The Rainbow Range, formerly gazetted as the Rainbow Mountains, is a mountain range in British Columbia, Canada, located northwest of

Anahim Lake :''The subject of this article should not be confused with Anaham, which is a different community located nine kilometres east of Alexis Creek, British Columbia, which is in the same area.'' Anahim Lake is a small community in British Columbia. ...

. Located on the western edge of the Chilcotin Plateau, the range adjoins the

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains (french: La chaîne Côtière) are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia ...

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,BC Parks, South Tweedsmuir Provincial Park page, Conservation section
/ref> that name is now the name of the range's highest peak.

Geology

The Rainbow Range is an eight-million-year-old ( Miocene) massive peralkaline

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...

in the Anahim Volcanic Belt which includes the lower but similar Itcha and

Ilgachuz Range The Ilgachuz Range is a name given to an extinct shield volcano in British Columbia, Canada. It is not a mountain range in the normal sense, because it was formed as a single volcano that has been eroded for the past 5 million years. It lies on ...

s. The shield has a diameter of 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 Hotspot, Hot Spot or Hot spot may refer to: Places * Hot Spot, Kentucky, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Hot Spot (comics), a name for the DC Comics character Isaiah Crockett * Hot Spot (Tra ...

, similar to the one feeding the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

, 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 Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

, TaiaTaeszi Peak, Mount MacKenzie and

Tsitsutl Peak Tsitsutl Peak is the highest volcanic peak of the Rainbow Range in British Columbia, Canada, located within Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park, northwest of Anahim Lake and northeast of Thunder Mountain. Name origin "Tsitsutl" means "painted mo ...

, which is the highest summit of the Rainbow Range. The range gets its name from the intense and varied colours of its terrains' volcanic lavas and sands from heavy

mineralization Mineralization may refer to: * Mineralization (biology), when an inorganic substance precipitates in an organic matrix ** Biomineralization, a form of mineralization ** Mineralization of bone, an example of mineralization ** Mineralized tissues are ...

, like the

Spectrum Range The Spectrum Range, formerly called the Spectrum Mountains and the Rainbow Mountains, is a subrange of the Tahltan Highland in the Stikine Country of northwestern British Columbia, 20 km west of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, south of Moun ...

in the Spatsizi Plateau.

Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park

The Rainbow Range lies partly in the

Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park is a provincial park covering parts of the eastern Kitimat Ranges, northern Pacific Ranges, and the Rainbow Range in British Columbia, Canada. It was established on May 21, 1938 in the western interior of the pro ...

, while to its east the Itcha and Ilgachuz Ranges form the core of the

Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Chilcotin Country of British Columbia, Canada. The park is 111,977 hectares in size and contains Far Mountain and Mount Downton, its two most prominent peaks. History and conservation Es ...

References

External links

Rainbow Range entry in Canadian Mountain EncyclopediaSkiing the Pacific Ring of Fire and Beyond
{{Anahim Volcanic Belt Anahim Volcanic Belt Volcanoes of British Columbia Mountain ranges of the Interior Plateau Shield volcanoes of Canada Extinct volcanoes Miocene shield volcanoes Polygenetic shield volcanoes Landforms of the Chilcotin Range 3 Coast Land District

Geology

Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park

See also

References

External links