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53-740: (Redirected from Coastal Ranges ) Coast Range , Coastal Range or Coast Mountains may refer to: Pacific Coast Ranges of North America California Coast Ranges Coast Mountains , often referred to as the Coast Range, a major mountain range in British Columbia, Alaska and Yukon Olympic Mountains in Washington Oregon Coast Range Willapa Hills in Washington, an extension of

106-671: A change in North American Plate movement circa 7 to 8 Million years ago, rifting began on the Gulf of California . 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

159-647: A cultural and major commercial hub, as the Oregon Country became the Oregon Territory . The Hudson's Bay Company controlled the fur trade in the valley and the rest of Oregon Country in the 1820s and 1830s from its Columbia District headquarters at Fort Vancouver. Joint US–British occupancy, in effect since the Treaty of 1818 , ended in 1846 with the Oregon Treaty . The Willamette Valley

212-506: A true Mediterranean climate it is cooler and moister, with a longer rainy season. The main climatic features are moderate temperatures and frequent cloudiness and rains, except in summer when the northward expansion of the North Pacific High creates generally sunny and warm weather. Winters are consistently wet and cloudy, and often foggy, but quite mild. Although night frosts are common, the temperature almost always rises above

265-539: Is 425 feet (130 m) above sea level and receives 46 inches (1,200 mm) per year. Conversely, at the northern end of the valley, Portland is 50 feet (15 m) above sea level and receives only 36 inches (910 mm) per year. Most rainfall occurs from October to May, and it tends to be heaviest between November and January, when disturbances coming from the Pacific Ocean are at their most intense. Growing seasons are long, averaging 150 to 180 days per year in

318-793: Is a 150-mile (240 km) long valley in Oregon , in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States . The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the Oregon Coast Range to the west, and the Calapooya Mountains to the south. The valley is synonymous with the cultural and political heart of Oregon and

371-487: Is about 1 ⁄ 2 mile (1 km) deep in some areas. In the cool moist climate of the Willamette valley, over 170 different crop and livestock items are produced, including grass and legume seeds, tree fruits and nuts, wine grapes, berries, vegetables, nursery, Christmas trees, and field crops such as wheat, oats, mint and hops, hay, livestock and poultry and miscellaneous field crops. The valley produces most of

424-534: Is also known for his work in the 1930s documenting the hundreds of non-native boulders (called erratics ) washed down by the floods, rafted on icebergs and deposited on the valley bottom and in a ring around the lower hills surrounding the Willamette Valley. One of the most prominent of these is the Bellevue Erratic , just off Oregon Route 18 west of McMinnville. It is also believed that

477-473: Is home to approximately 70 percent of its population including the five largest cities in the state: Portland , Eugene , Salem , Gresham , and Hillsboro . The valley's numerous waterways, particularly the Willamette River, are vital to the economy of Oregon, as they continuously deposit highly fertile alluvial soils across its broad, flat plain. A massively productive agricultural area,

530-701: 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 fjords , with thousands of islands. Off the Southern California coast the Channel Islands archipelago of the Santa Monica Mountains extends for 160 miles (260 km). There are coastal plains at the mouths of rivers that have punched through

583-683: The Chemawa Indian School in Salem . Today, the people of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde refer to their removal from the Willamette Valley as a Trail of Tears . After reports of the Lewis and Clark Expedition were published in about 1807, a small and steadily increasing stream of isolated pioneer groups began settling in the valley and improving routes from the east set up by fur traders and mountain men . From

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636-771: The Coast Mountains and adjoining inland ranges such as the Hazelton Mountains , and sometimes also the Saint Elias Mountains . The character of the ranges varies considerably, from the record-setting tidewater glaciers in the ranges of Alaska, to the rugged Central and Southern California ranges, the Transverse Ranges and Peninsular Ranges , in the chaparral and woodlands eco-region with Oak Woodland , Chaparral shrub forest or Coastal sage scrub -covering them. The coastline

689-747: The Great Flood of 1862 , events in 1899, the Christmas flood of 1964 , and the Willamette Valley flood of 1996 . Part of its floodplain is a National Natural Landmark called the Willamette Floodplain . Historically, the Willamette Valley forests were mostly an oak savanna —tall grasslands with scattered Garry oaks and groves of coast Douglas-fir . The river floodplains contained extensive wetlands, stands of willow, alder, and cottonwood, and gallery forests. This landscape

