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{{other uses|Coast Range (disambiguation)}}
{{Short description|Series of mountain ranges along the Pacific coast of North America}}
{{Infobox mountain
| 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]]
| area_km2=
| length_mi=3800
| length_orientation=
| 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''' (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 farther west.
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 [[:Category:Mountain ranges of the Great Basin|Great Basin mountain ranges]], and other ranges and various plateaus and basins.
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 [[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]] eco-region with [[California oak woodland|Oak Woodland]], [[Chaparral]] shrub forest or [[Coastal sage scrub]]-covering them. The coastline is often seen dropping steeply into the sea with photogenic views. Along the [[British Columbia]] and Alaska coast, the mountains intermix with the sea in a complex maze of [[fjord]]s, with thousands of islands. Off the Southern California coast the [[Channel Islands of California|Channel Islands]] [[archipelago]] of the [[Santa Monica Mountains]] extends for {{convert|160|mi|km}}.
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]]'s [[Oxnard Plain]], the Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and Santa Ana Rivers' [[Los Angeles Basin]]{{Snd}}a coastal sediment-filled plain between the peninsular and transverse ranges with sediment in the basin up to 6 miles (10 km) deep, and the San Diego River's [[Mission Bay, San Diego, California|Mission Bay]].
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 [[precipitation]], both as [[rain]] and [[snow]], especially on their western slopes. The same Winter weather occurs with less frequency and precipitation in Southern California, with the mountains' western faces and peaks causing an eastward [[rainshadow]] that produces the arid [[Desert Region of California|desert regions]].
Omitted from the list below, but often included is the Sierra Nevada, a major mountain range of eastern California that is separated by the Central Valley over much of its length from the California Coast Ranges and the Transverse Ranges.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
| url = http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110721/Pacific-mountain-system
| title = Pacific mountain system
| encyclopedia = Britannica Online Encyclopedia
| publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica
| access-date = 2007-09-29
}}</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|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> 90–80 million years ago the subducting [[Farallon plate]] split and formed the [[Kula Plate]] to the North. This formed an area in what is now Northern California, where the plates converged forming a [[Mélange]]. North of this was the [[Olympic–Wallowa Lineament#Columbia Embayment and KBML|Columbia Embayment]], where the continental margin was east of the surrounding areas.<ref name = Townsend2002/> Many of the major [[batholith]]s date from the late [[Cretaceous]].<ref name = Dickinson2004/> As the [[Laramide Orogeny]] ended around 48 million years ago, the accretion of the [[Siletzia]] terrane began in the Pacific Northwest. This began the volcanic activity in the [[Cascadia subduction zone]], forming the modern Cascade Range, and lasted into the [[Miocene]]. Events here may relate to the [[Mid-Tertiary ignimbrite flare-up|ignimbrite flare-up]] of the southern [[Basin and Range Province|Basin and Range]].<ref name = Humphreys2009>{{cite book |url=https://doi.org/10.1130/MEM204 |doi=10.1130/978-0-8137-2446-1-204.0.v |isbn=9780813712048 |title = Backbone of the Americas: Shallow Subduction, Plateau Uplift, and Ridge and Terrane Collision |chapter=Relation of flat subduction to magmatism and deformation in the Western United States|last = Humphreys|first = Eugene|publisher = Geological Society of America|date =2009-06-01}}</ref> As extension in the Basin and Range Province slowed by a change in [[North American Plate]] movement circa 7 to 8 Million years ago, rifting began on the [[Gulf of California]].<ref name = Humphreys2009/>
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.
==Major ranges==
These are the members of the Pacific Coast Ranges, from north to south:
*[[Kenai Mountains]], southern [[Alaska]]
*[[Chugach Mountains]], southern Alaska
*[[Talkeetna Mountains]], southern Alaska
[[File:Turnagain Arm and Kenai Mountains.jpg|right|thumbnail|Kenai Mountains]]
*[[Yukon Ranges]], Alaska, [[Yukon]]
**[[Wrangell Mountains]], southern Alaska
*[[Saint Elias Mountains]], southern Alaska, southwestern Yukon, far northwestern British Columbia
**[[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 British Columbia
***[[Cheja Range]] (southeast of Taku/Whiting Rivers)
***[[Chechidla Range]]
***[[Chutine Icefield]]
***[[Adam Mountains]]
***[[Ashington Range]]
***[[Burniston Range]]
***[[Dezadeash Range]]
***[[Florence Range]]
***[[Halleck Range]][[File:Juneau Icefield.jpg|right|thumbnail|Juneau Icefield]]
***[[Juneau Icefield]]
***[[Kakuhan Range]]
***[[Lincoln Mountains]]
***[[Longview Range]]
***[[Peabody Mountains]]
***[[Rousseau Range]]
***[[Seward Mountains (Alaska)|Seward Mountains]]
***[[Snowslide Range]]
***[[Spectrum Range]]
***[[Stikine Icecap]]
**[[Kitimat Ranges]] BC North Coast
**[[Pacific Ranges]] BC South & Central Coast
***[[Rainbow Range (Coast Mountains)|Rainbow Range]] northwest Chilcotin, also classifiable as part of the [[Interior Plateau]][[File:Rainbow Range Slopes.jpg|right|thumbnail|Rainbow Ridge]]
***[[Pantheon Range]] Homathko area
***[[Niut Range]] Homathko area
***[[Waddington Range]] Homathko area
***[[Whitemantle Range]] Homathko area
***[[Bendor Range]]
***[[Garibaldi Ranges]]
***[[Clendinning Range]]
***[[Tantalus Range]]
***[[Chilcotin Ranges]]
****[[Dickson Range]]
****[[Shulaps Range]]
****[[Camelsfoot Range]]
***[[Lillooet Ranges]], (Fraser Canyon west bank)
****[[Cantilever Range]]
****[[Cayoosh Range]]
***[[Douglas Ranges]]
***Front Ranges ([[North Shore Mountains]])
*[[Insular Mountains]], British Columbia
