Chapter 02 5/5/06 3:40 PM Page 18 Chapter 2 The Rocky Mountain Region What makes the Rocky Mountain region a unique part of Alberta? My Dad works for the Canadian National Railway, and our family moved to Jasper because of his work. I think living in the Rocky Mountain region is like living in the middle of a silvery crown. In the Rocky Mountains, you can see snow on the mountain tops, even during the summer. My new friends at school pointed out a mountain called Roche Bonhomme (rosh boh num), a French phrase that means “good fellow rock.” It is also called Old Man Mountain. If you stand in Jasper and look up at the mountains in the northeast, you will see what looks like a sleeping man. Whenever I leave my house, I always look up at him and silently send him my greetings. On my birthday, I was given my own camera. I took the picture you see here and many others. This is a beautiful area in all four seasons. My photos tell part of Alberta’s story. I think you can really see the side view of the sleeping man’s face in this photo of Roche Bonhomme. 18 NEL Chapter 02 5/5/06 3:40 PM Page 19 What I Want to Know… …About the Rocky Mountain Region The Rocky Mountain region begins at the southwestern border of Alberta. It is part of the Rocky Mountain chain. The mountains run northwest and southeast along the western side of North America. What do you value How can we about the Rocky describe geography? Mountain region? Why are we learning Why is coal about Alberta’s important in Alberta? geography? Why do we have national parks? Why is it important to protect natural areas? NEL 19 Chapter 02 5/5/06 3:40 PM Page 20 The Formation of the Mountains Scientists tell us the Rocky Mountains started to form about 120 million years ago. Two huge pieces of the Earth’s crust, called plates, slowly pushed against each other. Large islands the size of Alberta rode on one plate. These big islands pushed on the western edge of North America. The land was slowly squeezed. It moved about as fast as your fingernails grow. Land that was once beneath ancient seas was pushed upwards to the sky. Some slabs of rock broke and slid over others. In other places, the rock layers folded over. It took about 75 million years for the Rocky Mountains to form. 1 A big island rides on a North America is a plate moving east. plate moving west. Rock layers are pushed 2 The island pushes hard, upwards, forming the like a bulldozer. Rocky Mountains. Pause 1. Find the descriptive words on this page that explain how This is Mount Kidd. the powerful Imagine the Earth’s geological forces moving crust folding of the Earth shaped the land. What and pushing the rock other ways could to form the mountains. you demonstrate or explain these forces? 20 NEL Chapter 02 5/5/06 3:40 PM Page 21 Ice Ages At different times over the Earth’s long history, there have been ice ages. These were times when the Earth cooled. Glaciers, rivers of ice over one kilometre in depth, formed. The glaciers flowed out to the plains where they met up with thick sheets of ice blanketing the land. When the Earth got warmer, the glaciers retreated, or shrank back. The last ice age ended 12 000 years ago. Moving glaciers carved the land and smoothed the lower parts of the mountains. They left piles of rocks in their path. Pause The sign in this photo shows where the Athabasca Glacier reached in 1948. Today, the glacier is about two kilometres 1. Look at the photo. from the sign. Is the glacier advancing or retreating and shrinking? What could cause these changes? S CEN LL T I R K E S 5 Draw conclusions NEL 21 Chapter 02 5/5/06 3:40 PM Page 22 Geography How can we describe geography? My class is learning about the geography of Alberta. Geography is the study of the Earth’s surface and environment. The parts of geography we are exploring are shown on our web. Landforms Bodies of Water Geography Animal Life Climate Pause 1. Examine the pictures and labels on this page. Write a sentence to explain or make predictions about Natural Resources Vegetation each part of the web. For example, “Climate is...” or “I think vegetation is...” 22 NEL Chapter 02 5/5/06 3:40 PM Page 23 Landforms I was eager to research the Rocky Mountain region. I used chart paper and photos to present part of our region’s story to my class. Rocky Mountain Landforms Landforms are the natural features of a landscape. Mountains are the highest landform. This is Mount Columbia, the Cypress Hills is highest mountain in Alberta. The photo was taken by a climbing a small pocket team in the summer. of the Rocky Mountain region found in southeastern Alberta. The climate and vegetation of Cypress Hills is similar to those of the Rocky Mountains. I saw some bighorn sheep in a valley. Valleys are low areas surrounded by hills or mountains. NEL 23 Chapter 02 5/5/06 3:40 PM Page 24 Bodies of Water When a large amount of water collects in a location, it forms a body of water. Oceans, rivers and streams, and lakes are examples of bodies of water. The Rocky Mountain region has many mountain lakes, streams, and waterfalls. Many rivers that flow across western Canada start at the mountains. Water is also stored in the form of ice and snow. A glacier and an icefield are examples of this. The Columbia Icefield My parents took us for a drive to the area near the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park. One guidebook says the icefield covers nearly 300 square kilometres and is 365 metres thick. That’s about 120 classrooms high! The Columbia Icefield is what remains of our last ice age. It is an important source of water in Alberta today. Its meltwater feeds our streams and rivers. Over many years, rapidly flowing water wears rock away. People from all over the world visit the Maligne Canyon and The Columbia Icefield is like a huge bowl of ice overflowing with waterfall in large glaciers. The glaciers flow into different valleys. Jasper National Park. 24 NEL Chapter 02 5/5/06 3:40 PM Page 25 Alberta Rivers Much of Alberta’s water is stored and released by the Columbia Icefield. The meltwater feeds streams and rivers that eventually pour into the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. You can see the meltwater at the bottom of the photo that has come from the glacier at the top of the photo. Pause 1. Why do you think the Columbia Icefield is so important? NEL 25 Chapter 02 5/5/06 3:40 PM Page 26 Climate Climate is the pattern of weather of a place over time. It includes temperature and precipitation. Precipitation is the amount of moisture that falls from the air, such as rain and snow. The Rocky Mountain region has the most snowfall and the coldest average temperatures in Alberta. High up in the mountains, from spring to fall, the average temperature is 6 degrees Celsius. Lower down, it is warmer, with an average of 12 degrees Celsius. On any given day, the weather can vary greatly. It can change from hour to hour or depending on how high up in the mountains you are. I have a story I call “My Wintry Summer Day.” One day last summer, my family took the tramway up The Whistlers, a mountain near Jasper. It was so hot at the tramway station, I took off my summer jacket. At the top, I put it right back on! The sun was shining, but the wind was cold. We saw patches of snow on the north side of the mountain. My brother and I raced up the steep trail. The wind kept getting stronger, and the higher we got, the colder it was. Mom came to the rescue with extra clothing for us. It can snow on any day of Pause the summer at the top of the mountains. 1. What is the difference between climate and weather? Jasper Tramway Height Temperature on July 5 Elevation is the height of 2. Why was Dilpreet the land. Higher-elevation able to experience Top station 2277 m 11˚C areas tend to be cooler and such different kinds Bottom station 1304 m 20˚C of weather on the have more precipitation than lower areas. same day? Difference 973 m 9˚C 26 NEL Chapter 02 5/5/06 3:40 PM Page 27 Vegetation I have taken lots of pictures of the vegetation on The Whistlers. The plants that grow naturally in the area change as the elevation changes. Lower down, the trees are taller. The higher up you go, the smaller the vegetation. These plants must be hardy. Near the top, on the They live where there are south side, there are just tiny plants strong winds and little soil hugging the rock. Trees and some or warmth. plants stop growing the further up you go. Going up the mountain is like travelling north, all the way to the Arctic. Along the way, I saw signs asking people to stay on the paths. Some plants, even the ones only a few centimetres high, can be hundreds of years old.