Keenan Brown
Mr. Fletcher
Canadian Geography 120
May. 1 / 2016 7 Landforms Regions of Canada The movements of the Earth’s plates have altered the land we live on and therefore altering our way of life. Because Canada is in a temperate climate the four seasons change the already vast set of landscapes each year making them change even more. In Canada we have several different landform regions full of different species, habitats and minerals all unique to their own region. Along with each region, different properties are present giving each a different climate and changing the lives’ of the people who live there. The first of several covers a good half of the country. The Canadian Shield covers most of Nunavut, Quebec, Ontario, Labrador, Manitoba, as well as a large part of Saskatchewan and smaller parts of Alberta and the North West Territories. The Canadian Shield is a relatively flat landscape with rounded hills of metamorphic rock. This region is rich in minerals and is often used as a mining area for many of the provinces. It is a bad area in Canada for farming because the soil is too thin. It is mainly covered in Boreal Forest in the south and Tundra in the north. The Western Cordillera rests along the western edge of Canada, covering most of Yukon Territory and British Columbia as well as western Alberta. Consists of high, sharp-peaked mountains separated by plateaus and valleys, running North to South. Created by the North American and Pacific plates. The Western Cordillera is lightly populated and travel is difficult due to the high altitude and mountain roads. Yet, it is an area rich in minerals, timber, and sources of hydro electricity. The Appalachian Mountains cover some of southern Quebec. And most of the Atlantic Provinces. It is the oldest highland region in Canada, created when the North American plate collided with Europe and Africa roughly 300 million years ago. Erosion has rounded the mountains over time, creating a landscape of rolling mountains and hills. The Appalachians are characterized by a wealth of large, beautiful deciduous broadleaf (hardwood) trees. During the 19th and early 20th centuries the Appalachian forests were subject to severe and destructive logging and land clearing. Animals that live in the Appalachian forests include squirrels, rabbits and deer, which have greatly increased in abundance as a result of the elimination of the Gray Wolf and the Eastern Cougar or Mountain Lion by European settlers. There are long ocean bays which provide deep harbors for ocean freighters. The Innuitian Mountains are located in Canada’s arctic territories of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. In some locations mountains measure over 2,500 meters high and 1290 km in length. They are young mountains and so erosion has not had a huge impact on the mountains. Being above the tree line, any vegetation ceases to exist. They are largely unexplored and populated by the northern indigenous people who live there. Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands are south of the Canadian shield, in Ontario and Quebec. It is also the smallest landform region in Canada. It consists of glacier deposits of huge amounts of soil, sand and gravel. The landscape is full of flat plains with small hills and deep river valleys. It is a well-suited place for farming because of the excellent soils and warm climate. Before heavy farming and urban sprawl, this area as home to large forests. Half of Canada’s population lives here and 70% of the industries of Canada reside in this region too. The interior plains extend through the middle of Canada from North to South, covering most of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and some of NWT and Manitoba. It is very flat, with deep, fertile soil. Created when sediments from the Canadian Shield and the Rocky Mountains were deposited in shallow inland seas and compressed into layers of sedimentary rock. The southern part of the interior plains is mostly treeless, with grasses and herbs. The northern part is home to a belt of coniferous trees, the Boreal forest, which extends from the Rocky Mountains all the way across Canada to Newfoundland. The plains are extensively used for farming wheat and cattle, it’s often referred to as Canada’s “Bread Basket”. The Hudson Bay Lowlands are around the southwestern shore of the Hudson Bay and James Bay in Ontario and Quebec. It’s mostly muskeg or peat-forming wetlands. The region is famous for its polar bears. Caribou migrate to the area in summer and during summer the coast of this region is alive with birds, such as lesser snow geese, Canada geese, brant, and many shore-birds.