The Ellesmere Island Volcanics are a Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous

The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...

 volcanic group

Volcanic group

A volcanic group is a collection of related volcanoes or volcanic landforms. Note that the term is also used in a different sense when it denotes a suite of associated rock strata largely of volcanic origin; see group for details.-Notable volcanic groups:-See also:*Complex...

 of volcano

Volcano

2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

es and lava

Lava

Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...

 flows in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of northern Ellesmere Island

Ellesmere Island

Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada...

, Nunavut

Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

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Ellesmere Island Volcanics are part of the Arctic Cordillera

Arctic Cordillera

The Arctic Cordillera is a vast, deeply dissected chain of mountain ranges extending along the northeastern flank of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from Ellesmere Island to the northeasternmost part of the Labrador Peninsula in northern Labrador and northern Quebec, Canada...

. This volcanic province is among the northernmost volcanism on Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

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History

Even though these volcanics are about 90 million years old, the volcanoes and cinder

Cinder

A cinder is a pyroclastic material. Cinders are extrusive igneous rocks. Cinders are similar to pumice, which has so many cavities and is such low-density that it can float on water...

 are still discernible. The volcanics of the Maskell Inlet Assemblage are mostly made up of tuff

Tuff

Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...

s, with smaller flows. Compositionally these are mostly andesite

Andesite

Andesite is an extrusive igneous, volcanic rock, of intermediate composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between basalt and dacite. The mineral assemblage is typically dominated by plagioclase plus pyroxene and/or hornblende. Magnetite,...

 or undifferentiated andesite/basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

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The volcanics on Ellesmere Island has been uncertainly associated to both the early volcanic activity of the Iceland hotspot

Iceland hotspot

The Iceland hotspot is a hotspot which is partly responsible for the high volcanic activity which has formed the island of Iceland.-Description:...

 and the Alpha Ridge

Alpha Ridge

The Alpha Ridge is a major volcanic ridge under the Arctic Ocean between the Canada Basin and the Lomonosov Ridge. It was active during the formation of the Amerasian Basin. It was discovered in 1963. The highest elevation is about 2.7 km over the ocean floor. It is 200 to 450 km wide...

. The Ellesmere Island Volcanics are part of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province

High Arctic Large Igneous Province

The High Arctic Large Igneous Province is a major Late Cretaceous large igneous province located in the Arctic. It includes the Ellesmere Island Volcanics, Strand Fiord Formation, Alpha Ridge, Franz Josef Land and Svalbard.-See also:...

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See also

• Volcanism of Canada
• Volcanism of Northern Canada
  Volcanism of Northern Canada
  Volcanism of Northern Canada has led to the formation of hundreds of volcanic areas and extensive lava formations across Northern Canada, indicating volcanism played a major role in shaping its surface...
  
  
• List of volcanoes in Canada
• Strand Fiord Formation
  Strand Fiord Formation
  The Strand Fiord Formation is a Late Cretaceous volcanic component, located on northwestern and west-central Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, Canada. The formation contains flood basalts which are found on western Axel Heiberg Island at Dragon Cliffs tall....
  
  
• Iceland plume
  Iceland plume
  The Iceland Plume is a postulated upwelling of anomalously hot rock in the Earth's mantle beneath Iceland. Its origin is thought to lie deep in the mantle, perhaps at the boundary between the core and the mantle at ca. 2880 km depth. Opinions differ as to whether seismic studies have imaged...