Landform Regions Physical Geography of Canada Overview Regions

Landform Regions Physical Geography of Canada

Overview • “Regions” is a concept that we use to help organize information about different areas • Regions areas that have common characteristics such as government, landforms, or climate • Canada has the 2 nd largest land mass of any country • The physical geography of Canada is defined by its different regions

Overview • Different geographers will identify different areas as regions but those shown on the handout are generally accepted • Canada’s physical geography, from mountains to plains to the Shield to northern lands to lowlands, rivers and valleys affected the development and settlement of Canada

Overview • Each region in Canada has very different – – Geological features Landforms Climate Vegetation • Each region was formed by different geological processes • Canada’s regions include the Appalachian, St. Lawrence Lowlands, Canadian Shield, • Interior Plains, Cordillera, and the Arctic

Forces That Helped Form Canada’s Physical Shape • Snow and Ice – The Great Ice Age – Laurentide Ice Sheet – Keewatin Ice Sheet – Cordilleran Ice Sheet • Build up to +/- 3 km leading to movement from excessive pressure • Continental Glaciers (Ice Sheets) were responsible for the removal and deposition of large amounts of material • Warming +/- 10, 000 years ago left great amounts of water flooding, shaping and filling the landscape

Tectonic Forces That Helped Form Canada’s Physical Shape

Forces That Helped Form Canada’s Physical Shape - 2 • Erosional forces – Rain - Temperature changes – Running water - Vegetation roots – Sleet - Wind – Ice (freeze/thaw)

Appalachian Region Area Involved – Extension of the Appalachian Mountains (SE USA to the Maritimes) – Consists of Gaspe Peninsula, Eastern Townships, Maritimes & Nfld Physical Features – Rolling hills, valleys, small mountains, highlands and coastal fjords – An old mountain range worn down by millions of years of erosion – A mixture of sedimentary rock (erosional runoff from Shiled foll’d by plate collision), igneous (from volcanism) and metamorphic (from geologic forces)

Appalachians (cont’d) • Extensive folding and weathering • Sedimentation led to large deposits of coal. – Open the link at http: //www. gov. ns. ca/nsarm/virtual/meninmines/disast ers. asp? Language=English for a history of coal mining in Springhill, NS (1 st international live TV coverage of a Cdn event – the Springhill Bump 1958) – (Add link to Rita Mac. Neil & The Men of The Deeps + Working Man)

Appalachians (cont’d) • Geologic resources consist of: – Organic deposits from Carboniferous times (when the area was heavily forested) coal and offshore gas and oil – Small amounts of gypsum and asbestos – Glaciation – most dominant in the lowlands such as the Annapolis and St. John River valleys – left significant deposits agriculture

Appalachians (cont’d) • Other Resources – Ocean access is a prevailing feature of the region – Fishing is a major industry • When Cabot arrived off the shores of Nfld, he commented that the cod were so thick and plentiful that they could be scooped up in a bucket. We destroyed the cod fishery.

The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands Area Involved – Small area in Southern Ontario and Quebec – Between the Shield and the Appalachians Characteristics – Relatively low and flat – Good natural transportation from rivers and lakes – Pre-Cambrian rock (480 -600 million) overlaid with thick sediment, till, marine and lacustrine deposits

The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands Physical Features – Ancient rock formation followed by extensive glacial activity – Morraines, drumlins, glacial lake deposits and extensive sand clay deposits are evidence of glacial activity. – Some intrusions of igneous material in areas such as the Niagara Escarpment and the Monteregian Hills of Quebec – the few high elevations in the region

The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands • Resources – Oil and gas – Industrial minerals such as gypsum and silica • Other resources – Sand clay deposits are suitable for agriculture – Some of the best agricultural land is in the Niagara Escarpment and along the St. Lawrence R.

