Pacific Margin definition of Pacific Margin in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Pacific Margin, western section of the great North American Cordillera, W United States and W Canada, stretching from SW Alaska to S Calif. It is composed of a central lowland region (Central Valley, Willamette valley, Puget Sound lowlands) flanked by the Coast Ranges Coast Ranges, series of mountain ranges along the Pacific coast of North America, extending from SE Alaska to Baja California; from 2,000 to 20,000 ft (610–6,100 m) high. The ranges include the St. Elias Mts.
..... Click the link for more information. on the west and the Sierra Nevada Sierra Nevada (sēĕr`ə nəvä`də), mountain range, c.400 mi (640 km) long and from c.
..... Click the link for more information. , Cascade Range Cascade Range, mountain chain, c.700 mi (1,130 km) long, extending S from British Columbia to N Calif., where it becomes the Sierra Nevada ; it parallels the Coast Ranges , 100–150 mi (161–241 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean.
..... Click the link for more information. , Coast Mountains Coast Mountains, range, W British Columbia and SE Alaska, extending c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) parallel to the Pacific coast, from the mountains of Alaska near the Yukon border to the Cascade Range near the Fraser River. Mt.
..... Click the link for more information. ., and Alaska Range Alaska Range, S central Alaska, rising to the highest mountain in North America, Mt. McKinley (20,320 ft/6,194 m). The range divides S central Alaska from the great plateau of the interior. Mt.
..... Click the link for more information. on the east. Another common reference to the geographical area is, more simply, the Pacific Mountains and Valleys.