Big Raven Plateau

Big Raven Plateau
Volcanic plateau
Satellite image of the Big Raven Plateau
Big Raven Plateau Location in British Columbia
Coordinates: 57°42′49″N 130°45′06″W / 57.71361°N 130.75167°W / 57.71361; -130.75167[1]
Location	Cassiar Land District, British Columbia, Canada[2]
Range	Tahltan Highland[2]
Part of	Mount Edziza complex[3]
Age	7.4 Ma to less than 20 ka[4][5]
Formed by	Volcanic activity[6]
Geology	Trachybasalt, trachyte, hawaiite, tristanite, mugearite, comendite, benmoreite, pantellerite, alkali basalt[5]
Etymology	Big Raven (Tse'sketco)[1][7]
Defining authority	BC Geographical Names office in Victoria, British Columbia[1][8]
Dimensions
• Length	Approximately 35 km (22 mi)[2]
• Width	Approximately 20 km (12 mi)[2]
Elevation	Above 910 m (3,000 ft)[2]
Last eruption	Less than 2,000 years ago[9]
Topo map	NTS 104G10 Mount Edziza[1]
Designation	Mount Edziza Provincial Park[2]
Drained by	Tsecha Creek, Tennaya Creek, Tenchen Creek, Taweh Creek, Sorcery Creek, Shaman Creek, Sezill Creek, Pyramid Creek, Nido Creek, Kadeya Creek, Elwyn Creek, Cook Creek[2][5]
Borders on	Chakima Creek valley (south)[2] Walkout Creek valley (south)[2] Klastline River valley (north)[2] Kakiddi Creek valley (east)[2] Mess Creek valley (west)[2]
Location in Mount Edziza Provincial Park

The Big Raven Plateau is an intermontane plateau in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It lies on the Tahltan Highland and is surrounded by several valleys, including those of Mess Creek, Kakiddi Creek, Chakima Creek, Walkout Creek and the Klastline River. The plateau is drained by many small streams that flow into these neighbouring valleys and, unlike the valleys, it is relatively barren of vegetation. Stream erosion has resulted in the creation of canyons with intervening ridges on the eastern and western sides of the plateau, resulting in the creation of rugged terrain. The plateau is in Mount Edziza Provincial Park which is one of the largest provincial parks in British Columbia. Access to the Big Raven Plateau is mainly by aircraft or by a network of footpaths from surrounding roads.

The Big Raven Plateau is volcanic in origin, consisting mostly of basaltic lava flows of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex that were erupted in the last 7.5 million years. These lava flows are interbedded with rhyolite and trachyte which are in the form of rock fragments produced and ejected by explosive eruptions. The dominant feature on the Big Raven Plateau is Mount Edziza, an ice-covered stratovolcano reaching an elevation of 2,786 metres (9,140 feet). Its composition is more diverse, consisting of alkali basalt, hawaiite, trachybasalt, tristanite, mugearite, benmoreite, trachyte and rhyolite which are in the form of lava flows and rock fragments. The Big Raven Plateau is subdivided into at least 10 geological formations, each being the product of a distinct period of volcanic activity.