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Mount Meager: Canada’s Most Dangerous Volcano? Cascadia, Landslides, and Hidden Risk

Season 2 Episode 9 · Whimsical Wavelengths

Episode overview

In this episode of Whimsical Wavelengths, geophysicist Jeffrey Zurek is joined by his former PhD supervisor, mentor, and longtime collaborator Dr. Glynn Williams-Jones, Professor of Earth Sciences at Simon Fraser University, for an in-depth discussion of Mount Meager, one of Canada’s most misunderstood — and potentially hazardous — volcanoes.

Mount Meager sits roughly 150 kilometres northwest of Vancouver, within the Canadian portion of the Cascade Volcanic Arc. While volcanic risk is often framed as a concern of the western United States, subduction zones do not stop at political borders. The same tectonic processes responsible for Mount St. Helens and Mount Baker continue north into British Columbia, where Mount Meager remains active beneath ice, rock, and relative public obscurity.

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What we discuss in this episode

  • Why Mount Meager is classified as a Cascade volcano

  • The 2,400-year-old explosive eruption and its similarities to Mount St. Helens (1980)

  • How pyroclastic density currents dammed the Lillooet River

  • Formation and catastrophic failure of a welded volcanic dam

  • Evidence preserved in block-and-ash flow deposits and cooling joints

  • The role of glaciers in shaping volcanic deposits

  • Canada’s largest recorded landslide (2010) at Mount Meager

  • Why landslides may pose a greater near-term hazard than eruptions

  • Current monitoring limitations and what data we are missing

  • How scientists model future eruption and landslide scenarios

What is Mount Meager, really?

Mount Meager is not a single volcano but a volcanic complex composed of overlapping volcanic centers built over roughly the last two million years. It lies within the Cascade Volcanic Arc, formed by subduction of oceanic crust beneath North America.

Unlike more familiar Cascade volcanoes such as Mount St. Helens or Mount Baker, Mount Meager is remote, poorly monitored, and largely absent from public awareness. Despite this, it has produced explosive eruptions, lava domes, pyroclastic flows, and large-scale landslides—making it one of the most geologically hazardous volcanoes in Canada.

Key questions explored

  • Why don’t we talk about Canadian volcanoes?

  • What makes Mount Meager especially dangerous compared to other Canadian volcanoes?

  • How do volcanologists reconstruct eruptions that happened thousands of years ago?

  • What is a block-and-ash flow, and why is it so destructive?

  • How can volcanic eruptions trigger catastrophic floods without lava reaching communities?

  • Is Mount Meager more likely to erupt—or collapse—in the near future?

  • What does effective volcano monitoring actually require?

Episode format

This is a long-form expert interview combining:

  • Geological storytelling

  • Field-based observations

  • Hazard assessment

  • Volcanology fundamentals explained for non-specialists

The episode balances technical accuracy with accessible explanations, using real examples from Canadian field sites and comparative analogs like Mount St. Helens.

Episode details

  • Season: 2

  • Episode: 2

  • Topic: Volcanology, natural hazards, Canadian geology

  • Guest: Dr. Glynn Williams-Jones

  • Location discussed: Mount Meager volcanic complex, British Columbia

  • Related episode: Season 2, Episode 1 (Cascade volcanism and basaltic Plinian eruptions)

Enjoyed this episode?

If you enjoyed this deep dive into Canadian volcanology, consider exploring other Whimsical Wavelengths episodes on volcanoes, natural hazards, and the science behind how we understand Earth’s most dynamic systems.