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LANDFORM REGIONS OF
CANADA
Rock Types in Canada
Profile of Canada
The Western Cordillera
• The Western Cordillera region covers most of
British Columbia and the Yukon Territory. The
great height and rugged appearance of the
mountains tell us they are very young. The
collision of the North American and the Pacific
plates uplifted the region into several mountain
ranges.
• From West to East, the Western
Cordillera is composed of three subregions, each one running from north to
south
• The West Coast Mountains on the
Pacific coast
• The Interior Plateau in the middle
• The Rockies, bordering and crossing in
to Alberta
See Fig. 11-13 on p. 113*
Google Earth - Vancouver Island
Coastal Mountains
The West Coast Mountains
•
•
•
•
•
VERY TALL PEAKS
VOLCANIC
MANY FIORDS (narrow inlets)
IN SOME AREAS, THE SEA
OFFERS THE BEST WAY TO
GET AROUND
COMMUNITIES IN VALLEYS
ON SHORELINES
WEST COAST MOUNTAINS
• Subduction zone
• Oceanic plate
sliding under
continental plate
• Prone to
earthquakes
WEST COAST MOUNTAINS
• SOME VOLCANOES
MORE RECENT THAN
OTHERS
• MOUNTAINS
COVERED IN LUSH
FORESTS
WEST COAST MOUNTAINS
•
•
INDUSTRIES TAKE
ADVANTAGE OF THE
RESOURCES AND
LANDFORMS OF THE
AREA
WHISTLER ATTRACTS A
SIGNIFICANT NUMBER
OF ….
WEST COAST EXTREME
• WHY WOULD EARLY
SETTLERS HAVE
FOUND THIS REGION
DIFFICULT TO
CROSS?
• WHAT WOULD
DISCOURAGE
SETTLERS FROM
REMAINING IN THIS
REGION?
THE INTERIOR PLATEAU
• A HIGHLAND FLAT AREA
• THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH
COLUMBIA IS A MIXTURE
OF SMALL MOUNTAIN
RANGES AND HIGH
FLATLAND AREAS (hence,
“plateau”)
• LOADED WITH VALUABLE
METALLIC MINERALS
• DUE TO GLACIAL AND
RIVER DEPOSITS =
EXCELLENT FARMLAND!
INTERIOR PLATEAUS
• DESCRIBE
TWO THINGS
ABOUT THIS
LANDSCAPE
USING THE
IMAGE TO
THE LEFT
The Interior Plateau
• EVEN THOUGH IT IS IN
THE MOUNTAINS, THERE
ARE A NUMBER OF WELL
KNOWN COMMUNITIES
WHERE PEOPLE FARM
AND RANCH
• PLACES SUCH AS
PENTICTON, KELOWNA,
OKANAGAN VALLEY AND
GOLDEN ARE IMPORTANT
COMMUNITIES
The Interior Plateau
• Tourism is a big
industry
• What types of
tourist activities
would take place
here? (record your
answer)
The Rockies
THE ROCKIES
• CANADA’S LARGEST
AND YOUNGEST
MOUNTAINS
• WHAT WOULD YOU
TELL A FRIEND ABOUT
ROCKIES’
VEGETATION AND
CLIMATE? (record your
answer)
• IF THE CAMERA
POINTS NORTH, WHAT
TIME OF DAY IS IT IN
THE 2nd PICTURE?
(6am, 9am, 5pm or
7pm?)
Lake Louise
• This is one of
Canada’s most
favoured tourist spots
- Chateau Lake Louise
• What is the flat
surface in the
foreground?
• What are the almost
straight lines on the
mountain slopes?
Unlike flat regions, mountains are known for fastflowing rivers which gouge/cut steep valleys in the
landscape
In what ways do the climate and vegetation change
as you go up the mountainside?
The Rockies are home to many alpine
glaciers
• A narrow channel
of ice which slides
down a mountain.
• Snow accumulates
at the top of the
glacier/ melts at
the bottom
• What season is
shown in this
image?
Interior Plains
The Interior Plains
(Prairies)
• Once the bed of a huge sea between
the Canadian Shield and the Rockies =
mineral deposits
• Glaciation = deposits
• Mostly flat
• Composed of sedimentary rocks
• Highly suitable for farming where
climate offers the right conditions
The Interior Plains
A typical huge prairie farm.
The Prairies
• Known for its
relatively dry
climate
Vegetation on the
Interior Plains
• Is this ‘parkland’ or
‘grassland’?
