cgc – lets get physical! canada’s landforms

CGC – Lets Get CGC – Lets Get Physical!Physical!

Canada’s Landforms Canada’s Landforms

Canada’s Landform RegionsCanada’s Landform Regions

Topography: • The Earth’s surface features including vegetation, soils, and

features shaped by humans.

Canadian Shield:• Constitutes more than half of Canada’s geography• Has some of the world’s oldest rocks• Formed by igneous and metamorphic rock• Good for mining (many minerals); Bad for farming (thin soil)• Glaciers removed large amounts of soil/ clay/ rock/ and gravel

from the Shield. • Today, most of the Shield is covered by a thin layer of soil

(bedrock is visible in many places).

Lowlands:• The bedrock under the lowlands is formed mainly of

sediments eroded from the Shield.

Interior Plains:• Were often covered by shallow inland seas• Thick layers of mineral deposits were left in the dried-out

sea beds• These layers are now deep within the earth, covered by

newer rocks and glacial deposits• Not necessarily flat! Many rolling hills/ valleys• This is Canada’s “Breadbasket” because so much wheat is

grown here.

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands• Most southerly region in Canada• Flat plains with glacial hills and deep river valleys• The Great Lakes were likely much larger than

today b/c of the enormous volume of water from melting glaciers. They later shrank as this ‘meltwater’ drained into the ocean.

• Good for agriculture (excellent soils/ warm climate)• Most densely populated region in Canada

Hudson Bay – Arctic Lowlands

• Flat, low area covered by forest

• Series of islands located in Canada’s far north (harsh climate)

• Bad for agriculture (frozen ground)

Highlands:

Appalachian Mountains• Oldest highland region in Canada• Layers of sedimentary rock are rich in ‘non-

metallic minerals’ such as coal.

• Millions of years of erosion have reduced what used to be peaks to rolling mountains/ hills.

Innuitians

• Mostly composed of sedimentary rock

• Younger than Appalachians

• Large areas are covered by ice and permanent snow

• Mineral resources have hardly been exploited as it’s cheaper to do so in the southern (less remote) areas.

Western Cordillera• Along western coast of Canada, on into the

western border of Alberta• Caused by a heavier Pacific plate colliding

with a lighter North American plate • Transportation challenges (mountains =

physical barrier)• Low population, with the exception of high

density areas in the Lower Mainland and southern tip of Vancouver Island