is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

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 ...

. Unlike much of the rest of Japan, the Kitami Mountains are not very seismically active. The Kitami Mountains are north of the

Ishikari Mountains The is a range of volcanic mountains in central Hokkaidō, Japan. The mountain range is made up from the Daisetsuzan Volcanic Group and the Tomuraushi Volcanic Group. The volcanoes are part of the Kurile arc of the Ring of Fire The Rin ...

and east of the

Teshio Mountains The Teshio Mountains (天塩山地 ''Teshio-sanchi'') are a mountain range of Hokkaidō, 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 ...

. A depression separates the Kitami Mountains from the

Yūbari Mountains is a mountain range of Hokkaido, Japan. Part of this range is protected by the . Geology The Yūbari Mountains continue the north–south line begun by the Teshio Mountains. The mountains are the result of the collision between the Kurile Isl ...

. The highest point in the Kitami Mountains is

Mount Teshio is the tallest mountain in the Kitami Mountains. It is located on the border of Shibetsu and Takinoue, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is the source of the Teshio River. History On January 6, 1978, Mount Teshio and the surrounding region was designate ...

. Mount Teshio sits atop the Wenshiri horst.

Geology

Rocks from the Kitami mountains are mostly sedimentary from the

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 ...

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 ...

periods. Volcanic rock was placed down on top of this from volcanoes that erupted in the

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 ...

or later. The Kitami Mountains formed in the inner arc of the

Kurile Arc The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands are a volcanic archipelago administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Russian Far East. The islands stretch approximately northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, separating the ...

Mountains

* (1,558m) * (1,446m) * (1,345m) * (1,142m) * (1,129m) * (987m) * (818m)

References

Mountain ranges of Hokkaido {{Hokkaido-geo-stub