Canada’s Landform Regions

Landform Region Map

Western Cordillera

Description• Rugged/young

mountains• 2 major ranges• Fast flowing rivers

Rock Type• Sedimentary with

some igneous and metamorphic

A glacier-fed lake in Jasper National Park in Alberta

Western Cordillera

Formation• Folding (Rocky Mts)• Volcanic (Coastal Mts)• Lava flows (interior

Plateaus)

Mountains of the Yukon.

Notice the jagged peaks. If

you looks carefully, you will

also see glaciers.

Western Cordillera

Human Activities• Forestry• Transportation• Tourism• Fishing

Interior Plains

Description• Flat to rolling plains• 3 levels separated by

escarpments• Deep river valleys

Rock Type• Sedimentary

Interior Plains

Formation• Deposition of

sediment into ancient seas

• Glaciation• Differential erosion to

form escarpments

Farmland near the Red River in Southern Manitoba

Interior Plains

Human Activities• Agriculture (wheat)• Oil and gas• Potash mining• Cattle ranching

Canadian Shield

Description• Oldest rock• Relatively flat with

rounded hills• Thousands of lakes• Saucer shaped

Rock type• Igneous and

Metamorphic

A boulder in the Northwest Territories.It was deposited here by a retreating glacier.

Canadian Shield

Formation• Volcanic mountains

(igneous rock)• Erosion leveled

mountains• Glaciers scraped soil and

made lakes.

Notice the scratches in therock. They were caused byGlaciers retreating.

Canadian Shield

Human Activities• Mining metallic

minerals• Tourism & recreation

Hudson Bay Lowlands

A wetland known as a muskeg in Northern Manitoba

Description• Flat, low and

swampy.

Rock Type• Sedimentary

Hudson Bay Lowlands

Formation• Sediment deposited

under glacial melt water

Human Activities- None

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands

Description• Flat plains to rolling

hills• Great Lakes• St Lawrence = rift

valleyRock Type• Sedimentary (some

igneous in St. Lawrence region)

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands

Formation• Sediment deposited

into shallow ancient seas

• Glaciation• St Lawrence Rifting

Valley

A typical farm in Ontario

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands

Human Activities • Agriculture = Farming• Tourism• Manufacturing• Urbanization

Appalachian Mountains

Description• Oldest highland • Rolling mountains and

hills• Wide glacial valleys• Long deep coastal inlets

Rock Type• Sedimentary with some

igneous and metamorphic

Appalachian Mountains

Formation• Collision of plates =

Folding• Some volcanic activity• Eroded rounded

mountains

Human Activities• Fishing• Agriculture

Arctic Lowlands

Description• Islands, gently rolling

hills

Rock Type• Sedimentary

Tundra in Nunavut. Notice the flat land and strewn rocks.

Arctic Lowlands

Formation• Sedimentary rock

scraped bare by glaciers (deposition)

Human Activities• Oil and Natural Gas

exploration and drilling

Innuitian Mountains

Description• Rugged, ice covered

mountains

Rock Type• Sedimentary with

some igneous and metamorphic

The dramatic cliffs of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut.

Innuitian Mountains

Formation• Collision of plates =

folding• Some Volcanic

activity

Human Activities• Oil and Natural Gas