The Fraser Plateau and Basin Complex is an ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It encompasses the middle reaches of the watershed of the Fraser River

Fraser River

The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...

 as it traverses the northern part of the Interior Plateau

Interior Plateau

The Interior Plateau comprises a large region of central British Columbia, and lies between the Cariboo and Monashee Mountains on the east, and the Hazelton Mountains, Coast Mountains and Cascade Range on the west. The continuation of the plateau into the United States is known there as the...

 of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

. The WWF ecoregion is similar in description to two of the ecoregions within Environment Canada's

Environment Canada

Environment Canada , legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment Canada (EC) (French: Environnement Canada), legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment...

  Montane Cordillera

Montane Cordillera

The Montane Cordillera is an ecozone in south-central British Columbia and southwestern Alberta, Canada . A rugged and mountainous ecozone spanning 473,000 square kilometres, it still contains "two of the few significant agricultural areas of the province", the Creston Valley and the Okanagan Valley...

 Ecozone: The Fraser Basin and the Fraser Plateau. Much of the Fraser Plateau is underlain by volcanic rock

Volcanic rock

Volcanic rock is a rock formed from magma erupted from a volcano. In other words, it is an igneous rock of volcanic origin...

s which have steep escarpment

Escarpment

An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...

s along river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

s and creeks

Stream

A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...

 and almost flat upper surfaces.

Physiographically, the Fraser Basin is a section of the larger Northern Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermontane Plateaus

Intermontane Plateaus

Physiographic regions of the U.S. InteriorSee:legendIn some places,high plateaus lie between the mountain ranges, for example,the plateau of Anatolia in Turkey and the plateau of Tibet.These are called "Intermontane plateaus"....

physiographic division.

External links

• World Wildlife Fund Ecoregion NA0514
• Environment Canada Montane Cordillera Ecozone