Elwyn Creek

{{Infobox river | name = Elwyn Creek | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = 14 Mile Creek | name_etymology =  | image = | image_caption = | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = British Columbia | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption = Mouth of Elwyn Creek  | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = [[Canada]] | subdivision_type2 = Province | subdivision_name2 = [[British Columbia]] | subdivision_type3 = District | subdivision_name3 = [[Cassiar Land District]] | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 =  | length = {{convert|25|km|abbr=on}}<ref name="KF">Elevation, length and coordinates derived from [[Google Earth]] and the [https://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/search-place-names/search Canadian Geographical Names Database]</ref> | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location = | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = {{convert|3.34|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name=watertool>{{cite web |url= https://nwwt.bcwatertool.ca |title= Northwest Water Tool |work= BC Water Tool |publisher= GeoBC, Integrated Land Management Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Government of British Columbia |accessdate= 2023-09-26}}</ref> | discharge1_max =  | source1 = [[Mount Edziza]] | source1_location = [[Big Raven Plateau]] | source1_coordinates = {{coord|57|44|42|N|130|41|07|W|display=inline}}<ref name="KF"/> | source1_elevation = {{convert|2030|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="KF"/> | mouth = [[Mess Creek]] | mouth_location = [[Tahltan Highland]] | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|57|47|16|N|130|59|30|W|display=inline,title}}<ref name="KF"/> | mouth_elevation = {{convert|455|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="KF"/> | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = {{convert|173|km2|abbr=on}}<ref name=watertool/> | tributaries_left = [[Kadeya Creek]] | tributaries_right = | custom_label = [[Topographic map|Topo map]] | custom_data = [[National Topographic System|NTS]] {{Canada NTS Map Sheet|104|G|15}} | extra = }}

'''Elwyn Creek''' is a [[tributary]] of [[Mess Creek]], which in turn is a tributary of the [[Stikine River]] in northwest part of the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|province]] of [[British Columbia]], Canada.<ref name="bcgnis">{{BCGNIS|9936|Elwyn Creek|access-date=2023-09-30}}</ref><ref>{{BCGNIS|22550|Mess Creek|access-date=2023-09-30}}</ref> It flows generally west for about {{convert|25|km|mi|abbr=on}} to join Mess Creek about {{convert|10|km|mi|abbr=on}} north of Mess Creek's confluence with [[Taweh Creek]].<ref name="KF"/><ref name="bcgnis"/> Elwyn Creek's [[drainage basin|watershed]] covers {{convert|173|km2|abbr=on}} and its mean annual [[Discharge (hydrology)|discharge]] is estimated at {{convert|3.34|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}.<ref name=watertool/> The mouth of Elwyn Creek is located about {{convert|16|km|abbr=on}} southeast of [[Telegraph Creek]], about {{convert|60|km|abbr=on}} west-southwest of [[Iskut]] and about {{convert|93|km|abbr=on}} southwest of [[Dease Lake]].<ref name="KF"/> Elwyn Creek's watershed's [[land cover]] is classified as 37.9% [[shrubland]], 30.3% [[Conifer|conifer forest]], 15.2% [[Barren vegetation|barren]], 7.6% snow/glacier, 7.1% [[Herbaceous plant|herbaceous]], and small amounts of other cover.<ref name=watertool/>

Elwyn Creek is in [[Mount Edziza Provincial Park]] which lies within the traditional territory of the [[Tahltan]] people.<ref name="HR">{{cite map|url=https://volcano.si.edu/maps/GVAlaskaCanada/G910509-006.jpg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502071600/https://volcano.si.edu/maps/GVAlaskaCanada/G910509-006.jpg|title=Telegraph Creek, Cassiar Land District, British Columbia|scale=1:250,000|series=104 G|map=A 502|edition=3|type=Topographic map|publisher=[[Department of Energy, Mines and Resources]]|year=1989|language=en,fr|access-date=2021-09-25|archive-date=2021-05-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Markey|first1=Sean|last2=Halseth|first2=Greg|last3=Manson|first3=Don|title=Investing in Place: Economic Renewal in Northern British Columbia|publisher=[[University of British Columbia Press]]|page=242|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7748-2293-0}}</ref>

==Geography== Elwyn Creek originates in the middle of the [[Big Raven Plateau]].<ref name="HR"/> From its source on the northwestern slope of [[Mount Edziza]], Elwyn Creek flows about {{convert|4|km|mi|abbr=on}} northwest past [[Tsekone Ridge]] and [[Pillow Ridge]] to the head of a vegetated canyon. It then continues to flow northwest through the canyon for about {{convert|5|km|mi|abbr=on}} before flowing west inside the canyon for an additional {{convert|12|km|mi|abbr=on}} to empty into Mess Creek.<ref name="KF"/><ref name="HR"/><ref name="cgndb">{{cite cgndb|id=JARQK|title=Elwyn Creek|access-date=2023-09-30}}</ref>

