Elkhorn Range

The **Elkhorn Range** are a section of the Rocky-Mountains in northwestern-Montana. They appear in the episode "Little Das' Hunt".

## Details

Formerly volcanoes back in the cretaceous, they are dead-volcanoes today. This system of volcano's have been named the Elkhorn Volcanics.

## In *Dinosaur Planet*

The Elkhorn Range were volcanoes bordering the Two Medicine Formation, often providing a fertile land for plants to live, however they were very active too: groundwater was often heated by rising magma and would often burst from the ground or from rocky-cliffs, occasionally killing any creature unlucky enough to get in the way (which happened to be a *Troodon* and several *Quetzalcoatlus*). The frequent seismic-activity also caused volcanic gases,including sulfur dioxide, to bubble in a waterhole where a herd of *Orodromeus* were residing. The volcanic activity was limited to the upland-areas, but were foreshadows of the impending disaster approaching. The only warning the lowland dinosaurs, which were 50 miles away from the volcanoes, got was the ash that was constantly rising from the volcanoes in the distance. While there were multiple volcanoes at once, some were ousted by others: one bigger volcano was linked to a smaller one, and the smaller one died. Some time later the bigger volcano began erupting, creating a large ash cloud which spreads across the landscape by a great diameter, cutting off sunlight while raining volcanic-glass and soot in the process. The lowland animals, and presumably the highland animals, didn't see this as a threat and continued with their daily lives for now, for this was only the beginning. After a while the soot stopped falling but the volcano continued to erupt. When it finally reached its peak, lava started bleeding from side vents and flowed down the mountain. Then explosions of magma started ripping through the crater, creating a lava fountain. This launched marble sized volcanic-cinders into the air which bombarded the highlands, setting off a few wildfires. Then larger explosions launched bigger and deadlier volcanic-boulders, one of which killed a *Troodon* . This did not extend to the lowlands and the dinosaurs didn't see it as a danger, but that wouldn't last for long. The worst came when the eastern-side of the volcano suddenly collapsed from the intense action of the magma and spawned a pyroclastic-flow, a superheated wave of ash, rock, and gas, which rolled over the landscape. It first sweeps over the highlands, destroying the forests and burning a *Troodon* alive. The flow then headed for the lowlands, 50 miles away. The dinosaurs that lived in the lowlands saw this as a threat and began running for their lives. But this wouldn't matter as the flow is way faster and it reaches the lowlands a few seconds later, killing a herd of *Maiasaura* and a family of *Daspletosaurus* (a herd of *Einiosaurus* are also presumably killed off-screen). The eruption was so massive it could be seen from earth's orbit, where it stretched to the Western-Interior-Seaway. 7 millions years later the landscape has recovered and the east part of the volcano is gone due to the collapse.

## Trivia

* In the Palaeontology Segment, the elkhorn-eruption is said to be greater than Mount-Saint-Helens, meaning it would be more equal to Krakatoa or Mount Tambora making it around a 6 or 7 on the volcanic explosivity index.
* This is the largest natural disaster in the documentary.

GalleryThe Elkhorn Range seen in the Highlands.The Elkhorn Range seen from The Lowlands 50 miles away.The small volcano.Ash has started rising from the large volcano.Ash rising from both of the volcanoes."The smaller volcano dies"."The greatest volcano ever to strike the western hemisphere"The beginning of the large eruption.The Two Medicine Formation is darkened by a large cloud of volcanic ash.Volcanic glass and soot falling from the sky.Part of the ash cloud briefly begins to lift.The volcano explodes.The volcano launches cinders.The volcano launches lava bombs.The pyroclastic flow begins.A Troodon looking at his fate.The pyroclastic flow approaches the Lowlands.The pyroclastic flow reaches the Lowlands.The pyroclastic flow sweeps over the Maiasaura herd.The Elkhorn Range 7 million years after the eruption.