742-773: 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. These are

795-1163: 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 Great Basin mountain ranges , and other ranges and various plateaus and basins. The Pacific Coast Ranges designation, however, only applies to

848-920: The Strait of Juan de Fuca in Washington to the California-Mexico border , and to those west of Puget Sound , the Willamette Valley , and the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys (the California Central Valley ). That definition excludes the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges , the Mojave (High) , and Sonoran (Low) Deserts, i.e. the Pacific Border province . The same term is used informally in Canada to refer to

901-687: The Willamette Meteorite was rafted by flood and ice to the location near West Linn where it was found in 1902. The valley may be loosely defined as the broad plain of the Willamette, bounded on the west by the Oregon Coast Range and on the east by the Cascade Range. It is bounded on the south by the Calapooya Mountains , which separate the headwaters of the Willamette from the Umpqua River valley about 25 miles (40 km) south of Hidden Valley. Interstate 5 (I-5) runs

954-419: The 1841 Oregon Trail opening, when efforts over many years resulted in widening the fur traders' mule trails into a rough road just capable of carrying the width of a wagon, settlers charged into the region along the new trail and created new settlements centered about Oregon City as the early capital. They built settlements both before and after colonial powers had resolved a dispute among them about owning

1007-454: The 1940s. The smoke is often irritating to residents; in 1988 it caused a 23-car pileup on I-5 . Over the years, several pieces of legislation have limited the amount of burning permitted. With the passage of a bill championed by legislator Paul Holvey in the 2009 session , burning has been banned since the summer of 2010, with the exception of an area of about 15,000 acres (60 km ) with steep terrain and certain species. (At its peak in

1060-463: The 1980s, about 250,000 acres (1,000 km ) were burned each year.) The marionberry , a cross between Chehalem and Olallie blackberries, was bred at Oregon State University as part of a berry-developing partnership with the US Department of Agriculture that dates back to the early 1900s. It is named for Marion County in the Willamette Valley, where most of the field trials took place. When

1113-743: The Indigenous peoples of the Willamette Valley into removal from the valley, cession of all their lands and extinction of aboriginal title in the valley. They were rounded up and taken to the Grande Ronde Reservation , with a few being assigned to the Coast Indian Reservation , today the Siletz Reservation . Boarding schools were set up both on and off reservations, and children were forcibly taken from their parents to live at these schools, such as

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1166-886: The Oregon Coast Range Coast Range (EPA ecoregion) , an ecoregion comprising portions of the California Coast Ranges, Oregon Coast Range and the Olympic Mountains in Washington Chilean Coast Range Hai'an Range in Taiwan Venezuelan Coastal Range Syrian Coastal Mountain Range [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with

1219-724: The Sierra Nevada, and the Guerrero super-terrane of western Mexico. 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 Columbia Embayment , where the continental margin was east of the surrounding areas. Many of the major batholiths date from

1272-631: The Western System of the Western Cordillera, 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 . The term Coast Range is used by the United States Geological Survey to refer only to the ranges south of

1325-482: The Willamette Valley are suitable for vineyards, however, and the largest concentration of wineries is found west of the Willamette River, on the leeward slopes of the Coast Range, or among the numerous river and stream valleys created by Willamette River tributaries. By far, the largest concentration of wineries is in Yamhill County. Grass farmers have been burning fields , as part of their production, since

1378-586: The Willamette Valley in a cultural sense, despite being mountainous areas. Cities in the valley include, from south to north, Cottage Grove , Eugene and Springfield (the two cities form a single populated area, separated in places only by I-5 and/or the McKenzie River), Corvallis, Albany , Dallas , Salem, Keizer, McMinnville, and Hillsboro . Parts of other counties lie within the valley (from south to north): Douglas , Lane , Linn , Benton , Polk , Marion , Yamhill , and Washington counties. Sometimes

1431-401: The Willamette are home to some of the best (and most expensive) Pinot noir in the world, as well as a high-quality Pinot gris . Although this distinction is not officially recognized, many wine connoisseurs further divide the Willamette Valley into northern and southern regions, the dividing line being the approximate latitude of Salem (approximately 45° north latitude). Not all portions of

