is a mountain range in northeastern

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

, in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...

of northern

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

.Kitakami Mountains
''Encyclopedia Britannica’ The range extends for from the southern border of

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

in the north to the northern border of

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

in the south, and are bordered by the

Kitakami River The is the fourth largest river in Japan and the largest in the Tōhoku region. It is long and drains an area of . page 793 It flows through mostly rural areas of Iwate Prefecture, Iwate and Miyagi Prefecture, Miyagi Prefectures of Japan, Pr ...

valley in the west and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

to the east, with an average width of around .The Kitakami Mountains are thus mostly located within eastern

Iwate Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture (behind Hokkaido) at , with a population of 1,165,886 (as of July 1, 2023). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Pre ...

. The range is largely an eroded plateau with a thick

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

bedrock, thus accounting for its other name: . In the north, the mountains are characterized by

marine terrace A raised beach, coastal terrace,Pinter, N (2010): 'Coastal Terraces, Sealevel, and Active Tectonics' (educational exercise), from 2/04/2011or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin,Pir ...

s at an altitude of around 300 meters, whereas in the south, the mountains are drowned to form a deeply indented rias coast. Geologically, the Kitakami Mountains are

Paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...

and

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

formations, divided into northern and southern groups. the southern area has oldest previous

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

foundation, which was once a shallow sea on the continental margin where the water temperature was high enough for coral growth from the Silurian to the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

periods; this region, later collided with the northern Kitakami mountainous area in the early

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

period, and the whole was penetrated by the granite in various places. Until the

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

, the Kitakami Mountains were geologically part of Primorsky region of

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. About 30 million years to 15 million years ago, the Japanese archipelago separated from the continent and moved to its present position. The Kitakami Mountains around that time was an island, the west side was a shallow sea, and the

Ōu Mountains The are a mountain range in the Tōhoku region of Honshū, Japan. It is the longest range in Japan and stretches south from the Natsudomari Peninsula of Aomori Prefecture to the Nasu volcanoes at the northern boundary of the Kantō region. T ...

were not yet born. The uplift of the Ōu mountain range began in late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

and the Kitakami Basin was born. The Kitakami Mountains were exposed to erosion for a long time because they were above water from the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

onwards. In addition, as a result the glacier effects of the last glacial period, the current gentle topography was created.

Mount Hayachine is the highest mountain in the Kitakami Range, located in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshū, Japan. With an elevation of , it is the second highest in Iwate Prefecture after Mount Iwate. Mount Hayachine is mentioned in ''100 Famous Japan ...

, near the center of the range, is the highest peak at , and supports endemic alpine vegetation. Notable caves within the Kitakami Mountains include Akkadō and

Ryūsendō is one of Japan's three largest Solutional cave, limestone caverns. It is located in the town of Iwaizumi, Iwate, Iwaizumi, Iwate Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. Overview Ryūsendō has an accessible length of 1,200 meters ...

. The peaks of the Kitakami mountains include the following: *

(早池峰山) 1917 m *Hashigamidake (階上岳) 739.6 m *Akkamori (安家森) 1239 m *Kuromoriyama (黒森山) 837 m *Goyozan (五葉山)1351 m *Muroneyama (室根山) 895 m *Omoriyama (大森山) 750 m *Tokusenjosan (徳仙丈山) 711 m *Tatsuganesan (田束山) 512 m

References

Notes

{{Authority control Mountain ranges of Aomori Prefecture Mountain ranges of Iwate Prefecture Mountain ranges of Miyagi Prefecture