Canada’s Landform Regions

Landform Region Map

Canada has three basic types of landforms.1. Shield 2. Highlands 3. Lowlands

They form a pattern.

The Creation of Canada’s Landforms!

The next few slides contain a series of hand drawn images illustrating the creation of Canada’s Landform regions.

1. Precambrian Canada

Erosion

Deposition Deposition

TransportationTransportation

Plate Collision

Folded Mountains

2. Paleozoic Canada

Landforms not seen (in the back) - Hudson Bay Lowlands, - Arctic Lowlands, - Innuitian Mountains

Western Cordillera

Interior Plains

Canadian Shield

Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands

Appalachians

4. Cenozoic Canada

Plate Collision

3. Mesozoic Canada

Glaciers!!! – ended about 20 000 years ago

Western Cordillera

Western Cordillera

• Mountains of the Yukon• Notice the jagged peaks• If you looks carefully,

you will also see glaciers

Western Cordillera

• One of the large glaciers found in the Yukon

Western Cordillera

• A glacier-fed lake in Jasper National Park in Alberta

Western Cordillera

• Jasper National Park• The valley is U-shaped

because it was carved by a glacier, not the river you see here

Western Cordillera

• The Coast Mountains provide a dramatic backdrop in this picture of North Vancouver, BC

Interior Plains

Interior Plains

• Farmland near the Red River in Southern Manitoba

Interior Plains

• The meandering Red River in Southern Manitoba

Interior Plains

• The Cypress Hills in Southern Saskatchewan

Interior Plains

• The Qu’Appelle Valley in Southern Saskatchewan

• A rare change from the flat landscape in this region

Interior Plains

• Cows graze in a rocky field

• These rocks, deposited by glaciers, are called moraine

Arctic Lowlands

Arctic Lowlands

• Tundra in Nunavut• Notice the flat land and

strewn rocks

Arctic Lowlands

• The flat, exposed land of Prince Patrick Island in the Northwest Territories

Arctic Lowlands

• Another image of Prince Patrick Island in the NWT

• The flat land allows melting water to cover a vast area

Innuitian Mountains

Innuitian Mountains

• The dramatic cliffs of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut

Innuitian Mountains

• A glacier and its melt water on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut

Innuitian Mountains

• Red rocks and barren landscape on Melville Island

• Melville Island is divided between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories

Canadian Shield

Canadian Shield

• Lake near Port Cartier, Quebec

• Rounded hills in the background

Canadian Shield

• Exposed rock along the lakeshore

• Notice the scratches in the rock

• They were caused by glaciers

Canadian Shield

• Boulder field in the Northwest Territories

• More evidence of glaciation

Canadian Shield

• A boulder in the Northwest Territories

• It was deposited here by a retreating glacier

Canadian Shield

• Exposed rock near Abitibi, Quebec

• The scratches are the result of a glacier

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands

• Typical farm in Ontario

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands

• The city of Toronto from the air

• Notice the lack of hills• Also notice the smog

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands

• Farmland near Toronto

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands

• Southern Ontario from the air

• Notice the flat horizon

Hudson Bay Lowlands

Hudson Bay Lowlands

• A wetland known as a muskeg in Northern Manitoba

Hudson Bay Lowlands

• The watery terrain outside Churchill, Manitoba

Hudson Bay Lowlands

• The water-filled landscape near Fort Severn, Ontario

Hudson Bay Lowlands

• A forested bog outside Gilliam, Manitoba

Appalachian Mountains

Appalachian Mountains

• Rocky shoreline at West Dover, NS

• The boulders were deposited by glaciers

Appalachian Mountains

• Valley in Cape Breton• Notice the rounded

mountains

Appalachian Mountains

• Aspy Bay in Cape Breton

Appalachian Mountains

• Cape Breton Highlands• The mountains have

been flattened by erosion