1. Canadian Landforms

2. Types of Landforms
Canada is made up of three distinct types of landforms:
The Canadian Shield
Lowlands
Highlands

3. The Lowlands There are three lowland regions surrounding the Shield:
The Interior Plains
The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands
Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands

4. The Lowlands
An area of land that is low in relation to the surrounding country.
The bedrock under these lowland is formed mainly of sediments eroded from the Shield
As rock particles collected, the weight of the upper layers compressed the lower layers into sedimentary rocks

5. Interior Plains
It is found in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

6. The Interior Plains
During the Paleozoic era, sediments that eroded from the Shield and the Rocky Mountains were deposited
Part of the sedimentary rock consisted of coral reefs
Today, the reefs are thousands of metres below the surface of the land and contain much of the oil and gas found in Alberta and Saskatchewan

7. The Interior Plains
During the Mesozoic era, shallow seas covered the region of Saskatchewan
When the seas evaporated, thick layers
of mineral deposits were left behind
Potash is mined from these layers and used as fertilizer in Canada and overseas
The swamps on the edges of these ancient seas produced plants that were changed eventually into coal, which is mined today

8. The Interior Plains Erosion shaped the surface of the landscape
the Interior Plains are mainly flat, but the landscape is also composed of some rolling hills, and deep, wide river valleys
Overall, the land slopes gently downward from west to east

9. The Interior Plains Glaciation also shaped the landscape
Glaciers left deposits that produced rounded, gently, rolling landscape
Glaciers melted and formed a large lake over much of what is now southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but as land rose, it drained into the ocean
Small portions of the lake remain today, known as Lake Winnipeg, Lake Manitoba,

10. The Interior Plains
The soil that developed on these sediments is deep and fertile
Grain is grown in many parts of the Interior Plains - it is known as Canada’s “breadbasket”
So much wheat is grown here
Cattle is raised in places where the climate is too dry for crops

11. Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands
It is the smallest region in Canada
The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands is located at the southern regions of Ontario and Quebec. It extends from Quebec City, to Windsor, ON.

12. Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands
Sedimentary rock formed here from the Paleozoic era
The Niagara Escarpment is best known in this region. It was formed by differential erosion (different rates of erosion cause different levels of elevation)

13. Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands
In the Great Lakes portion of the lowlands, glaciation created rolling landscapes
While glaciers carried huge amounts of material from the Shield, flat plains with glacial hills and deep river valleys were formed

14. Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands
Glaciers gouged out The Great Lakes
The lakes were larger then than they are now because of the enormous volume of water from the melting glaciers
The meltwater drained into the ocean

15. Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands
The St. Lawrence Lowland was formed by a rift valley (tensional forces cause the earth’s plate to split apart. The centre block will drop down, forming steep walls)

16. Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands
It is well-suited to agriculture because ot its excellent soils and warm climate
The flat land is ideal for transportation routes and development of cities
Canada’s two largest cities, Toronto and Montréal are located here
It is best known as Canada’s
industrial and urban heartland

17. Hudson Bay - Arctic Lowlands
• Flat, low area covered by swampy forest
The waters of Hudson Bay covered much of this lowland at the end of the last Ice Age
Has a layer of sedimentary rock

18. Hudson Bay - Arctic Lowlands
Made up of a series of islands located in the far north
Have gently rolling hills and low elevations
Contains a great deal of swamps with poor drainage
Harsh climate does not permit farming - the ground remains frozen most of the year
Oil, natural gas and lignite ( form of coal) is deposited here