Mount Wrangell

---

title: "Mount Wrangell" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["wrangell-mountains", "landforms-of-copper-river-census-area,-alaska", "shield-volcanoes-of-the-united-states", "active-volcanoes", "pleistocene-shield-volcanoes", "volcanoes-of-alaska", "wrangell–st.-elias-national-park-and-preserve", "four-thousanders-of-the-united-states", "mountains-of-unorganized-borough,-alaska", "volcanoes-of-unorganized-borough,-alaska", "cinder-cones-of-the-united-states", "polygenetic-shield-volcanoes", "pleistocene-alaska", "quaternary-alaska"] description: "Active volcanic mountain in America, United States" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Wrangell" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Active volcanic mountain in America, United States ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]

Field	Value
name	Mount Wrangell
photo	Mount Wrangell.jpg
photo_caption	Mount Wrangell seen from the west
elevation_system	NAVD88
elevation_ft	14,163
elevation_ref
prominence_ft	5613
prominence_ref
isolation	14.79 mi (23.8 km)
isolation_ref
range	Wrangell Mountains
listing	{{unbulleted list
location	Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska, U.S.
map	USA Alaska
map_caption	Location in Alaska
mapframe	yes
mapframe-zoom	8
mapframe-caption	Interactive map of Mount Wrangell
coordinates
coordinates_ref
topo	USGS Gulkana A-1
type	Shield volcano
age	Pleistocene
volcanic_field	Wrangell Volcanic Field
last_eruption	March–April 1930
::

| name = Mount Wrangell | photo = Mount Wrangell.jpg | photo_caption = Mount Wrangell seen from the west | elevation_system = NAVD88 | elevation_ft = 14,163 | elevation_ref = | prominence_ft = 5613 | prominence_ref = | isolation = 14.79 mi (23.8 km) | isolation_ref = | range = Wrangell Mountains | range_coordinates = | parent_peak = | listing = {{unbulleted list |North America highest peak 50th |US highest major peaks 36th |US most prominent peaks 84th |Alaska highest major peaks 13th | location = Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska, U.S. | map = USA Alaska | map_caption = Location in Alaska | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 8 | mapframe-caption = Interactive map of Mount Wrangell | coordinates = | coordinates_ref= | topo = USGS Gulkana A-1 | type = Shield volcano | age = Pleistocene | volcanic_field = Wrangell Volcanic Field | last_eruption = March–April 1930 | first_ascent = | easiest_route = Mount Wrangell, (Ahtna: K’ełt’aeni, or K’ełedi when erupting) is a massive shield volcano located in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in southeastern Alaska, United States. The shield rises over 12000 ft above the Copper River to its southwest. Its volume is over 220 cumi, making it more than twice as massive as Mount Shasta in California, the largest stratovolcano by volume in the Cascades. It is part of the Wrangell Mountains as well as the Wrangell Volcanic Field, which extends for more than 250 km across Southcentral Alaska into the Yukon Territory in Canada, and has an eruptive history spanning the time from Pleistocene to Holocene.

Description

Modern Mount Wrangell, built upon the remnants of a mid-Pleistocene volcano, has an eruptive history spanning from 750,000 years ago to minor phreatic eruptions in 1884. The shield volcano features an ice-filled caldera 2.5 by in diameter at the top of Wrangell's broad summit. The caldera was apparently formed by subsidence rather than large explosive eruptions. The caldera is in turn rimmed by three small craters, which often display fumarolic activity with steam plumes that can sometimes be seen from a distance. The main summit is on the north side of the caldera, while the west summit rises to 14013 ft. The summit region above 13000 ft in elevation is over 2 by in size. A very large cinder cone, 13009 ft Mount Zanetti, rises nearly 1000 ft above the northwest flank of Wrangell and is the source of some lava flows.

Mount Wrangell is almost entirely covered by an icefield that persists from year to year. The largest glacier on Wrangell is Nabesna Glacier, the source of the Nabesna River. and Copper Glacier.

Wrangell was the first high volcano in the Wrangell range to be climbed. Its summit can be visited by ski-equipped airplane.