1484-590: The Willamette's fertility is derived from a series of massive ice-age floods that came from Lake Missoula in Montana and scoured across Eastern Washington , sweeping its topsoil down the Columbia River Gorge . When floodwaters met log- and ice-jams at Kalama in southwest Washington, the water caused a backup that filled the entire Willamette Valley to a depth of 300 to 400 feet (91 to 122 m) above current sea level. Some geologists suggest that

1537-482: The area around Albany and Corvallis and surrounding Benton and Linn counties is referred to locally as the Mid-Valley. Marion, Polk, and other counties are sometimes included in the definition of the Mid-Valley. The climate of the Willamette Valley is a mix of Mediterranean (Köppen Csb ) and oceanic (Köppen Cfb ) influences. The Köppen climate classification system considers it Mediterranean, but compared to

1590-441: The berry was introduced in the 1950s, it was widely hailed as the most delicious blackberry commercial cultivar around. Even today, people rave over its tart-yet-sweet flavor, described as a cross between raspberries and blackberries. (Though there is some raspberry in its DNA, the red fruits are more like a genetic great-great grandparent to the marionberry.) The Willamette Valley is prone to periodic floods. Notable floods include

1643-676: The coastal plain form the margin. Most of the land is made of terranes that have been 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. 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

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1696-530: The cool-season forage and turf grass, Christmas trees , and hazelnuts sold in North America. It is also noted for its hops , which are widely used in craft beer and microbreweries throughout the US. In recent decades, the valley has also become a major wine producer, with multiple American Viticultural Areas of its own. With a cooler climate than California , the gently rolling hills surrounding

1749-538: The form of acorns which are leached, cooked, and eaten. Kalapuya, Chinook, and Molala peoples of the Willamette Valley currently are included among the confederated tribes that make up the Grand Ronde and Siletz Nations. As many as 90% of the Kalapuya may have died as a result of an epidemic of " fever and ague " that hit the area between 1830 and 1833. In the early 1850s, the US government coerced all of

1802-580: The freezing point in the daytime. Snow occurs on occasion, but accumulations are normally light, and in some winters no snow whatsoever falls. Very cold temperatures are atypical; the temperature very rarely falls below 20 °F (−7 °C), and readings of 5 °F (−15 °C) or lower occur only about once every 25 years. Summers are characterized by warm, sunny afternoons with little or no humidity, and cool evenings. Sometimes, heat waves can occur, with temperatures rising above 90 °F (32 °C) and occasionally even reaching 100 °F (38 °C), but

1855-467: The last ice age. The floods were caused by the periodic rupturing of the ice dam of Glacial Lake Missoula , the waters of which swept down the Columbia River and flooded the Willamette Valley as far south as Eugene. The floodwaters carried rich volcanic and glacial soil from Eastern Washington , which was deposited across the valley floor when the waters subsided. The soil in the Willamette Valley

1908-782: The late Cretaceous . 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 ignimbrite flare-up of the southern Basin and Range . As extension in the Basin and Range Province slowed by

1961-438: The length of the valley, linking its major communities Because of differing cultural and political interests, the Portland metropolitan area and Tualatin River valley are sometimes not included in the local use of the term, though both are located within the geographical valley. Additionally, the east slopes of the Coast Ranges and the west slopes of the Cascade Range from Oakridge to Detroit Lake can be considered part of

2014-450: The lowlands to about 110 to 130 days at elevations above 800 feet (240 m). Severe storms of any kind are rare, although snow and ice storms can sometimes occur when surface low pressure systems move south along the coast, inducing offshore flow which advects cold air from the Columbia Basin westward through the Columbia River Gorge, filling the valley to the north of the surface low track. Weather systems sometimes bring high winds to

2067-488: The members of the Pacific Coast Ranges, from north to south: 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. Only the largest icefields are listed above; smaller icefields may be listed on the various range pages. Formally unnamed icefields are not listed Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( / w ɪ ˈ l æ m ɪ t / wil- AM -it )

2120-426: The mountains spreading sediments, most notably at the Copper River in Alaska, the Fraser River in British Columbia, and the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon. In California: the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers' San Francisco Bay , the Santa Clara River 's Oxnard Plain , the Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and Santa Ana Rivers' Los Angeles Basin  – a coastal sediment-filled plain between

