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The Coast Mountains are the westernmost Range of the Pacific Cordillera , running along the south western shore of the North America n continent, extending south from the Alaska Panhandle and covering most of coastal British Columbia . They are part of a larger grouping, the Pacific Coast Ranges , which includes the Alaska Range , the Chugach Mountains , the Saint Elias Mountains , the Cascade Range , the Sierra Nevada and the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico . The Coast Mountains are approximately 1600 km long and average 200 km in width. Its southern and southeastern boundaries are described by the Fraser River and the Interior Plateau . North of the Nechako Diversion, the Coast Mountains are flanked on the inland side by the Hazelton Mountains , the Skeena Mountains , the Stikine Plateau and the Tahltan and Tagish Highlands. Its far northwestern edge is delimited by the Kelsall River at the north end of the Alaska Panhandle , beyond which are the Saint Elias Mountains. Covered in dense Temperate Rainforest on its western exposures, the range rises to heavily Glaciated peaks, including the largest temperate-latitude icefields in the world. It then tapers to the dry interior plateau on its eastern flanks, or to the subarctic boreal forest of the Skeena Mountains and Stikine Plateau. The Coast Mountains were formed when an active Volcanic Arc , called the Insular Islands , collided against the Pacific Northwest about 115 million years ago. Over millions of years, the Insular Islands had their summits worn down and Isostatic Rebound has caused their solidified Magma Chamber s to rise, forming the Coast Mountains. During the early to middle Miocene , the Coast Mountains were favored thermally-driven uplift arising from the Miocene passage of the Anahim Hotspot beneath the range, and response to convergence in late Miocene- Pliocene time. Mount Waddington , at 4,019 metres or 13,186 feet, is the highest peak in the Coast Mountains and also the highest peak entirely within British Columbia . The largest Icefield in the Coast Mountains is the Ha-Iltzuk Icefield . SIGNIFICANT PEAKS SUBRANGES There are several subdivisions of the Coast Mountains. These include:
There are innumerable smaller named ranges, and informal names for many groupings, within these subdivisions. Some neighbouring ranges can be found in Interior Plateau and the Hazelton Mountains section of the Skeena Mountains (which are not part of the Coast Mountains but just inland). EXTERNAL LINKS |
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