Mont Xalibu

Mount Xalibu is a mountain located in the unorganized territory of Mont-Albert, in Quebec. Culminating at 1,120 metres (3,670 ft) above sea level, it is one of the highest peaks in the Notre Dame Mountains. It is located in Gaspésie National Park.

Mont Xalibu
View of Mount Xalibu from Mount Joseph-Fortin.
Highest point
Elevation1,120 m (3,670 ft) [1]
Parent peakMonts McGerrigle (Chic-Choc Mountains, Notre Dame Mountains, Appalaches)
Coordinates48°57′49″N 66°00′49″W 
Geography
CountryCanada
ProvinceQuebec
Administrative regionGaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Geology
Age of rockAbout 400 million years (13,000 Ts)[2]
Mountain typeCirque glaciaire
Type of rockSkarn, cornéenne[2]

Toponymy

The mountain, without official designation until 2 February 1989, was given the Mi'gmaq name of an animal that inhabits its flanks, the woodland caribou.[1]

Geography

Situation

Mount Xalibu is located in eastern Canada, in the province of Quebec, on the northern flank of the Gaspé Peninsula. It is 40 kilometres (25 mi) southeast of the town of Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, capital of La Haute-Gaspésie Regional County Municipality, and 450 kilometres (280 mi) northeast of Quebec, provincial capital. The summit rises to 1,120 metres (3,670 ft) of altitude in the McGerrigle Mountains, within the Chic-Choc Mountains of the Notre-Dame range.

Topography

Mount Xalibu is part of the McGerrigle Mountains, formerly called Tabletop (“table top”) because of their constitution in plateaus which surmount steep rock faces.[3]

Geology

About 400 million years ago, during the Devonian, a intrusion granite was inserted into the rocks sedimentary Paleozoic that form the current Gaspé Peninsula. The summit of Xalibu develops around this batholith. The southern flank of the mountain constitutes one of the walls of the glacial cirque of "Lac aux Américains".[4]

Climate

There is no station providing continuous climate data at the top of Mount Xalibu; a nearby station makes it possible to establish climatic normals.

Episodes of rain, melting conditions, the formation of ice shells and numerous snowstorms during the winter combine the conditions conducive to the formation of avalanches, common on the walls of the mountain.[5]

The prevailing winds are from the west. At 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) west of Xalibu, on Mount Albert.,[Note 1] winds average at 24 kilometres per hour (15 mph). Gusts of 250 kilometres per hour (160 mph) have already been recorded there.[6]

Fauna and flora

The mountain is populated by the last herd of caribou south of the St. Lawrence River.

Activities

Winter

In order to promote the reproduction of woodland caribou, visiting the mountain in winter is strictly prohibited.

Summer

It is possible to do the ascent of Mount Xalibu when the ground is clear of snow, from the end of June to the end of September, by the International Appalachian Trail from the lake to the Americans, to the west, or from Mont Jacques-Cartier, to the east. In order to shorten the route, it is also possible to take a shuttle from Mont Albert.

Protection status

The mountain is included in Gaspésie National Park, at the limit of Chic-Chocs Wildlife Reserve.

See also

Notes and references
  1. "Mont Xalibu". Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  2. Lachance et al. (2007) dans Bernard Hétu; Antoine Morissette. Les Appalaches de la péninsule gaspésienne - Genèse et évolution d’une double chaîne de montagnes de la mise en place des roches aux paysages actuels (in French). doi:10.13140/2.1.3712.5441.
  3. "Monts McGerrigle". Commission de Toponymie du Québec. Bank of place names in Quebec. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  4. Bernard Hétu; Antoine Morissette (2014). University of Quebec at Rimouski (ed.). Les Appalachians of the Gaspé Peninsula [Genesis and evolution of a double mountain range from the placement of rocks to current landscapes] (in French). Rimouski. doi:10.13140/2.1.3712.5441.
  5. Stéphanie-Carolin Lemieux (2007). Université de Sherbrooke (ed.). Mapping and classification of the terrain with avalanche potential in Chics-Chocs, Quebec, Canada, using a geographic information system. ISBN 978-0-494-49531-5. Retrieved 2020-02-05..
  6. Société des establishments de plein-air du Québec. "Portrait of the park". Sépaq - Parc national de la Gaspésie (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  1. Similar in altitude and latitude to Mount Xalibu.
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