**[[Vancouver Island Ranges]], British Columbia
**[[Queen Charlotte Mountains]], British Columbia[[File:Mt Constance Dosewallips River.JPG|right|thumbnail|Mt. Constance, Olympic Mountains]]
*[[Olympic Mountains]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]]
*[[Cascade Range]], British Columbia (Fraser Canyon east bank), [[Washington (state)|Washington]], [[Oregon]] and [[California]]
*[[Oregon Coast Range]], Oregon
**[[Northern Oregon Coast Range]]
**[[Central Oregon Coast Range]]
**[[Southern Oregon Coast Range]]
*[[Calapooya Mountains]], Oregon
*[[Klamath-Siskiyou]], Oregon, Northern California
**[[Klamath Mountains]], Oregon, Northern California
**[[Siskiyou Mountains]], Oregon, Northern California
**[[Trinity Alps]] and [[Salmon Mountains]], Northern California
**[[Yolla Bolly Mountains]], Northern California
*[[California Coast Ranges|Northern Coast Ranges]], Northern California
**[[King Range (California)|King Range]], Northern California
**[[Mendocino Range]], Northern California[[File:Trinity Alps near Granite Lake.jpg|right|thumbnail|Klamath Mountains]]
**[[Mayacamas Mountains]], Northern California
**[[Marin Hills]], Northern California, (including [[Mount Tamalpais]])
*[[California Coast Ranges|Central California Coast Ranges]], Central California
**[[Santa Cruz Mountains]], Central California
**[[Diablo Range]], Central California
**[[Gabilan Range]], Central California
**[[Santa Lucia Range]], Central California
**[[Temblor Range]], Central California
**[[Caliente Range]], Central California
*[[Transverse Ranges]], Southern California
**[[Sierra Madre Mountains (California)|Sierra Madre Mountains]], Southern California
**[[Sierra Pelona Mountains]], Southern California[[File:San rafael mountains.jpg|right|thumbnail|San Rafael Mountains]]
**[[San Emigdio Mountains]], Southern California
**[[San Rafael Mountains]], Southern California
**[[Santa Ynez Mountains]], Southern California
**[[Tehachapi Mountains]], Southern California
**[[Topatopa Mountains]], Southern California
**[[Santa Susana Mountains]], Southern California
**[[Simi Hills]], Southern California
**[[Santa Monica Mountains]], Southern California
**[[Chalk Hills]], Southern California
**[[San Gabriel Mountains]], Southern California[[File:SanGabrielMountains.jpg|right|thumbnail|Puente Hills]]
**[[San Rafael Hills]], Southern California
**[[Puente Hills]], Southern California
**[[San Bernardino Mountains]], Southern California
**[[Little San Bernardino Mountains]], Southern California
*[[Peninsular Ranges]], Southern California and Mexico
**[[Santa Ana Mountains]], Southern California
**[[Chino Hills]], Southern California
**[[San Jacinto Mountains]], Southern California
**[[Palomar Mountain Range]], Southern California
**[[Laguna Mountains]], Southern California
**[[Sierra de Juárez|Sierra Juarez]], Northern Baja California, Mexico
**[[Sierra San Pedro Martir]], Central Baja California, Mexico
**[[Sierra de San Borja]], Central Baja California, Mexico
**[[Sierra de San Francisco]], Central Baja California, Mexico
**[[Sierra de Guadalupe cave paintings]], Central Baja California, Mexico
**[[Sierra de la Giganta]], Southern Baja California, Mexico
**[[Sierra de la Laguna]], Southern Baja California, Mexico
*[[Sierra Madre Occidental]], Northwestern [[Mexico]]
==Major icefields==
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 6-1992.jpeg|right|thumbnail|Harding Icefield]]
*[[Bagley Icefield]]
*[[Kluane Icefields]]
*[[Juneau Icefield]]
*[[Stikine Icecap]]
*[[Ha-Iltzuk Icefield]] (Silverthrone Glacier)
*[[Monarch Icefield]]
*[[Waddington Range|Waddington Icefield]]
*[[Homathko Icefield]]
*[[Lillooet Icecap]] (Lillooet Crown)
*[[Pemberton Icefield]]
''Only the largest icefields are listed above; smaller icefields may be listed on the various range pages. Formally unnamed icefields are not listed''
==See also==
{{Commons category|Pacific Coast Ranges|<br/>Pacific Coast Ranges}}
* [[:Category:Pacific Coast Ranges|List of Pacific Coast Ranges topics]]
* [[Coast Range (ecoregion)]]
* [[California Coast Ranges]] (geomorphic province)
* [[Coast Ranges]] (geomorphic province)
* [[United States physiographic region]]s
==References==
{{Reflist}}
<!--
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
==External links==
* [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]]
[[Category:Geology of North America]]
[[Category:Geography of North America]]
[[Category:Geography of the West Coast of the United States]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of the Western United States|*]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Mexico]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Baja California|.]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Baja California Sur|.]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of British Columbia|.]]
[[Category:Physiographic provinces]]<!---AK, B.C., MX--->
[[Category:Physiographic regions of Canada]]
[[Category:Physiographic regions of Mexico]]
[[Category:Physiographic regions of the United States]]
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