Pacific northwest map1/9/2023 ![]() This continuous belt of active volcanoes reflects the extent of the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate, a (relatively) tiny remnant of a once-vast oceanic plate now in the last stages of subduction under the overriding North American plate. Shasta reach over 14,000 feet the range extends over 600 miles from Mt. portion of the Pacific Northwest is widely identified with the Cascade Range, whose spectacular volcanoes are signature features of western Washington and Oregon and northwestern California. The nearly identical great arcs of the two great rivers demonstrate the angle at which two great North American geological provinces intersect.ĭetail of the Pacific Northwest Regional Map The Trench extends all the way from Idaho to Alaska, apparently the expression of some very deep tectonic lineation underlying the active faulting apparent at the surface. This chevron pattern stands out on a continental, let alone a regional,level. The Fraser and the Columbia both start out flowing north along the Rocky Mountain Trench, then make concentric dog-leg turns south. The Snake River, the other main component of the Columbia-Snake system, rises just south of Yellowstone, and includes northern Nevada and Utah in its basin, determining the eastern limits of the map.Īlong with the Columbia, the other great river of the Northwest is the Fraser, which enters salt water just a few miles north of the Canadian border. Our map therefore extends well into Canada. This is notably a land of great rivers, and the Columbia, greatest in the region (and third in North America, after the Mississippi and the St Lawrence) rises in the Canadian Rockies and collects most of its water there. The Pacific Northwest is conveniently the upper left-hand corner of the United States, an obvious starting point for discussing a series of Regional maps. THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST & Columbia River Basin
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