The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands • Agriculture – Strong orchard fruit production – Vineyards and wineries are well developed • Results of the Characteristics – The area provides benefits for living and working • The Natives and then the Europeans provided an agricultural basis for their lifestyle • Transportation encouraged the development of industry • Approx. ½ of the Cdn population lives in the area

The Canadian Shield • Unlike the other major landforms the orientation of the Shield is not N/S – it is saucer-shaped around the Hudson Bay Area Involved – Covers approximately 49% of Canada – the largest physical region in Canada – Includes parts of Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nunavut, NWT

The Canadian Shield Physical Features • Oldest geological structure • Volcanism, folding and erosion have led to extensive mineralization • Most rivers flow into HB • HB Lowlands is low and poorly drained • Area is low around HB and higher around the perimeter

The Canadian Shield • Area is rocky, with many lakes and rivers, small hills and valleys, cliffs and rocky outcrops • An area that is difficult for communication, transportation and human occupation • Glaciation has removed the top layer of rock but some deposition has occurred (clay belt is an example) • Rugged, forested with coniferous trees

The Canadian Shield • Resources • The area is a major source of mineral deposits of many types – Iron ore - Silver – Copper Silver - Zinc & Magnesium – Nickel (in particular the area around Sudbury) • The Clay Belt provides some agricultural potential

The Interior Plains (Prairie) Region Area Involved • Southwestern Manitoba, Southern Saskatchewan, Alberta, Western NWT, NE corner of BC • It is the northern part of a larger physical region extending down into the American Midwest

The Interior Plains (Prairie) Region • Physical Features • Generally flat and rolling – a large, open and fairly uniform region with few natural barriers • Three distinct levels rising from the Shield to the Rockies • Relatively sluggish, meandering rivers • Covered by a thick layer of sediment laid down in ancient seas and oceans

The Interior Plains (Prairie) Region

The Interior Plains (Prairie) Region • The picture in the previous slide is an example of the sand dune fields found in the Prairie Region • A specific example is the Carberry Sandhills that formed at the mouth of the Assiniboine River 10, 000 years ago from glacial deposits of sand silt • There are over 120 sand dune areas in the Prairie Region

The Interior Plains (Prairie) Region Resources • The major resources are – Varied agriculture potential depending on the soil type of a specific area including various cereal and other grains, potatoes, beans, fruit, hemp, honey, vegetables and woodlots – Industrial minerals – particularly potash (wood ash – used in fertilizer [N, Ph, K]) and sulphur (rubber, medicine, etc) – Oil and gas deposits

The Cordillera Area Involved • Extends ~800 km eastward of the PO to the eastern foothills of the Rockies in Alberta • Part of a chain of mountains that extends through the US to the Andes in SA • Cordillera is the Spanish word meaning ‘system of mountains’

The Cordillera Physical Features • Rugged and forbidding • Mountains run roughly N/S (more NW/SE) separated by narrow valleys (trenches) and interior plateaus • Dormant volcanoes, glaciers and ice fields • Large navigable rivers for short distances inland – generally steep inland rivers • Limited flat land • Coastline – fjord type – plate collisions

The Cordillera • Resources • Many metallic minerals can be found – in particular copper, gold, coal, silver, lead and zinc • Forestry is dominant – distinguish between the coastal forest and the interior forest types • Agriculture in areas built up from sedimentary deposits such as the Fraser Valley

The Cordillera Resources (cont’d) • Agriculture has led to the development of new products and processes (kiwi fruit, ginseng, and hot house operations). • 3% of the land is arable – 30% is used for some agricultural purpose • Hydroelectric potential from the river volume • Fisheries – inland fisheries and ocean fisheries

The Arctic Area Involved • Lowland areas including the southern Arctic Archipelago and part of western Baffin Island – relatively flat, tundra area • The northerly mountainous region known as the Innutians (above Parry Channel) – an area of treeless rugged islands • On Baffin Island (Canada’s largest Island) there are more than 10, 000 glaciers – mostly on the eastern side (? Aspect)

The Arctic Physical Features • Ancient rock formations – potential for mineral deposits • Many ‘permanent’ glaciers • Fjord features throughout the north • Little deposition as water flow was not restricted • Best viewed from a climate rather than landform perspective

The Arctic • Potential for metallic minerals – some lead/zinc and gold deposits have been discovered • Several diamond discoveries have been made • Oil and gas potential is huge making the Arctic a major region for competing claims among various countries • A second issue is the use of the Northwest Passage as an ‘international’ waterway

Summary • No set of notes will provide you with a complete overview of the physical regions of Canada, their diversity, their issues or their potential. • Use your text book, your workbook (if you purchased one, the Internet and other library sources to expand fill in gaps in your knowledge.