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{{other uses|Coast Range (disambiguation)}}
{{Short description|Series of mountain ranges along the Pacific coast of North America}}
{{Infobox mountain
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[[File:Santa monica mountains canyon.jpg|right|thumbnail|Malibu Canyon, Santa Monica Mountains]]
The '''Pacific Coast Ranges''' (officially gazetted as the '''Pacific Mountain System'''<ref>[http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/metadata/usgswrd/XML/physio.xml ''Physiographic regions of the United States'', USGS]</ref> in the [[United States]])<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=V2d12iZkgOwC&pg=PA361 Merriam-Webster's collegiate encyclopedia]'', page 361 (Merriam-Webster, 2000).</ref> are the series of [[mountain range]]s that stretch along the West Coast of [[North America]] from [[Alaska]] south to Northern and Central [[Mexico]]. Although they are commonly thought to be the westernmost mountain range of the continental United States and Canada, the geologically distinct [[Insular Mountains]] of [[Vancouver Island]] lie
The Pacific Coast Ranges are part of the [[North American Cordillera]] (sometimes known as the Western Cordillera, or in [[Canada]], as the Pacific Cordillera and/or the Canadian Cordillera), which includes the [[Rocky Mountains]], the [[Columbia Mountains]], the [[Interior Mountains]], the [[Interior Plateau]], the [[Sierra Nevada
The '''Pacific Coast Ranges''' designation, however, only applies to the Western System of the Western Cordillera,<ref name="S. Holland, 1976">S. Holland, ''Landforms of [[British Columbia]]'', BC Govt. 1976.</ref> which comprises the [[Saint Elias Mountains]], [[Coast Mountains]], [[Insular Mountains]], [[Olympic Mountains]], [[Cascade Range]], [[Oregon Coast Range]], [[California Coast Ranges]], [[Transverse Ranges]], [[Peninsular Ranges]], and the [[Sierra Madre Occidental]].
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On the West coast of North America, the coast ranges and the coastal plain form the margin. Most of the land is made of [[terrane]]s that have been [[Accretion (geology)|accreted]] onto the margin. In the north, the insular belt is an accreted terrane, forming the margin. This belt extends from the [[Wrangellia Terrane]] in Alaska to the Chilliwack group of Canada.<ref name = Townsend2002>{{cite web|title = Northwest Origins|last1 = Townsend|first1 = Catherine|last2 = Figge|first2 = John|publisher = The Burke Museum|date = 2002|url = http://www.burkemuseum.org/static/geo_history_wa/}}</ref>
A rupture in [[Rodinia]] 750 million years ago formed a passive margin in the eastern Pacific Northwest. The breakup of [[Pangea]] 200 million years ago began the westward movement of the North American plate, creating an active margin on the western continent. As the continent drifted West, terranes were accreted onto the west coast.<ref name = Townsend2002/> The timing of the accretion of the insular belt is uncertain, although the closure did not occur until at least 115 million years ago.<ref name = Townsend2002/> Other [[Mesozoic]] terranes that accreted onto the continent include the [[Klamath Mountains]], the Sierra Nevada, and the Guerrero super-terrane of western Mexico.<ref name=Dickinson2004>{{cite journal|title = Evolution of the North American Cordillera|last = Dickinson|first = William|journal = Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences|date = 2004|volume = 32|pages = 13–45|url = http://www.geo.arizona.edu/tectonics/Ducea/teaching/Dickinson2004.pdf|access-date = 9 April 2013|doi = 10.1146/annurev.earth.32.101802.120257|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140104204050/http://www.geo.arizona.edu/tectonics/Ducea/teaching/Dickinson2004.pdf|archive-date = 4 January 2014}}</ref>
Although many of the ranges do share a common geologic history, the Pacific Coast Ranges province is not defined by geology, but rather by geography. Many of the various ranges are composed of distinct forms of rock from many different periods of geological time from the [[Precambrian]] in parts of the [[Little San Bernardino Mountains]] to 10,000-year-old rock in the Cascade Range. For one example, the Peninsular Ranges, composed of Mesozoic batholitic rock, are geologically extremely different from the [[San Bernardino Mountains]], composed of a mix of Precambrian metamorphic rock and Cenozoic sedimentary rock. However, both are considered part of the Pacific Coast Ranges due to their proximity and similar economic and social impact on surrounding communities.
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{{Regions of the United States}}
{{Regions of North America}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Pacific Coast Ranges| ]]
[[Category:Lists of mountain ranges of the United States]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of North America]]
[[Category:North American Cordillera]]
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