Elwyn Creek's only named tributary, [[Kadeya Creek]], is about {{convert|10|km|mi|abbr=on}} east of Elwyn Creek's confluence with Mess Creek.<ref name="KF"/><ref name="cgndb"/> It is about {{convert|14|km|mi|abbr=on}} long and flows northwest into Elwyn Creek from near the western side of Mount Edziza.<ref name="KF"/><ref>{{BCGNIS|12141|Kadeya Creek|access-date=2023-09-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite cgndb|id=JAVRA|title=Kadeya Creek|access-date=2023-09-30}}</ref>

==Geology== Elwyn Creek contains a group of [[hot spring]]s between elevations of {{convert|1350|and|1440|m|ft|abbr=on}} called the Elwyn Hot Springs. They occur near the base of the [[Mount Edziza volcanic complex]] where [[basalt]] of the [[Nido Formation]] overlies [[Tertiary period|Tertiary]] [[leucogranite]]. Thick deposits of [[tufa]] formed by the precipitation of [[calcite]] and [[aragonite]] occur at the Elwyn Hot Springs. In 1983, the springs had a maximum temperature of {{Convert|36|C|F|abbr=on}}. Their existence may be linked to a shallow [[hydrothermal]] system driven by residual [[magma]]tic heat from the recently active [[Desolation Lava Field]] about {{convert|6|km|mi|abbr=on}} to the east.<ref name="Souther">{{cite report|last1=Souther|first1=J. G.|author-link1=Jack Souther|title=The Late Cenozoic Mount Edziza Volcanic Complex, British Columbia|work=[[Geological Survey of Canada]]|publisher=Canada Communication Group|series=Memoir 420|year=1992|pages=43, 241|isbn=0-660-14407-7|doi=10.4095/133497|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Elwyn Creek is the namesake of the Elwyn Creek Pluton. This is a body of [[intrusive rock]] at least {{convert|5|km|mi|abbr=on}} wide exposed in Elwyn Creek canyon. The main intrusive rock comprising the Elwyn Creek Pluton is fine grained, slightly [[porphyritic]] leucogranite containing [[phenocryst]]s of sodic [[plagioclase]]. It is of [[Eocene]] age, having yielded a [[K–Ar dating|K–Ar date]] of 53.1 ± 2.4 million years. This suggests that the Elwyn Creek Pluton was formed by one of the youngest known igneous events in the Elwyn Creek area prior to the onset of [[volcanism of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex]] in the [[Late Miocene]].<ref name="Souther"/>

==History== The historic [[Yukon Telegraph Trail]] crosses Elwyn Creek in Mess Creek valley.<ref name="Mussio">{{cite book|editor-last1=Mussio|editor-first1=Russell|title=Northern BC Backroad Mapbook|publisher=Mussio Ventures|page=88|year=2018|isbn= 978-1-926806-87-7}}</ref> It was built to serve the nearly {{Convert|3000|km|mi|adj=mid|-long|abbr=on}} Yukon Telegraph Line which was constructed by the Dominion Government Telegraph Service between 1897 and 1901 to send messages from [[Ashcroft, British Columbia]] in the south to [[Dawson City]], [[Yukon]] in the north.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=17944|title=Yukon Telegraph Trail|publisher=[[Canadian Register of Historic Places]]|access-date=2023-09-26}}</ref> The telegraph trail crosses other tributaries along the eastern side of Mess Creek, including [[Crayke Creek]] about {{convert|6|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of Elwyn Creek.<ref name="KF"/><ref name="Mussio"/>

Elwyn Creek was formerly called 14 Mile Creek which appeared on a BC Lands map published in 1929. Its current name was suggested by the BC Geographic Division to avoid duplication; it first appeared on maps in 1945. Elwyn Creek is named after [[Thomas Elwyn]], a government agent who accompanied a [[Western Union Telegraph]] expedition in 1866.<ref name="bcgnis"/>

==See also== *[[List of rivers of British Columbia]]

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Cassiar Land District]] [[Category:Rivers of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex]] [[Category:Mount Edziza Provincial Park]] [[Category:Tributaries of Mess Creek]] [[Category:Stikine Country]] [[Category:Tahltan]] [[Category:Mount Edziza]]