From Mt. Hakuundake to Mt. Tomuraushiyama, at over 1700m above sea level, runs a continuous ridge line.

This area, situated at a latitude of 43°N, is extremely cold, due to the wind blowing in from the continent. By comparison, mountains in Honshu reach a similar temperature, at a height of 3000m above sea level.

Trees cannot grow in such high, mountainous regions.

In winter, the snow here is blown around by the strong wind, and therefore doesn’t accumulate in great quantities.

Because the surface of the earth here frequently melts and freezes, the rocks are crushed into a fine form, and the gravel shifts gradually over time.

Through this process, rock debris accumulates at an incline (known as a solifluction lobe), and geometric patterns are formed on the ground (known as patterned ground). This is truly a rare sight.

The Daisetsuzan Mountain Range (including Mt. Takanegahara, Mt. Ponchubetsudake, Mt. Koganegahara, etc.) was formed approximately 7 hundred thousand to 1.1 million years ago, by a large quantity of lava, coming from several different eruptions.

Although volcanic eruptions which produce a large amount of water are rare in modern Japan, they were quite common in Hokkaido, 1 million years ago.

Long ago, the axis of movement for Earth’s tectonic plates was different than it is today. At that time, the force of compression between the plates was weaker than it is now, and so it is assumed that it was easier for lava to emerge.

Because of uneven surface of the terrain formed by the lava, it is easy for marshlands to form there, resulting in an unusually high amount of marshland near the top of the mountain.

At the marshlands which have formed on the south side of Mt. Hiragadake, there are underground deposits of ice, which do not melt, even in summer (a phenomenon known as permafrost). This causes the land above the ice deposits to rise to a slightly higher level (palsa).