Landform Regions of Canada Kirsten Davel Landform Regions

Landform Regions of Canada Kirsten Davel

Landform Regions of Canada

What is a Landform Region? • A landform region is a region in which certain physical features are dominant. • Examples of physical features include shields, mountains, hills, plains and lowlands. • Examples of Landform Regions in Canada include: – The Canadian Shield – The Western Cordillera Mountains – The Interior Plains – The Arctic Lowlands

The Canadian Shield • The geographic foundation of Canada • Contains the oldest rocks in Canada • Dominant rock type is igneous but the Shield also contains metamorphic rock • Contains valuable minerals in large quantities e. g. : lead, gold, copper, zinc. Often called the “storehouse of Canada's metallic minerals” • Mining towns include Sudbury, Ontario, Thompson, Manitoba and Yellowknife, NWT

The Canadian Shield (cont. ) • Not well suited to farming because of thin soils and poor drainage • Ideal for recreation – lakes, waterfalls, rivers, forests • Glaciation during the Ice Age created depressions which filled with melt water to form thousands of lakes on the impervious Shield – wonderful resource for hydro power

The Canadian Shield http: //geoimages. berkeley. edu

The Lowlands • 3 lowland regions surrounding the Shield – The Interior Plains – Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands – Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands • Bedrock formed of sediments eroded from the Shield – compressed in shallow seas to form sedimentary rock

Interior Plains • Part of the Great Plains of North America • Used to be covered by inland seas – sediments eroded from the Shield and the Rockies were deposited as sedimentary rock • Contain oil and gas deposits (AB and SK) • Contain mineral deposits such as potash

Interior Plains (cont. ) • Softer sedimentary rocks erode – rolling hills and deep wide river valleys • Glacier melt water collected in large lakes such as Lake Winnipeg • Soils developed from the breakdown of the sedimentary rock are deep, fertile and well -drained suitable for agriculture • Canada’s breadbasket – wheat • Cattle ranching in drier areas

Interior Plains www. bigbarranch. com www. nwri. ca

Great Lakes- St. Lawrence Lowlands • Sedimentary bedrock • Glaciation formed a rolling landscape • Great Lakes formed in giant basins carved out by the glacial ice sheet • St. Lawrence Lowland consists of a rift valley formed by faulting • Most southerly region in Canada • Excellent soils and mild climate for agriculture • Industrial and urban heartland of Canada

Great Lakes- St. Lawrence Lowlands http: //collections. ic. gc. ca

Great Lakes- St. Lawrence Lowlands http: //neon. polkaroo. net

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands

Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands • Hudson Bay Lowlands consist of a flat, low area covered by swampy forest • Arctic Lowlands – series of islands with gentle rolling hills - permafrost http: //civil. queensu. ca www. uoguelph. ca

Appalachian Mountains • Stretch from Southern Georgia (USA) through the Maritimes to Newfoundland in the North • Oldest highland region of Canada • Sedimentary rock layers were uplifted and folded when N. America collided with Europe and N. Africa • Rich in deposits of coal • Rolling mountains • Glaciers formed deep submerged valleys at the coast – ideal harbours for fishing fleets

Appalachian Mountains www. ageefilms. org www. chuckhawks. com http: //nfinteractive. com www. itcwebdesigns. com/

Innuitian Mountains • Icy, northern mountains • Younger than Appalachians • Formed from sedimentary rock predominantly • Barren (no trees) – extremely cold climate

Innuitian Mountains

Western Cordillera • The word “cordillera” refers to parallel mountain ranges separated by plateaux and valleys (draw profile) • Geologically young • Formed from the collision of the North American and Pacific Plates resulting in the uplift of the region into several mountain ranges

Western Cordillera • Cordillera runs north-south – obstacle to transportation which runs east-west • Only a few passes low enough for roads and railways to cross over the Cordillera • Population live in river valleys and deltas • Alpine glaciation shapes the topography

Western Cordillera www. valemount. com