Fore-arc volcanism was active on northern Vancouver Island 8.0 to 2.5 million years ago. This created a line of volcanic rocks and subvolcanic intrusions known as the Alert Bay Volcanic Belt. Named after the village of Alert Bay on Cormorant Island, it extends from the Brooks Peninsula in the southwest to the town of Port McNeill in the northeast. Geometry and chronometry studies indicate that the Alert Bay Belt formed at a descending plate edge. At the time of its formation, the Nootka Fault was probably coincident with the western end of the Alert Bay Belt, which is now to the northeast. Volcanic features in the Alert Bay Belt include Twin Peaks, Cluxewe Mountain and Haddington Island.