earth science

Miles Canyon Basalts

Miles Canyon Basalts is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Miles Canyon Basalts rather than just read about it. In short: The Miles Canyon Basalts represent a package of rocks that include various exposures of basaltic lava flows and cones that erupted and flowed across an ancient pre-glacial landscape in south-central Yukon. The volcanic rocks are best exposed and most easily accessible at the Miles Canyon location where the Yukon River cuts through a succession of flows south of Whitehorse.

Key takeaways

Miles Canyon Basalts belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Miles Canyon Basalts to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Miles Canyon Basalts from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Miles Canyon Basalts represent a package of rocks that include various exposures of basaltic lava flows and cones that erupted and flowed across an ancient pre-glacial landscape in south-central Yukon. The volcanic rocks are best exposed and most easily accessible at the Miles Canyon location where the Yukon River cuts through a succession of flows south of Whitehorse. In the spring, good exposures can also be seen immediately downstream from the Yukon River hydro dam in Whitehorse which was built to extract energy from the cataracts that were the White Horse Rapids. These rapids and the Miles Canyon provided a significant challenge to gold-seekers heading to the Klondike Gold Rush, and also established the upstream terminus for paddle-wheel river boats. Thus, the Miles Canyon Basalts are the reason for the establishment of the townsite of Closeleigh, eventually the City of Whitehorse. The lava flows and cinder cones in the Alligator Lake volcanic complex southwest of Whitehorse are the greatest accumulation of these rocks. The Miles Canyon Basalts were thought to be Pleistocene age. However, geological investigations supported by geochronological analyses indicate that these rocks are much older. The 'type' Miles Canyon flows along the Yukon River are ~8.4 million years old (Miocene) and the Alligator Lake flows are ~3.2 million years old (Pliocene). The Alligator Lake cones may be younger but have been affected by glaciation so are not entirely post-glacial in age.

See also Volcanism in Canada List of volcanoes in Canada

References

"Alligator Lake". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Pearson, F.K., Hart, C.J.R., Powers, M., Distribution of Miles Canyon basalt in the Whitehorse area and implications for groundwater resources. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 2000, D.S. Emond and L.H. Weston (eds.), Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, p. 235-245. http://emrlibrary.gov.yk.ca/ygs/yeg/2000/2000_p235-246.pdf Hart, Craig JR; Villeneuve, Mike (September 1999). "Geochronology of Neogene alkaline volcanic rocks (Miles Canyon basalt), southern Yukon Territory, Canada: the relative effectiveness of laser 40Ar/39Ar and K-Ar geochronology". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 36 (9): 1495–1507. doi:10.1139/e99-049. ISSN 0008-4077.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Miles Canyon Basalts

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Miles Canyon Basalts claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Miles Canyon Basalts before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Miles Canyon Basalts ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Miles Canyon Basalts

In research: Miles Canyon Basalts appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Miles Canyon Basalts in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Miles Canyon Basalts is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lava flows, Miocene Yukon, Miocene volcanism, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Miles Canyon Basalts outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Miles Canyon Basalts in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Miles Canyon Basalts means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Miles Canyon Basalts out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Miles Canyon Basalts in simple terms?

Why does Miles Canyon Basalts matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Miles Canyon Basalts?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Miles Canyon Basalts.