Canada’s Landform Regions

February 18, 2015

Today’s Agenda

• 3 basic types of landforms

• 7 landform regions

• Activity

Canada has three basic types of landforms:

1. Shield

2. Highlands

3. Lowlands

Canada’s landform regions

1. Canadian Shield - Core of Canada; covers more than half of Canada

2. Great Lakes St. Lawrence Lowlands

3. Interior Plains

4. Hudson Bay – Arctic Lowlands

5. Appalachians – oldest and smallest of highlands, due to erosion

6. Innuitian Mountains – very far north

7. Western Cordillera – the youngest and the highest

Shield

Lowlands

Highlands

Profile of Southern Canada’s Landform regions

Canadian Shield

• The geologic foundation of Canada

• More than half of Canada is covered by the shield

• Some of the world’s oldest rocks are found here

• Made up of ancient mountains that have been eroded

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands

• Where the Niagara Region is found!

• Small but largely populated

• Made up of two parts: The Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Lowlands, separated by a thin wedge of Canadian Shield

• Made up of many escarpments, the largest being Niagara Falls itself

Interior Plains

• Stretch from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico

• Mostly flat land caused by erosion and deposited sediments

• Known as “Canada’s Breadbasket” – so much wheat is grown here

Hudson Bay – Arctic Lowlands

• Found on the shore of Hudson Bay and James Bay

• Flat, low area covered by swampy forest

• Covered by water at one point that compacted rock, silt, and sand to create sedimentary rock

• Made up of a series of islands

Appalachians

• Stretch from Georgia to Newfoundland

• Oldest highland region in North America

• Formed 300 million years ago

Innuitian Mountains

• In Canada’s far North

• 2500 metres in height

• Composed mostly of sedimentary rock

• Younger than the Appalachian mountains, therefore erosion has not worn them down as much yet

• Barren (no vegetation)• Trees cannot survive the cold there and the

summer is too short for vegetation to grow

Western Cordillera

• Found on the western side of Canada

• Consists of a range of mountains (young)

• Difficult travel routes here because the mountains are in the way

• Great tourist area because of beautiful mountains

Activity

• Use pages 130 – 142 to fill in the chart

• For each of the landform regions, you will discover:• The types of rocks and minerals found in that region• What provinces or territories it is located in• Characteristics (ex. Canadian Shield has rounded hills

of rock)• The commercial use (ex. Interior Plains is used for

mining and farming crops and cattle)• The geologic process that shaped the landform (ex.

Innuitian Mountains were formed by erosion and glaciers)