This ecoregion is composed of rounded, folded and faulted sedimentary ridges intermittently surmounted by volcanoes. The mountains were heavily glaciated during the Pleistocene epoch. A marine climate prevails, and the region is generally free of permafrost. Many soils formed in deposits of volcanic ash and cinder over glacial deposits and are highly erodible. Vegetation cover commonly consists of dwarf scrub communities at higher elevations and on sites exposed to wind, and low scrub communities at lower elevations and in more protected sites.
Summary
This ecoregion is composed of rounded, folded and faulted sedimentary ridges intermittently surmounted by volcanoes. The mountains were heavily glaciated during the Pleistocene epoch. A marine climate prevails, and the region is generally free of permafrost. Many soils formed in deposits of volcanic ash and cinder over glacial deposits and are highly erodible. Vegetation cover commonly consists of dwarf scrub communities at higher elevations and on sites exposed to wind, and low scrub communities at lower elevations and in more protected sites.
