CANADA’S LANDFORM REGIONS

Canada’s Landform Regions Canada is made up of 3 distinct types of landforms: Shield Lowlands Highlands The Lowlands and Highlands are further subdivided into regions.

Landform #1: Shield

The Canadian Shield Location:

The Canadian Shield Background: Geologic foundation of Canada Underlies much of Canada and 2 small parts of the US More than half of Canada (4.8 million km2) is covered by shield. Contains some of the world’s oldest rock near Great Slave Lake in NWT (3.96 billion years old) and in Quebec (approx. 4 billion years old)

Great Slave Lake

The Canadian Shield Appearance/Landscape: Rounded hills of rock that are the root of ancient mountains Eroding for billions of years Relatively flat compared to other mountains Thousands of lakes – created by glaciers that scraped the bedrock

Rounded Hills Smooth, Round Rock Thousands of Lakes

The Canadian Shield Features: Formed by two types of rock: igneous and metamorphic Contains many of Canada’s metallic minerals: lead, gold, copper, nickel, zinc Diamond deposits have recently been found No fossil fuels – Life forms that produced these products did not exist when the Shield was created.

The Canadian Shield Industries: Mining Not a lot of farming – thin soil Recreation/Tourism – scenic rivers, waterfalls, forests, nature activities Hydroelectricity

Mining in Sudbury Recreation/Tourism

Landform #2: Lowlands

Interior Plains Location:

Interior Plains Background: Part of Great Plains of North America – stretch from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico Covers a distance of 2700 km from 49oN to the Arctic Ocean – 1300 km wide in the South but only 275 km wide in the North. During the formation, the Interior Plains were often covered by low inland seas. As sediments from the Shield and the Rocky Mountains settled in the sea, eventually they compacted and made sedimentary rock.

Sedimentary Rock in NWT

Interior Plains Appearance/Landscape: Not as flat as people think... Mostly rolling hills and deep wide river valleys Land slopes downward gradually from west to east 3 levels of elevation in the Prairies – each separated by escarpment A few lakes in Manitoba

Rolling Hills Escarpment River near Calgary

Interior Plains Features: Subjected to glaciation Landscape shaped by the forces of erosion – specifically, differential erosion.

Alberta’s Badlands

Interior Plains Industries: Oil and Gas – When the seas were replaced by rock, the rock trapped the sea reefs which now contain much of the oil and gas found today in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Mining Agriculture – especially wheat and cattle

Alberta Oil Sands Saskatchewan Wheat Fields

Great Lakes—St. Lawrence Lowlands Location:

Great Lakes—St. Lawrence Lowlands Background: 2 parts: Great Lakes Lowlands and St. Lawrence Lowlands Separated by a thin wedge of Canadian Shield Bedrock formed of sedimentary rock which can be seen in some escarpments – ie. Niagara Formed by a rift valley

Niagara Escarpment Layers of Sedimentary Rock

Great Lakes—St. Lawrence Lowlands Appearance/Landscape: Great Lakes – rolling landscape from glaciers “dumping” soils/sands as they moved through the region Flat plains, glacial hills, deep river valleys

Hills, lakes, escarpment River valley

Great Lakes—St. Lawrence Lowlands Features: Most densely populated region in Canada About 50% of Canada’s population lives here and the region only cover 1.4% of Canada’s total area.

Toronto Montreal

Great Lakes—St. Lawrence Lowlands Industries: Agriculture – excellent soils and warm climate Manufacturing

Steel Plant in Hamilton The Holland Marsh in King City

Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands Location:

Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands Background: Hudson Bay – the bay used to cover this area. It left behind sand, silt, and clay that became sedimentary rock Arctic – a series of islands in Canada’s far north

Hudson Bay Lowlands Arctic Lowlands

Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands Appearance/Landscape: Hudson Bay – flat, low, swampy forests Arctic – gently rolling landscape

Hudson Bay Swampy Forests Arctic Rolling Landscapes

Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands Features: Hudson Bay – layers of sedimentary rock rest on top of the Shield Arctic – harsh climate, frozen grounds not good for farming

Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands Industries: Arctic – coal (lignite), oil, natural gas deposits

Landform #3 Highlands

Appalachian Mountains Location:

Appalachian Mountains Background: Stretch from Georgia in the Southern US to Newfoundland Oldest highland in North America (300 million years old) Formed when N. American collided with Europe and N. Africa during formation of Pangaea.

The Appalachians

Appalachian Mountains Appearance/Landscape: Rounded/rolling mountains and hills Plateaus of igneous and metamorphic rock Wide glacial valleys separate hills and mountains “Drowned Coastline” – long, deep bays formed by glaciers that sank the land when the ice melted

Appalachian Mountains Features: Non-metallic minerals – like coal Igneous and metamorphic rock from past volcanic activity

Appalachian Mountains Industry: Fishing Some mining

Innuitian Mountains Location:

Innuitian Mountains Background: Located in Canada’s far north Mountains formed in middle of Mesozoic era Younger than the Appalachians

Innuitian Mountains Appearance/Landscape: Mountains measure over 2500m high No vegetation because of cold climate Vast areas covered by ice and permanent snow

Innuitian Mountains Features: Contain igneous and metamorphic rock – mostly sedimentary Contain similar minerals to the Appalachians

Innuitian Mountains Industry: None – Temperatures are too cold and prevent development

Western Cordillera Location:

Western Cordillera Background: Stands along the western edge of the continent Geologically young mountains Formed by collision of Pacific Plate and North American Plate 3 major divisions – Coast mountains, interior plateaus, Eastern mountains

Canada’s Western Cordillera

Western Cordillera Appearance/Landscape: Many mountain ranges separated by plateaus and valleys Rugged mountain peaks Only remaining Canadian glaciers (exceptions of the Arctic)

Glacier Mountains with Valley

Western Cordillera Features: Runs north-south, prevents a lot of access from highways and rail lines that run east-west Lightly populated – main areas Victoria and Vancouver

Vancouver Train Access

Western Cordillera Industry: Farming Mining Tourism/Recreation