1. Landform Regions of Canada
An Overview

2. Canada’s Landforms
Canada is made up of three distinct landforms – shield, highlands, lowlands.
There are 7 Landform Regions of Canada.
Where are we?

3. Canada’s Landform Regions
Great Lakes-St.Lawrence Lowlands
Canadian Shield
Appalachian Mountains
Arctic and Hudson Bay Lowlands
Innuitian Mountains
Interior Plains
Western Cordillera

6. The Canadian Shield
The foundation of Canada, which covers more than half of Canada.
Some of the world’s oldest rocks are located in the shield (3.96 billion years old)
Today the Canadian Shield is relatively flat with rounded hills of rock.

8. Money from the Shield Two types of rock form the shield:
Igneous and Metamorphic
The shield contains valuable minerals:
Lead, Gold, Nickel, Copper
Diamonds have also been found in the ancient rock.

9. How did these minerals get there?
Mineral deposits were present in magma that forced its way into the cracks of the shield.
As it cooled, the minerals were deposited into these cracks.
This process deposited a wealth of minerals which are the foundation of our northern mining industry.

11. Mining Towns Sudbury, Ontario Thompson, Manitoba Yellowknife, NWT.
They rely on the minerals of the shield to create jobs and generate exports to be sent across Canada and the World.

13. The Canadian Shield - continued
The shield is not well suited for farming
It is an ideal place for recreation because of the scenic rivers, forests, waterfalls, lakes, and rock outcrops.
The glaciers gouged out depressions in the bedrock which created thousands of lakes.
The bedrock is impervious so the water stays.

15. The Lowlands
The bedrock under the lowlands is formed mainly of sediments eroded from the Shield.
The sediments were laid down in the seas that existed millions of years ago, and the compression formed sedimentary rock.

16. Interior Plains Part of the Great Plains of North America.
The inland seas that formed these contained coral reefs, that eventually eroded away and compressed deep below the surface.
These ancient reefs formed into the famous oil and gas deposits of Alberta.

18. Interior Plains - continued
The differential erosion of the sedimentary rock has created escarpment of hard to erode material.
Glacial erosion created the many lakes across the plains including Lake Winnipeg.
The soil that developed on the sediments is very fertile and as a result the Prairies have become our ‘breadbasket’, because of the production of wheat.

19. Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands
This region consists of two parts that are separated by a thin line of the Shield.
Similar to the Interior Plains, the inland seas formed sedimentary rock.
The differential erosion can be seen at the Niagara Escarpment.

21. Great Lakes
The Great Lakes portion was heavily affected by glaciation. Evidence can be seen in the rolling landscape.
The Great Lakes are located in basins that were gouged out by glaciers.
The lakes used to be much bigger, and the old shorelines can still be seen today.

24. St. Lawrence Lowlands
Formed by a rift valley that developed by faulting.
The rift valley was flooded at the end of the last ice age.
This landform region is great for agriculture because of excellent soil and warm climate.
About 50% of Canada’s population lives in this region, which comprises only 14% of Canada’s area.

26. Hudson Bay – Arctic Lowlands
A very flat and low lying area of swamps.
The Arctic lowlands are made up of a series of islands in Canada’s far north.
The harsh climate does not permit farming, as the ground is permafrost.
The sedimentary rock contains coal, oil, and natural gas deposits.

27. Appalachian Mountains
Stretch from Georgia to Newfoundland.
Oldest highland region in Canada, and millions of years of erosion have reduced them to rolling mountains and hills.
Glaciation played a big role in the erosion.
Drowned Coastline was formed when river valleys were drowned by rising sea levels.
Major harbours were created by this.

30. Innuitian Mountains
They measure up to 2500 metres in height in Canada’s far north.
Formed in the Mesozoic when the North American Plate moved north.
They are younger than the Appalachians, so erosion has not affected them as much.
These mountains are barren due to their location above the tree line.

32. Western Cordillera
The great height and rugged appearance tell us they are younger mountains.
Created by the collision of the North American and Pacific plates.
They run in a north-south direction and present a barrier for transportation.
The mountains contain many alpine glaciers that are actively carving the ranges.

33. Western Cordillera There are three major mountain divisions:
Eastern Mountains
Rocky Mountains and Columbia Mountains
Interior Plateaus
Okanagan Valley – fruit basket of Canada
Coast Mountains
Many fjords formed after glaciation.

37. Western Cordillera
The continuous movement of the North American and Pacific plate make the Coast Mountain area the most active earthquake centre of Canada.
In the past 70 years there have been more than 100 earthquakes.