Canada’s Diverse Physical Landscape Landform Regions Canada’s Diverse Physical Landscape

The Rock Cycle…A review

Whose “fault” is it??? Folding--- bending of rock layers Faulting---movement along a crack (fault) or cracks in the Earth’s crust

Three main categories of landforms… Shield Lowlands Highlands

The Canadian Shield Made of igneous and metamorphic rock Started forming 3.6 billion years ago Covers half of Canada Rich in minerals -lead, gold, nickel, copper and zinc

LOWLANDS There are 3 lowland regions: Interior Plains Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands

Interior Plains Made mostly of sedimentary rock -sediments eroded from the Shield and the Rocky Mountains Ancient seas left behind old plants and animals, which under the compression of sedimentary rock made the oil and gas found in Alberta and Saskatchewan Mostly flat

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands Made of sedimentary rock Rolling hills -Glacial deposits (soil, sand,gravel) from Shield dumped in this region Excellent soils and warm climate make this region well-suited for farming

Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands Layer of sedimentary rock which rests on top of the Shield Cold, harsh climate is NOT well-suited for farming

HIGHLANDS There are 3 highland regions: Appalachian Mountains Innuitian Mountains Western Cordillera

Appalachians Located in the east coast Sedimentary rock Oldest highland region in Canada Millions of years of erosion have worn down the once sharp peaks The weight of the glaciers during the last Ice Age pressed the mountains down

Innuitian Mountains Made mostly of sedimentary rock Little to no vegetation because of the extreme cold Large areas covered by ice and permanent snow

Western Cordillera Cordillera means “a long and wide chain of mountain ranges” Youngest mountains in Canada Contains 3 ranges: -Coast Mountains -Columbia Mountains -Rocky Mountains

Western Cordillera continued… The N.A. Plate and Pacific Plate are moving against one another Most active earthquake region Plates are moving at a rate of 2cm to 10cm per year Very popular tourist area

To summarize… The movement of Earth’s plates and the results of folding and faulting, combined with the forces of erosion and glaciation, creates a beautiful and diverse landscape!

YAY FOR GEOGRAPHY!