1. Forces that Shape Earth and Geological Time!
CGC1D- Canadian Geography

2. Planet Earth Geologic History Landforms Rock Cycle
Cenozoic (66 mya – present)
Mesozoic ( mya) Dinosaurs
Paleozoic ( mya) Ancient Life
Precambrian ( mya) Earliest Life
Landforms
Rock Cycle

3. Earth’s Interior HYDROSPHERE ATMOSPHERE Crust/Asthenosphere
Air
ATMOSPHERE
Water
Crust/Asthenosphere
km thick
- cold & fragile
Granite and
Basalt
Land
LITHOSPHERE
Mantle
km thick
- hot & molten
- Magnesium and Silicon
Outer Core
km thick °C
- liquid Nickel and Iron
Inner Core
km thick °C
- solid Nickel and Iron

4. Geologic History Precambrian Era (Canadian Shield) Vulcanism Fault
Ancient Sea
Igneous Rock

5. #1 - The Canadian (also called the Precambrian) Shield
1. Precambrian Canada
#1 - The Canadian (also called the Precambrian) Shield
the geologic core of the country
ancient (4 billion years in some places), hard igneous rock from which all the other areas were created
used to be a huge mountain range

7. Precambriam Extensive volcanic activity folding/faulting and erosion
Intrusive / extrusive igneous rock
Cooling, creates Canadian Shield
Foundation of Canada’s landmass
Heat/Pressure (metamorphism) creates storehouse of Canada’s metallic mineral wealth
Surrounded by ancient sea

8. Geologic History Paleozoic Era (Shallow seas) Erosion Erosion
Sediments
Sediments
Igneous Rock

9. #2 - The surrounding series of plains or lowlands
made of sedimentary rock
most of the sediments were eroded from the ancient Precambrian Shield
includes the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands, the Interior Plains, the Hudson Bay Lowlands, and the Arctic Lowlands
Erosion
Deposition
Transportation

11. Paleozoic con’t
Extensive erosion, transportation (rivers), deposition of sediments from the Shield into adjacent seas
Compression of sediments in ancient seas create sedimentary rock
Today these sedimentary rocks form the bedrock for parts of every province
Organisms in seas form basis of oil/gas deposits in west
Swamps (tropical climate) create coal beds in east

12. Geologic History
Late Paleozoic/ Early Mesozoic Era (Appalachians formed!)
Erosion
Sediments
Sediments
Igneous Rock
Mountains Forming

13. Late Paleozoic, early Mesozoic!
Creation of super-continent Pangaea folds/faults/uplifts Appalachian mountains in the east
NA is very tropical!
Sediments keep on building up
Breakup of Pangaea as NA Plate moves West colliding with the Pacific Plate

14. Finally, Cenozoic era creates today’s mountain ranges…
#3 - The mountainous rim
also made up of, in part sediments from the ancient Shield, also with metamorphic rock
unlike the flat lowland areas, the mountainous rim rocks have been uplifted by tectonic forces
there are three main mountain areas that make up the mountainous rim

15. the Appalachian Mountains (the oldest and hence the lowest due to longer erosion)
the Innuitian Mountains of the very far north
the Western Cordillera (the youngest, and highest, is actually a series of several different ranges dominated by the famous Rocky Mountains, the most easterly of the Cordilleran ranges)

17. Geologic History Cenozoic Era (last 65 million years!)
Sedimentary Mountains Eroding 4. 2.
Mountains Forming
Sedimentary Plains 1.
APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS
PACIFIC OCEAN
ROCKY MOUNTAINS
Igneous Rock
ATLANTIC OCEAN
INTERIOR PLAINS 3.
CANADIAN SHIELD

18. Glaciers!!! – ended about 20 000 years ago
Plate Collision
3. Mesozoic Canada
Glaciers!!! – ended about years ago
Western Cordillera
Interior Plains
Canadian Shield
Great Lakes -
St. Lawrence Lowlands
Appalachians
4. Cenozoic Canada
Landforms not seen (in the back) - Hudson Bay Lowlands, - Arctic Lowlands,
- Innuitian Mountains

19. Intrusive Volcanic / tectonic activity begin to uplift the Coastal Range
Tectonic forces uplift the Rockies/and as the plate rotates NW the Innuitian Mountains. (Arctic)
Dinosaurs roamed inland sea west of the Rockies (Red Deer Alberta) until end of Mesosoic
Cenozoic: Rockies/Coastal Mntns. continue to form
Volcanic Activity create plateaus between Rockies and Coastal Ranges

20. Rock Cycle Videos

21. Rock Cycle MAGMA Heats and melts Cools and hardens IGNEOUS METAMORPHIC
Weathers, erodes, and deposits
Stresses or heats
SEDIMENTARY