to the east, and the higher Icefield Ranges to the west. Sub-ranges of the Saint Elias include the Alsek Ranges, the Fairweather Range, and the Centennial Range.{{cite web|title=Saint Elias Mountains|url=http://bivouac.com//ArxPg.asp?ArxId=1364|publisher=Bivouac.com|access-date=2013-03-15}}

The highest mountains of the range include:

{{#invoke:Mountains Prism|list|m|rank,name:Mountain,elev:Height,custom1:Location,custom2:Notes,tcoords

|5959^Mount Logan^Yukon^Highest mountain in Canada

|5489^Mount Saint Elias^Alaska-Yukon^Second highest in both Canada and the United States

|5240^Mount Lucania^Yukon^#3 in Canada

|5173^King Peak^Yukon^#4 in Canada

|5073^Mount Steele^Yukon^#5 in Canada

|5040^Mount Bona^Alaska^#5 in the United States

|4850^Mount Wood^Yukon^#7 in Canada

|4812^Mount Vancouver^Yukon^#15 in North America

|4766^Mount Churchill^Alaska^4th highest volcano in the United States

|4700^Mount Macaulay^Yukon^Connected to SW ridge of Mt. Wood

|4671^Mount Fairweather^Alaska-B.C.^#1 in British ColumbiaMount Fairweather is only partly in British Columbia. The highest peak entirely within British Columbia is Mount Waddington in the Coast Range, 4019 m (13186 ft).

|4557^Mount Hubbard^Alaska-Yukon^#8 in United States, #12 in Canada

|4520^Mount Bear^Alaska^#18 in United States

|4507^Mount Walsh^Yukon

|4420^Mount Alverstone^Alaska-Yukon

|4410^University Peak^Alaska

|4344^McArthur Peak^Yukon

|4289^Mount Augusta^Alaska-Yukon

|4250^Mount Kennedy^Yukon^Elevation is estimated {{cvt|4250|to|4300|m}}.

|4196^Mount Cook^Alaska-Yukon

}}

{{GeoGroup|section=Highest mountains}}

{{Wide image|File:Malaspina-panorama-no-type.jpg|1000px|3D rendered panorama of the Saint Elias Mountains and Malaspina Glacier}}

{{Reflist}}

;Sources

{{Commons category}}

• {{cite book

| last1 = Richter | first1 = Donald H. | last2 = Preller | first2 = Cindi C.

| last3 = Labay | first3 = Keith A. | last4 = Shew | first4 = Nora B.

| title = Geologic Map of the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska

| publisher = USGS Scientific Investigations Map 2877 | year = 2006

| url = http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/2006/2877/ }}

• {{cite book

| last = Winkler | first = Gary R.

| title = A Geologic Guide to Wrangell—Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska: A Tectonic Collage of Northbound Terranes

| publisher = USGS Professional Paper 1616 | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-0-607-92676-7 | url = http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1616/ }}

• {{cite book

| editor-last1 = Wood | editor-first1 = Charles A. | editor-last2= Kienle | editor-first2 = Jürgen

| title = Volcanoes of North America | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1990 | isbn = 978-0-521-43811-7 }}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Landforms of Chugach Census Area, Alaska

Category:Landforms of Copper River Census Area, Alaska

Category:Mountains of Unorganized Borough, Alaska

Category:Mountains of Yakutat City and Borough, Alaska

Category:Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve