Cascade Range

The Cascade Range is a North American mountain chain extending from British Columbia through Washington and Oregon into northern California, distinguished by numerous volcanoes.

Cascade Volcanic Arc: A chain of volcanoes formed above the Cascadia subduction zone, stretching from British Columbia to northern California. Its volcanic arc gives the Cascade Range many of its highest and most recognizable peaks.
Mount Rainier: An active stratovolcano in Washington and the highest peak in the Cascade Range. Its great height and glacier-covered slopes make it the range’s most prominent Washington landmark.
Juan de Fuca Plate: A small tectonic plate off the Pacific Northwest coast that subducts beneath North America. Its descent supplies the conditions for magma generation beneath the Cascade volcanoes.
Cascade Range volcano monitoring: Scientific observation of Cascade volcanoes to detect unrest and assess eruption hazards. Monitoring helps distinguish ordinary seismic activity from signs of possible volcanic unrest.
Orographic precipitation: Precipitation produced when air rises over terrain, cools, and condenses. Moist Pacific air rises over the Cascades, creating strong precipitation contrasts across the range.
Cascadia Subduction Zone: A convergent plate boundary where the Juan de Fuca Plate descends beneath the North American Plate. This subduction drives the volcanism that defines the range’s western volcanic belt.
Mount St. Helens: An active volcano in Washington that erupted catastrophically in 1980. Its 1980 eruption demonstrates the scale of volcanic change possible within the range.
Volcanic arc: A curved chain of volcanoes that forms above a subduction zone. The Cascade volcanoes are a continental example of this plate-boundary pattern.
Pacific Crest Trail: A long-distance hiking trail following the western mountain systems from Mexico to Canada. Its route traverses much of the Cascade crest and links many protected areas.
Rain shadow: A relatively dry region on the leeward side of a mountain barrier, caused by loss of moisture on the windward side. The Cascades leave areas east of the crest much drier than their western slopes.

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