9 Landform Regions of Canada

What is a Landform Region? ♦ A landform region is a region in which certain ______features are dominant. ♦ Examples of physical features include shields, mountains, hills, plains and lowlands. ♦ Examples of Landform Regions in Canada include: o The ______Shield o The Western Cordillera ______o The Interior ______o The ______Lowlands

The ♦ The geographic ______of Canada ♦ Contains the ______rocks in Canada ♦ Dominant rock type is ______but the Shield also contains metamorphic rock ♦ Contains valuable minerals in large quantities e.g.: lead, gold, copper, zinc. Often called the “storehouse of Canada's ______minerals” ♦ Mining towns include ______, Ontario, Thompson, Manitoba and Yellowknife, NWT ♦ Not well suited to farming because of ______soils and ______drainage ♦ Ideal for recreation – lakes, waterfalls, rivers, forests ♦ Glaciation during the Ice Age created depressions which filled with melt water to form thousands of lakes on the impervious Shield – wonderful resource for ______power

The Lowlands ♦ 3 lowland regions surrounding the Shield o The ______Plains o ______Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands o Hudson Bay-______Lowlands ♦ Bedrock formed of sediments eroded from the Shield – compressed in shallow seas to form ______rock

Interior Plains ♦ Part of the Great ______of North America ♦ Used to be covered by inland seas – sediments eroded from the Shield and the Rockies were deposited as ______rock ♦ Contain ______and gas deposits (AB and SK) ♦ Contain mineral deposits such as potash ♦ Softer sedimentary rocks erode – rolling hills and deep wide river valleys ♦ Glacier melt water collected in large lakes such as Lake Winnipeg ♦ Soils developed from the breakdown of the sedimentary rock are ______, fertile and well-drained suitable for ______♦ Canada’s breadbasket – ______♦ Cattle ranching in drier areas GEOGRAPHY 9 Landform Regions of Canada Great Lakes- St. Lawrence Lowlands ♦ ______bedrock ♦ Glaciation formed a rolling landscape ♦ Great Lakes formed in giant basins carved out by the glacial ice sheet ♦ St. Lawrence Lowland consists of a ______valley formed by faulting ♦ Most ______region in Canada ♦ ______soils and ______climate for agriculture ♦ Industrial and urban ______of Canada

Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands ♦ consist of a ______, low area covered by ______forest ♦ Arctic Lowlands – series of islands with gentle rolling hills - permafrost

Mountain Regions

Appalachian Mountains ♦ Stretch from Southern Georgia (USA) through the Maritimes to Newfoundland in the North ♦ ______highland region of Canada ♦ Sedimentary rock layers were uplifted and folded when N. America collided with Europe and N. Africa ♦ Rich in deposits of ______♦ ______mountains ♦ Glaciers formed deep submerged valleys at he coast – ideal ______for fishing fleets

Innuitian Mountains ♦ Icy, northern mountains ♦ Younger than Appalachians ♦ Formed from sedimentary rock predominantly ♦ Barren (no ______) – extremely cold climate

Western Cordillera ♦ The word “cordillera” refers to ______mountain ranges separated by plateaux and valleys (draw profile) ♦ Geologically ______♦ Formed from the collision of the North American and Pacific Plates resulting in the uplift of the region into several mountain ranges ♦ Cordillera runs north-south – obstacle to transportation which runs east-west ♦ Only a few passes low enough for roads and railways to ______over the Cordillera ♦ Population live in river valleys and deltas ♦ ______glaciation shapes the topography