# Insular Belt

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Insular_Belt
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Insular_Belt.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insular_Belt
> Source revision: 1312290437
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Physiogeological region of North America

Geology belts of western Canada and southeast Alaska, including the Insular Belt (red)

The **Insular Belt** is a [physiogeological](/source/Physical_geography) region on the north western North American coast. It consists of three major island groups and many smaller islands and stretches from southern [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia) into [Alaska](/source/Alaska) and the [Yukon](/source/Yukon). It represents the [Late Cretaceous](/source/Late_Cretaceous) to [Eocene](/source/Eocene) [accretion](/source/Accretion_(geology)) of what is known as the **Insular Superterrane** (formed from repeated accretion of multiple [terranes](/source/Terrane)) to the [North American](/source/North_America) [continent](/source/Continent).

The rocks that form the Insular Superterrane are [allochthonous](/source/Allochthon), meaning they are not related to the rest of the North American continent. They consist of a series of [volcanics](/source/Volcanic_rock), [intrusions](/source/Intrusion) and [sedimentary rocks](/source/Sedimentary_rock) from the collision of an ancient [island arc](/source/Volcanic_arc) called the [Insular Islands](/source/Insular_Islands).[1] The exact collision of the Insular Islands remains uncertain.[1]

The major island groups that compose the Insular Superterrane are, from south to north, [Vancouver Island](/source/Vancouver_Island) and the [Gulf Islands](/source/Gulf_Islands), the [Haida Gwaii](/source/Haida_Gwaii) and the [Alexander Archipelago](/source/Alexander_Archipelago) in Alaska.

The region is noteworthy as it has the greatest physiographic relief from the depths of [Queen Charlotte Sound](/source/Queen_Charlotte_Sound_(Canada)) (which had been a coastal plain during the last ice age) to the heights of the [Wrangell](/source/Wrangell_Mountains) - [Saint Elias Mountains](/source/Saint_Elias_Mountains). In general the region is extremely rugged with very little flat land except in certain regions (e.g. the east coast of Vancouver Island).

The region is thickly forested, having a temperate year round climate, with many of the world's largest trees.

## See also

- [Geology of British Columbia](/source/Geology_of_British_Columbia)

- [Intermontane Belt](/source/Intermontane_Belt)

- [Okanagan Highland](/source/Okanagan_Highland)

- [Omineca Mountains](/source/Omineca_Mountains)

- [Quesnel Highland](/source/Quesnel_Highland)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-SI_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-SI_1-1) [The Coast Range Episode (115 to 57 million years ago)](http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/geo_history_wa/Coast%20Range%20Episode.htm)

## External links

- [Physiography of British Columbia](http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/frontier/physio/geology.htm)

This article about a specific geological feature in British Columbia, Canada is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:BritishColumbia-geology-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3ABritishColumbia-geology-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:BritishColumbia-geology-stub)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Insular Belt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insular_Belt) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insular_Belt?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.