Rainbow Range

Rainbow Mountains
Rainbow Range colours from heavy mineralization
Highest point
Peak Tsitsutl Peak
Elevation 2,495 m (8,186 ft)
Coordinates 524324N 1254648W
Geography
Country Canada
Province British Columbia
District Range 3 Coast Land District
Range
coordinates
5240N 12550W
Parent range Chilcotin Plateau
Borders on Pacific Ranges, Kitimat Ranges, Ilgachuz
Range
Geology
Orogeny Anahim hotspot volcanism
Period 8 million years (Miocene)
Type of rock Shield volcano
Rainbow Range (Chilcotin Plateau)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Rainbow Range (Coast Mountains))
The Rainbow Range, formerly known as the Rainbow
Mountains,
[1]
is a mountain range in British Columbia,
Canada, located 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Anahim
Lake. Located on the western edge of the Chilcotin Plateau,
the range adjoins the Coast Mountains Pacific Ranges to the
south, and the Kitimat Ranges to the north. In some
classification systems it is considered part of the Coast
Mountains. It lies north of the Bella Coola and Atnarko Rivers
and south and west of the Dean River, which curves around its
north flank, and is relatively drier in climate and easier of terrain
than more mountainous areas immediately west.
Once called Tsitsutl, meaning "rainbow mountains" in the
Ulkatcho dialect of the Carrier language,
[2]
that name is now
the name of the range's highest peak.
Contents
1 Geology
2 Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park
3 See also
4 References
Geology
The Rainbow Range is an eight-million-year-old (Miocene)
massive peralkaline shield volcano in the Anahim Volcanic Belt
which includes the lower but similar Itcha and Ilgachuz Ranges.
The shield has a diameter of 30 km (19 mi) is now heavily
eroded by glaciers carving into the volcanic rock and sands
over millions of years. The volcanism that created the shield is
not well studied and is poorly understood. It is thought to be the result of the North American Plate passing over a hotspot,
similar to the one feeding the Hawaiian Islands, known as the Anahim hotspot. The only real separate volcanic peak associated
with the Rainbow Range is Anahim Peak which sits on its northeast flank. Other peaks in the range are other high eroded
remnants of the shield, including Beef Peak, TaiaTaeszi Peak, Mount MacKenzie and Tsitsutl Peak 2,495 m (8,186 ft), which
is the highest summit of the Rainbow Range.
Coordinat es: 5240N 12550W
The range gets its name from the intense and varied colours of its terrains' volcanic lavas and sands from heavy mineralization,
like the Spectrum Range in the Spatsizi Plateau.
Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park
The Rainbow Range lies partly in the Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park, while to its east the Itcha and Ilgachuz Ranges form
the core of the Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park.
See also
List of volcanoes in Canada
Volcanism of Canada
Volcanism of Western Canada
Rainbow Range (Rocky Mountains)
Spectrum Range
References
Rainbow Range entry in Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia (http://bivouac.com/ArxPg.asp?ArxId=1282)
Skiing the Pacific Ring of Fire and Beyond (http://www.skimountaineer.com/ROF/ROF.php?name=Rainbow)
1. ^ "Rainbow Range" (http://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/23243.html). BC Geographical Names.
http://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/23243.html.
2. ^ BC Parks, South Tweedsmuir Provincial Park page, Conservation section
(http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/tweeds_s/nat_cul.html#conservation)
Rainbow Range colours
and volcanic cinder

Slopes of the Rainbow
Range
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rainbow_Range_(Chilcotin_Plateau)&oldid=614878157"
Categories: Anahim Volcanic Belt Volcanoes of British Columbia Mountain ranges of British Columbia Shield volcanoes
Extinct volcanoes Miocene volcanoes Polygenetic volcanoes Geography of the Chilcotin Range 3 Coast Land District
This page was last modified on 29 June 2014 at 12:35.
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