Watts Point volcanic centre

The Watts Point volcanic centre is a small outcrop of Pleistocene age volcanic rock at Watts Point in British Columbia, Canada, about 10 km south of Squamish and 40 km north of Vancouver, and just north of Britannia Beach. It is the southernmost volcanic zone in the Squamish volcanic field and of the Garibaldi segment of the Cascade Volcanic Arc. The latest research indicates that it is most likely a subglacial mound. It comprises a continuous mass of sparsely porphyritic highly jointed dacitic lava overlying the mid-Cretaceous Coast Plutonic Complex and overlain locally by clay and of glacial till.

The volcanic outcrop at Watts Point extends from below the present sea level up the side of a steep slope over 240 m. The outcrop is less than 1 km long, with an area of about 0.4 km2 and an eruptive volume of roughly 0.02 km3. The location is heavily forested, and the BC Rail mainline passes through the lower portion of the outcrop about 40 m above sea level. Two railroad track ballast quarries, one near the middle and the other near the upper edge, provide the best exposure of the interior of the lava mass. BC Highway 99 climbs over the eastern shoulder of the complex before descending to the area of the Stawamus Chief and Murrin Park, south southeast of Squamish.