Naming

Mount Wrangell [rang-guhl] was named after Russian Admiral Ferdinand von Wrangel (or Wrangell), governor of Russian America from 1830 to 1836. The Ahtna people call it K'elt'aeni, "the one who controls the weather," with the alternate name Uk'eledi, "the one with smoke on it" when it is active. On some pre-1900 maps Wrangell was labeled as Mount Tillman.

Volcanic activity

Wrangell is the only volcano in the Wrangell Volcanic Field to have had historically recorded eruptions, generally in the form of small steam and ash explosions. Reports of activity have been recorded in 1784 and 1884–85. The 1784 eruption and another stated to have occurred in 1760 are disputed. The 1884-85 eruption was reported by local prospector Jon Bremner. An 1890 report mention a visible glow. Wrangell also occasionally emits ash, which can be seen coating the summit snow. The bulk of the mountain was built by large lava flows from 600,000 to 200,000 years ago. The summit caldera is believed to have collapsed within the last 200,000 years, and may have collapsed 50,000 years ago. Mount Zanetti is about 25,000 years old.

The amount of geothermal heat being emitted by Wrangell increased from the 1950s to the 1980s, raising the possibility of a future eruption. The heat flux was high enough to melt ice around the craters and create ice caves and small lakes in the north crater, with about 100 million cubic meters of ice melted by 1986. Since then heat output has decreased and ice has reaccumulated.

Gallery

File:WrangellZanettiWillowLake.jpg|Mount Wrangell and Mount Zanetti from Willow Lake at 1600 ft (500m). Although Mount Wrangell rises over 12,000 ft (3700 m) above this viewpoint, its great height is masked by the extreme width of its shield-like form. File:Mount Wrangell as seen from Chitina Airport.jpg|Mount Wrangell as seen from Chitina Airport File:Mount Wrangell topo.jpg|Topographic map of Mount Wrangell showing the summit caldera File:Mount Wrangell 1902.jpg|alt=Black and white photograph of Mount Wrangell showing a plume rising above the mountain peak and dark material coating the slopes.|A plume and ash-covered snow at Mount Wrangell were photographed by United States Geological Survey scientist W.C. Mendenhall in 1902.

References

--

Bibliography

• {{cite book | author1-last = Richter | author1-first = Donald H. |author2-last=Rosenkrans | author2-first = Danny S. |author3-last=Steigerwald | author3-first = Margaret J. | title = Guide to the Volcanoes of the Western Wrangell Mountains, Alaska | publisher = USGS Bulletin 2072 | year = 1995 | url = https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/b2072 | access-date = 2018-01-13 }}
• {{cite book | last = Winkler | first = Gary R. | title = A Geologic Guide to Wrangell—Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska: A Tectonic Collage of Northbound Terranes | publisher = USGS Professional Paper 1616 | year = 2000 | isbn = 0-607-92676-7 | url = https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1616/ }}
• {{cite book | last = Richter | first = Donald H. |author2=Cindi C. Preller |author3=Keith A. Labay |author4=Nora B. Shew | title = Geologic Map of the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska | publisher = USGS Scientific Investigations Map 2877 | year = 2006 | url = https://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/2006/2877/ }}
• {{cite book | editor1 = Wood, Charles A. | editor2 = Jürgen Kienle | title = Volcanoes of North America | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1990 | isbn = 0-521-43811-X }}

References

1. "Mount Wrangell, Alaska".
2. [https://avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/activity.php?volcname=Wrangell&eruptionid=446 Alaska Volcano Observatory, Mount Wrangell activity - 1930, Motyka, 1983], Retrieved Dec. 8. 2021.
3. "Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains in Ahtna Country".
4. Volcanoes of North America, Wood and Kienle
5. Richter ''et al'', pp. 11–13
6. "Topographic map of Mount Wrangell". U.S. Geological Survey.
7. "Wrangell reported activity: 1760 reported observed". U.S. Geological Survey.
8. "Wrangell reported activity: 1884 reported observed". U.S. Geological Survey.
9. "Wrangell reported activity: 1900 reported observed". U.S. Geological Survey.
10. "Wrangell". National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::