2173-413: The mountains' western faces and peaks causing an eastward rainshadow that produces the arid 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. On the West coast of North America, the coast ranges and

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2226-407: The nights usually bring relief. Contemporarily, there have been heat waves in the area that reach higher than 110 °F (43 °C). Precipitation varies considerably across the valley and is closely correlated with elevation. Annual totals range from 36 inches (910 mm) at the lowest elevations to more than 80 inches (2,000 mm) in the foothills. Eugene, at the southern end of the valley,

2279-402: The northern region of the valley. Average cloud cover can exceed 70 percent in winter but drops to less than 15 percent in summer. Tornadoes are rare, but do happen a few times a year with minimal damage. The agricultural richness of the valley is partly due to the Missoula Floods that inundated the valley approximately 40 times between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago at the end of

2332-476: The original savanna vegetation remains. The remaining enclaves include a section of Garry oak savanna preserved at Mount Pisgah Arboretum in Eugene. North Pacific Oak Woodland is a major forest alliance, extending through the Willamette Valley and southward to the Klamath Range of Northern California. Many of the soils are well-drained mesic . Human habitation in the Willamette Valley is estimated to have begun between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. Until recently,

2385-505: 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 . 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

2438-490: The region . So many settlers came that the valley led the way to achieving US statehood less than 16 years after it was claimed by the United States in 1846. A small part of the Willamette Valley ecoregion is in southwestern Washington around the city of Vancouver , which was once the site of an early colonial-era settlement— Fort Vancouver . The Willamette Valley—with its sawmills, lush productive farms, river transport network, and nearby timber and mineral resources—developed as

2491-499: The same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coast_Range&oldid=1214766329 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Pacific Coast Ranges The Pacific Coast Ranges are part of

2544-706: The valley flooded in this manner multiple times during the last ice age . (If floodwaters of that magnitude covered Portland (elevation 20 ft or 6.1 m) in 2010, only the tops of the West Hills , Mount Tabor , Rocky Butte , Kelley Butte and Mount Scott would be visible, as would only some of the city's tallest skyscrapers.) Elevations for other cities in the valley are Newberg at 175 ft (53 m), Oregon City at 138 ft (42 m), McMinnville at 157 ft (48 m), Salem at 154 ft (47 m), Corvallis at 235 ft (72 m), and Eugene at 430 ft (130 m). The lake gradually drained away, leaving layered sedimentary soils on

2597-448: The valley floor to a height of about 180 to 200 ft (55 to 61 m) above current sea level throughout the Tualatin , Yamhill , and Willamette valleys. Geologists have come to refer to the resulting lake as Lake Allison , named for Oregon State University geologist Ira S. Allison , who first described Willamette Silt soil in 1953 and noted its similarity to soils on the floor of former Lake Lewis in Eastern Washington. Allison

2650-516: The valley was largely inhabited by bands of the Kalapuya tribe of Native Americans . Molala and Chinook peoples also have inhabited portions of the Willamette Valley since time immemorial. Sixteen thousand Kalapuyans are estimated to have populated the valley as recently as the early 19th century. Salmon, deer, and camas bulbs have provided primary food sources for the valley's first residents who used fire to encourage persistence of oak savanna . Oak trees have supplied another staple in

2703-436: The valley was widely publicized in the 1820s as a "promised land of flowing milk and honey". Throughout the 19th century, it was the destination of choice for the oxen-drawn wagon trains of emigrants who made the perilous journey along the Oregon Trail . Today, the valley is often considered synonymous with "Oregon Wine Country", as it contains more than 19,000 acres (7,700 ha) of vineyards and 500+ wineries . Much of

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2756-406: 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. The timing of the accretion of the insular belt is uncertain, although the closure did not occur until at least 115 million years ago. Other Mesozoic terranes that accreted onto the continent include the Klamath Mountains ,

2809-410: Was maintained by the Native American inhabitants of the valley who set frequent fires that encouraged the open grasslands and killed young trees. The American settlers of the region, since the 19th century, suppressed fires and converted much of the valley to agriculture, which has caused much of the former grassland and savanna to revert to closed-canopy forest. Less than one-tenth of one percent of

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