Cascade Range

Cascade Range
a mountain range extending from N California to W Canada: highest peak, Mt. Rainier, 14,408 ft. (4322 m). Also called the Cascades.

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Mountain range, western U.S. A continuation of the Sierra Nevada, it extends north from Mount Lassen in northeastern California across Oregon and Washington for 700 mi (1,100 km).

Its highest elevation is Mount Rainier. Some of the summits, including Mount St. Helens, have erupted in the recent past. The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed through the range in the Columbia River Gorge. Its northern continuation in British Columbia is known as the Coast Mountains. See also North Cascades National Park.

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▪ mountains, United States
   segment of the Pacific mountain system of western North America. The Cascades extend northward for more than 700 miles (1,100 km) from Lassen Peak, in northern California, U.S., through Oregon and Washington to the Fraser River in southern British Columbia, Can. Many peaks exceed 10,000 feet (3,000 m), including Mount Hood (Hood, Mount) (11,235 feet [3,424 m], highest point in Oregon) and Mount Rainier (Rainier, Mount) (14,410 feet [4,392 m], highest in Washington and in the Cascade Range). Most of the summits are extinct volcanoes, but Lassen Peak (10,457 feet [3,187 m]) and several others have erupted in the recent past. Mount Baker (10,778 feet [3,285 m]) steamed heavily in 1975, and Mount St. Helens (Saint Helens, Mount) (8,365 feet [2,550 m]) erupted in 1980 and again in 1981. The mountains lie 100 to 150 miles (160 to 240 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean and east of the broad depressions known as the Puget Sound Lowland and the Willamette Valley, which separate the moist coastal region from the arid interior. They are continued by the Coast Mountains of British Columbia to the north and the Sierra Nevada to the south.

 Marked by glaciation (which has formed many lakes) and stream dissection, the mountains are a headstream region for the Willamette River. Except for the peaks lying above the timberline, the entire range is heavily wooded and is within conservation areas and national forests. The western slope, fed by up to 100 inches (2,500 mm) of precipitation yearly, has dense stands of Douglas fir trees. North Cascades, Mount Rainier, Crater Lake, and Lassen Volcanic national parks, as well as Lava Beds National Monument and Manning Provincial Park (Canada), offer unusual natural formations and magnificent scenery. Tourism, outdoor recreation, and water for hydroelectric power, irrigation, and industry are the main activities and assets of the range.

 The English navigators George Vancouver and William R. Broughton saw the Cascades in 1792. The American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, on their expedition to the northwest in 1806, passed through the range in the 4,000-foot- (1,219-metre-) deep Columbia River Gorge on the Washington-Oregon border. The range was named for the great cascades found near the gorge.
 

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cascade Range —   [kæs keɪd reɪndʒ], Kaskadengebirge, Gebirgszug der Kordilleren Nordamerikas, erstreckt sich über rd. 1 100 km vom südlichen British Columbia (Kanada) bis zum nördlichen Kalifornien (USA). Das nach den Kaskaden im Durchbruch des Columbia River… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Cascade Range — also the Cascades the Cascade Range a group of mountains in the west of the US and Canada, which go from British Columbia in the north down to northern California, where they join with the Sierra Nevada …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Cascade Range — Cascade′ Range′ n. geg a mountain range extending from N California to W Canada. Highest peak, Mt. Rainier, 14,408 ft. (4322 m) …   From formal English to slang

  • Cascade Range — [for the cascades on the Columbia River] mountain range extending from N Calif., through W Oreg. and Wash., into S British Columbia: highest peak, Mt. Rainier: also called Cascades …   English World dictionary

  • Cascade Range — Cascade Range, s. Kaskadengebirge …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Cascade Range — (spr. käskéhd rehndsch), s.v.w. Kaskadengebirge …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Cascade Range — Geobox|Range name=Cascade Range other name=The Cascades image size=280 image caption=Mount Rainier in Washington state country=United States| country1=Canada state= Oregon state1= Washington state2= California state3= British Columbia state… …   Wikipedia

  • Cascade Range — Mount Rainier, der höchste Berg der Kaskadenkette Die Kaskadenkette (engl. Cascade Range oder Cascades), auch Kaskadengebirge, ist ein Gebirgszug vulkanischen Ursprungs, der parallel zur Westküste Nordamerikas verläuft. Die Kaskaden erstrecken… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Cascade Range — Chaîne des Cascades Chaîne des Cascades Carte des volcans de la chaîne des Cascades Géographie Altitude 4 392 m …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Cascade Range — Sp Kaskãdiniai kalna Ap Cascade Range angliškai Ap Chaîne des Cascades prancūziškai L Š. Amerikos Kordiljerų dalis, JAV (Kalifornijos, Oregono, Vašingtono v jos) ir Kanadoje (Britų Kolumbija) …   Pasaulio vietovardžiai. Internetinė duomenų bazė

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