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

3. The Rock Cycle…A review

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

5. Three main categories of landforms…
Shield
Lowlands
Highlands

6. 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

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

9. 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

11. 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

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

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

15. 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

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

19. 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

20. 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

22. 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!

23. YAY FOR GEOGRAPHY!