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{{other uses|Coast Range (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox mountain range▼
{{Short description|Series of mountain ranges along the Pacific coast of North America}}
| name=Pacific Coast Ranges
| photo=Canadian Coast Range.jpg
| photo_caption=Canadian Coast Range, Whistler, British Columbia
| country_type= Countries
| country= {{enum|United States|Canada|Mexico}}
| parent= [[North American Cordillera]]▼
▲| parent=North American Cordillera
| area_km2=
| length_mi=3800
| width_mi
| width_orientation= | highest=[[Mount Logan]]
| elevation_m=5959
| geology=
| orogeny= }}
[[File:Santa monica mountains canyon.jpg|right|thumbnail|Malibu Canyon, Santa Monica Mountains]]
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]].
==Other uses==
The term ''Coast Range'' is used by the [[United States Geological Survey]] to refer only to the ranges south of the [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]] in [[Washington (state)|Washington]] to the [[California-Mexico border]], and to those west of [[Puget Sound]], the [[Willamette Valley]], and the [[Sacramento Valley|Sacramento]] and [[San Joaquin Valley|San Joaquin]] valleys (the [[California Central Valley]]).
That definition excludes the [[
▲That definition excludes the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] and [[Cascade Range]]s, the [[Mojave Desert|Mojave]] [[High Desert (California)|''(High)'']], and [[Sonoran Desert|Sonoran]] [[Low Desert|''(Low)'']] Deserts.<ref>{{cite gnis |id=252293 |name=Coast Ranges |access-date=2007-07-30 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> i.e. the [[Pacific Border province]]. The same term is used informally in Canada to refer to the [[Coast Mountains]] and adjoining inland ranges such as the [[Hazelton Mountains]], and sometimes also the [[Saint Elias Mountains]].
==Geography==
The character of the ranges varies considerably, from the record-setting [[tidewater glacier]]s in the ranges of Alaska, to the rugged Central and [[Southern California]] ranges, the [[Transverse Ranges]] and [[Peninsular Ranges]], in the [[California chaparral and woodlands|chaparral and woodlands]]
There are [[coastal plains]] at the mouths of rivers that have punched through the mountains spreading sediments, most notably at the [[Copper River (Alaska)|Copper River]] in Alaska, the [[Fraser River]] in British Columbia, and the [[Columbia River]] between Washington and Oregon. In California: the [[Sacramento River|Sacramento]] and [[San Joaquin River|San Joaquin]] Rivers' [[San Francisco Bay]], the [[Santa Clara River (California)|Santa Clara River
From the vicinity of San Francisco Bay north, it is common in winter for cool unstable air masses from the [[Gulf of Alaska]] to make landfall in one of the Coast Ranges, resulting in heavy [[
Omitted from the list below, but often included is the
| url = http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110721/Pacific-mountain-system
| title = Pacific mountain system
|
| publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica
|
}}</ref>
==Geology==
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|
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
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
==Major ranges==
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*[[Yukon Ranges]], Alaska, [[Yukon]]
**[[Wrangell Mountains]], southern Alaska
*[[Saint Elias Mountains]], southern Alaska, southwestern Yukon, far northwestern
**[[Alsek Ranges]]
***[[Fairweather Range]]
***[[Takshanuk Mountains]], [[Haines, Alaska|Haines]], [[Alaska]]-area. Between [[Chilkat River|Chilkat]] and [[Chilkoot River|Chilkoot]] watersheds
*[[Coast Mountains]]
**[[Boundary Ranges]], southeastern Alaska, northwestern
***[[Cheja Range]] (southeast of Taku/Whiting Rivers)
***[[Chechidla Range]]
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These are not named as ranges, but amount to the same thing. The Pacific Coast Ranges are home to the largest temperate-latitude icefields in the world.
*[[Harding Icefield]]
*[[Sargent Icefield]][[File:Harding Icefield
*[[Bagley Icefield]]
*[[Kluane Icefields]]
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==See also==
{{
* [[:Category:Pacific Coast Ranges|List of Pacific Coast Ranges topics]]
* [[Coast Range (ecoregion)]]
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==References==
{{
<!--
Hiding this for now as it's an inaccurate reference; Bivouac is misusing the term "Pacific Cordillera", which in regular geographic definitions means the WHOLE Western Cordillera, not just the Pacific Coast Ranges/Pacific mountain system subdivision of it
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* [http://bivouac.com/ArxPg.asp?ArxId=1793 Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia entry on the Pacific Cordillera]
-->
{{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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