Olympic Mountains

Remember we're learning about the moutain ranges in the Pacific Coast Belt on the North American Cordillera.

We just learned about the Insular Mountains.

Another mountain range in the Pacific Coast Belt is the Olympic Mountains.

These mountains have water on three sides, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Seattle to the east.
Because they are surrounded by so much water, the western slopes are the wettest place in the lower 48 states, which doesn't include Alaska and Hawaii.

The tallest mountain in this range is Mount Olympus, which is different from the famous mountain in Greece.


(from: wikipedia - olympic mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Great Bear Lake

Insular Mountains

We just learned about the Coast Mountains in the Pacific Coast Belt, in the North American Cordillera.

Another mountain range in that belt is the Insular Mountains in British Columbia, Canada.

These mountains were made from lava, and created the Vancouver Islands and the Haida Gwaii Islands.
The bottom of these mountains goes below the sea level, which is called not fully exposed.

There are still many earthquakes in this area.


(from: wikipedia - insular mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Baikal

Coast Mountains

We just learned about the Yukon Ranges in the Pacific Coast Belt of the North American Cordillera.

Another mountain range in the Pacific Coast Belt is the Coast Mountains.
On the west side of these ranges is a temperate rainforest, which then leads to ice fields and glaciers in the middle, and on the east side is plateaus and forests.

This mountain range has the largest bunch of ice fields in the world.


(from: wikipedia - coast mountains)


(from: wikipedia - coast mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Tanganyika

Yukon Ranges

We just learned about the Talkeetna Mountains in the Pacific Coast Belt of the North American Cordillera.

Another famous mountain range is the Yukon Ranges in Alaska and Canada.

There are a bunch of other smaller "sub ranges" inside the Yukon ranges, called the Anvil Range, Dawson Range, Miners Range, Nisling Range, Ogilvie Mountains, Nahoni Range, Pelly Mountains, Big Salmon Range, Glenlyon Range, Saint Cyr Range, Ruby Range, Russel Range and Wrangell Mountains.

The Wrangell Mountains are mostly from volcanoes, and are some of the largest shield volcanoes in the US.


(from: wikipedia - yukon ranges)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Michigan

Talkeetna Mountains

We just learned about the Chugach Mountains.

Another mountain range in the Pacific Coastal Belt is the Talkeetna Mountains.

There is a glacier on this mountain called the Mint Glacier, and there is a Mint Valley, and even mountain peaks called the Troublemint and Doublemint peaks.


(from: wikipedia - talkeetna mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Huron

Chugach Mountains

We just learned about the Kenai Mountains.

Another mountain range in the Pacific Coast Belt in Alaska is the Chugach Mountains.

These mountains are right by the Gulf of Alaska, and because of that they get more snowfall than anywhere else in the world, usually getting over 600 inches (50 feet!) of snow per year.


(from: wikipedia - chugach mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Victoria

Kenai Mountains

We just learned about the Pacific Coast Belt group of mountain ranges that are part of the North American Cordillera group of mountain belts.

There are many mountain ranges in the Pacific Coast Belt, like the Kenai Mountains.

The Kenai mountains are in Alaska, and are between 3,000 to 5,000 feet tall.
There have many glaciers on these mountains, as well as rivers that are very popular for fishing.

The mountains were named after the Kenai natives who lived in the area.





(from: wikipedia - kenai mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Superior

Pacific Coast Belt

We just learned that the North American Cordillera is a group of five different mountainous areas in North America.

The first area is called the Pacific Coast Belt.

This belt contains four mountain ranges: The Southern Alaska ranges, the Western System of Canada, the Pacific Border Province in contiguous U.S. and the Western mountain ranges of Mexico.



(from: wikipedia - Pacific Coast Ranges)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Caspian Sea

North American Cordillera

We just learned about the Saint Elias Mountains in Alaska.

Most of the mountain ranges we've learned about have been in Asia, as those are the highest mountains in the world.

In North America, there are mountain ranges that are part of a group of mountain ranges.
The word cordillera means a group of different mountain ranges.

The North American Cordillera is a group of five different areas called belts that all have mountain ranges in them.


(from: wikipedia - north american cordillera)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: US Virgin Islands

Saint Elias Mountains

We just learned about the Alaska Range mountains.

The next highest mountain range is the Saint Elias Mountains.

These mountains are on the southern coast of Alaska, right on the pacific ocean.
Because they are on the coast, they are called coastal mountains.
They are the highest coastal mountains on earth.


(from: wikipedia - saint elias mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Puerto Rico

Alaska Range

We just learned about the Andes Mountains.

The next highest mountain range is the Alaska Range.

These mountains are like a big wall blocking warm air from the Gulf of Alaska, so the weather on these mountains is very rough.

There are also earthquakes and volcanoes on this range, even though it is way up north in Alaska.


(from: wikipedia - alaska range)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Northern Mariana Islands