Download The Physical Regions of Canada

The Physical Regions of Canada
Pages 16-24
Second Place is Not the First Loser!
• Largest country in the
Western Hemisphere
• world's second-largest
country by total area
and the fourth-largest
country by land area
• Canada's border with
the United States is the
world's longest land
border.
Defining Factors of a Natural Region
• Each region of Canada
has very different
geological features
-
Landforms
Climate
Vegetation
Wildlife (some similarities due to
migration and movement by
displacement)
Appalachian Region
• Extension of Appalachian
mountains
• varied landscape of rolling
hills, valleys, and small
mountains, highlands, and
coastal fjords (mountains
worn down by glaciers and
millions of years of
erosion)
How Was It Formed
• The terrain was formed
from tectonic movements
between 480 and 280
million years ago.
• Sedimentary rock reveals
deeply buried structures,
changes in vegetation,
and Igneous rock which
demonstrates volcanic
activity
Vegetation and Resources
• Heavily forested
with coniferous and
deciduous trees.
• Rich in deposits of
coal, minerals such
as iron, lead, and
zinc, forests, and
fishing resources
The Canadian Shield Region
• It is the largest
physiographic region
in Canada, comprising
32 per cent of the land
surface.
• Stretches from the
arctic islands to the US
boarder to
Newfoundland
How Was It Formed
• The Shield was once a
volcanic mountain
range that has been
eroded and worn
down by retreating
glaciers to form a
landscape of flat
rocks, lakes, and
wetlands
Vegetation
• Mostly trees grow in
the Canadian Shield.
• south the trees get
bigger and move closer
together.
• north the trees get
smaller and move
apart.
• northern part doesn’t
have any forests.
Resources
• One of the world’s
richest areas for
mining
• valuable minerals
such as copper,
gold, lead,
diamonds,
platinum, and nickel
The Arctic Region
• The Arctic region includes
plains, lowlands, and
mountains
• The Inuit are facing
territory loss due to the
melting permafrost
• Facing increased pressure
to allow oil tankers to sail
through arctic passage
How It Was Formed?
• Glaciation over much
of northern Canada
formed a landscape
• mountains formed by
tectonic pressure at
the northeastern edge
of the Canadian Shield
pushing up
sedimentary rock
Vegetation and Resources
• treeless because of its low
temperatures and short
growing season.
• Moss and shrubs are the
dominant flora
• Deposits of uranium,
nickel, copper, zinc, silver,
gold and diamonds
• Oil and natural gas have
been found under the
Arctic Ocean and islands.
The St. Lawrence Lowlands
• The St. Lawrence
Lowlands are between
Lakes Huron, Erie,
and Ontario and
extend along the banks
of the St. Lawrence
River to Quebec City
How It Was Formed?
• Formed mainly by
retreating ice sheets
during the last ice age
• These ice sheets pushed
soils from the shield onto
the lowlands
• As the ice sheets melted
giants lakes were formedThe Great Lakes!
Vegetation and Resources
• Most of the forests are
very old, and contain a
variety of different types of
deciduous and
coniferous trees.
• Trees grow very large here
because of the hot
weather.
• rich fertile soils to grow
- vineyards, wineries, and
orchards of peaches,
apples, and cherries.
The Interior Plains
• The Canadian
Interior Plains
region stretches
from the Canadian
Shield to the
Cordillera
mountains
- Prairie lands
How It Was Formed?
• formed as soils carried by
rivers from the Canadian
Shield were deposited
forming layers of
sedimentary rock
• millions of years ago, plant
and animal remains were
pressed between the
sedimentary rock forming
large fossil fuel deposits
Vegetation and Resources
• Some of the best
farming soil in the
world
• grow oats, barley,
wheat and different
types grass.
• Trees such as fir, pine
and spruce.
• mineral resources such
as salt, oil, natural gas
and coal.
The Cordillera: We Live Here!!!!!!
• The Cordillera includes
British Columbia, the
Yukon, southwest
Alberta and part of
North West Territories.
• Made up of parallel
mountain ranges
separated by a series of
plateaus, trenches and
valleys
- Includes dormant
volcanoes, glaciers, and ice
fields
How It Was Formed?
• The Rocky and Coastal
mountains are the
youngest landforms in
Canada
• Formed when plate
collision caused the
earth’s crust to buckle,
pushing and folding
volcanic rock into
mountains
Vegetation and Resources
• Vegetation ranges from
alpine tundra to coastal
rainforest to grasslands
and savannah forests.
• Rich in minerals such
as copper, gold, and
coal.
• Other resources
include forestry,
fishing, and rich soils