The Stawamus Chief is a granite monolith rising about 700 meters above Howe Sound near Squamish, British Columbia, formed from a body of granodiorite, part of the Coast Mountains Batholith, that intruded and cooled underground roughly 100 million years ago during a long period of volcanic and tectonic activity along the region's ancient continental margin. Its exposed granite face was shaped chiefly by glacial erosion during the last ice age, when thick valley glaciers scoured away overlying and surrounding rock, plucking along natural joints in the granite to leave the steep cliff faces seen today, further refined since by rockfall and exfoliation. Known to the Squamish Nation as Siyam Smanit, the formation is one of the largest exposed granite monoliths in North America and a major destination for rock climbing.
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Source Wikipedia: Stawamus Chief, Wikipedia
Source Wikipedia: Stawamus Chief, Wikipedia
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Source Wikipedia: Stawamus Chief, Wikipedia
Source Wikipedia: Stawamus Chief, Wikipedia
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Section: The park
In 1997, the Stawamus Chief Provincial Park was established by the British Columbia Ministry of the Environment.
Associated With: Granite, Lead paragraph
It is one of the largest granite monoliths in the world.
Associated With: Cretaceous, Article text, age Cretaceous
The Chief is part of a medium-sized pluton of a granitic rock (granodiorite) that was initially formed in the early Cretaceous (approximately 100 million years ago) by the slow cooling and solidification of molten magma deep below the surface of the Earth.
Associated With: Granite, Article text, rock Granite
The Chief is part of a medium-sized pluton of a granitic rock (granodiorite) that was initially formed in the early Cretaceous (approximately 100 million years ago) by the slow cooling and solidification of molten magma deep below the surface of the Earth.
Caused By: Glaciation, Article text, process Glaciation
Once exposed at the surface, the original granodiorite body was shaped by glacial erosion, which is responsible for the tall steep walls that define the Chief, as well as the excavation of Howe Sound, a fjord.
Caused By: Erosion, Article text, process Erosion
Once exposed at the surface, the original granodiorite body was shaped by glacial erosion, which is responsible for the tall steep walls that define the Chief, as well as the excavation of Howe Sound, a fjord.
View the SourceWikidata: Stawamus Chief
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