Long Range Mountains

For the federal electoral district, see Long Range Mountains (electoral district).
Long Range Mountains

Western Brook Pond, a fjord in the Long Range Mountains.
(Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland)
Highest point
Peak The Cabox
Elevation 814 m (2,671 ft)
Geography
Country Canada
Province Newfoundland and Labrador
Range coordinates 49°20′N 57°48′W / 49.33°N 57.8°W / 49.33; -57.8Coordinates: 49°20′N 57°48′W / 49.33°N 57.8°W / 49.33; -57.8
Table Mountain (518m) along the Trans-Canada Highway
The Long Range Mountains in Gros Morne National Park

The Long Range Mountains are a series of mountains along the west coast of the Canadian island of Newfoundland. They also form the northernmost section of the Appalachian chain on the eastern seaboard of North America. In 2003 it was announced that the International Appalachian Trail would be extended through the Long Range Mountains.

During the Precambrian, around 1,200 million years ago, the ancient core of what is now eastern North America collided slowly with another continent to form a vast mountain range. All that remains today are the deeply eroded granites and gneisses of the Long Range mountains.

In the Precambrian, the supercontinent began to break apart. As it split, steep fractures formed and filled with molten rock from below. This magma cooled into the diabase dykes seen in the cliffs of Western Brook Pond and Ten Mile Pond.

By 570 million years ago the continent finally rifted apart, and the resulting basin became an ocean called the Iapetus Ocean. Some of the rocks of Gros Morne National Park were part of the continental margin on the western side of this new ocean, south of the Equator.

Running along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the range includes the following sections:

Highest Peaks of the Long Range Mountains
Rank Name m ft
1 The Cabox 814 2671
2 Gros Morne 807 2644
3 Blue Mountain 800 2625
4 Big Level 795 2608
5 Round Hill 763 2653
6 Rocky Harbour Hill 756 2480
7 Mount Saint Gregory 686 2251
8 Gros Paté 673 2208
9 Big Hill 659 2162
10 Old Crow 649 2129

References

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