Landform Regions

1. Landform Regions Physical Geography of Canada

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. Tectonic Forces That Helped Form Canada’s Physical Shape

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

8. 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)

9. 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/disasters.asp?Language=English for a history of coal mining in Springhill, NS (1st international live TV coverage of a Cdn event – the Springhill Bump - 1958) • (Add link to Rita MacNeil & The Men of The Deeps + Working Man)

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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

13. The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands Physical Features • Ancient rock formation followed by extensive glacial activity • Morraines, drumlins, glacial lake deposits and extensive sand and 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

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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. The Interior Plains(Prairie) Region

23. 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 and silt • There are over 120 sand dune areas in the Prairie Region

24. 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

25. 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’

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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)

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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 and fill in gaps in your knowledge.