• What type of
vegetation would you
expect to see farther
north where it is
colder and damper?
(record your answer)
The Interior Plains
Economy
• Agriculture is one
of the most
important activities
in the Interior
Plains
• What other major
resource activity
takes place there?
(record your
answer)
Transport on the Prairies
Canada’s wheat
basket requires
many kilometers of
rail lines to deliver
wheat to
Vancouver,
Hudson Bay and
Thunder Bay
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield
• Largest region in Canada and the
geographic foundation of Canada
• Among the oldest known rocks on the
planet
• Formed by volcanic activity, therefore
mostly igneous rock (but lots of
metamorphic rock too) = valuable metallic
minerals
• Cold winters, warm summers,
precipitation all year give it a distinctive
type of vegetation
CANADIAN SHIELD
• Stretches from Arctic
to Great Lakes, from
Mackenzie delta to
Atlantic
• Soils are thin - a poor
choice for
agriculture/farming in
most places
• But the drainage of
the Shield = winding
rivers, lakes, and
wetlands. Great for
tourism!
TYPICAL FEATURES OF THE
CANADIAN SHIELD
• What does the
vegetation tell you
of the location of
this part of the
Shield?
• Name two typical
features of the
Shield shown by
this picture
Canadian Shield Wildlife
Vegetation on the Shield
• White patches
reveal the
extraction of
resources on
the Shield.
• What
resource is
being
extracted?
Great Lakes - St.
Lawrence Lowlands
Great Lakes St. Lawrence
Lowlands
• Most southerly and smallest landform
region of Canada
• Newest landform region
• Formed by the action of glaciers
scraping away and re-depositing
material on the landscape
• Consists of lakes, valleys and rolling
hills
Great Lakes - St.
Lawrence Lowlands
• Why would landforms of
this region favour large
scale settlement?
Comment on: soil, climate,
flat land for transportation
• Densely populated
• Many of Canada’s largest
cities “Canada’s industrial
and urban heartland”
• What is meant by the term
‘high density’? People/KM
Gt. Lakes - St. Lawrence
Lowlands
Southern Ontario Farming
• Much of this region
is taken up with
dairy farming
• What products are
created in dairy
farming?
• Why is dairy
farming important
to this area?
Other features of this
region
• The image shows a
popular part of
Southern Ontario.
• Why is southern
Ontario a popular
tourist
destination?
(record your
answer)
The Appalachians
APPALACHIANS
• How would you describe
to a friend the land in this
image? (record your
answer)
• This is part of the Cabot
Trail on Cape Breton
Island
• Oldest highland region in
Canada made mostly of
sedimentary rock = nonmetallic minerals like coal
• Land sank and “Drowned
coastline” after last Ice
Age = deep harbours
The Maritimes
• While the Atlantic
provinces have
relatively poor
economies, still many
people want to live
there.
• What features of
Atlantic life would
encourage people to
live there? (record
your answer)
Nova Scotia
• The flatter land
next to the sea
reveals the
location of the old
shoreline
New Brunswick
• Compare this
landscape to
southern Ontario
• What is similar and
what is different?
ARCTIC AND HUDSON
BAY LOWLANDS
• Usual to think the
Arctic has few if any
plants
• When would you
expect to see the
most Arctic growth?
• But ground remains
frozen for most of the
year
• Deposits = coal, oil
and natural gas
The Arctic - the most varied
Canadian region
• This is the Brodeur peninsula of Baffin Island
NT
• Describe the shape of the land, the amount and
type of vegetation, the amount of water present
Brodeur Peninsula Baffin Island NT
• These are called
Hoodoos
• What kind of
erosion do you
think formed
them?
Baffin Island
Greenshield Glacier
• Continental glaciers or icefields
Shark Fjord
• This valley was carved out by a narrow
band of glacial ice cutting into the plateau
on either side
Labrador - Torngat
Mountains NL
Ayr Lake - Baffin Island
NU
• Very remote to
most Canadians
• Some mining
industries are
leaving a
permanent
mark on the
landscape
District of Mackenzie NT
District of Mackenzie
• What season is
this?
• What evidence is
there that this
area experiences
warm summers?
• Describe the
nature of soil in
this region
District of Mackenzie
• Why would these
features be called
‘kettles’?
• Where do these
‘kettles’ drain out?
• Formed by
retreating glaciers
or draining
floodwaters.