Canada’s Landform Regions

Glacial Erosion

Landform Region Map

Canadian Shield

• Lake near Port Cartier, Quebec

• Rounded hills in the background

Canadian Shield

• Boulder field in the Northwest Territories

• More evidence of glaciation

Canadian Shield

• Exposed rock along the lakeshore

• Notice the scratches in the rock

• They were caused by glaciers

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

Canadian Shield

• Canada’s oldest and largest landform.

• Forms the foundation for the rest of Canada.

• Very thin acidic soil. Poor for agriculture.

• Shaped by erosion (glaciers and weather).

Appalachian Mountains

Appalachian Mountains

• Bald Mountain NB• Notice the rounded

mountains

Appalachian Mountains

• Aspy Bay in Cape Breton

Appalachian Mountains

• Cape Breton Highlands

• The mountains have been flattened by erosion

Erosion: soil and rock is moved by wind or water to a different location.

Appalachian Mountains

• Atlantic Canada

• Rounded Mountains through erosion

• Rolling Hills and Valleys

• Fertile soil. Good for farming

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

Western Cordillera

• A series of parallel mountains

• Are considered young as they have not been effected by erosion

• Valleys are good for farming as soil has been put there through sedimentation

• Western side has huge timber where as the eastern side has much smaller trees.

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

Innuitian Mountains

• Due to their “young” age they have not been worn down through erosion.

• Rugged Peaks

• Approx 2000m in height

• The area is too cold for trees to survive.

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

Arctic Lowlands

• South of the Innuitian Mountains

• Is a region of tundra and is treeless.

• Cold, dry and poorly drained soil.

• Sparse vegetation

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

Interior Plains

• Located between Shield and Cordillera.

• Created by a dried up inland sea and through erosion

• In some areas the soil is very deep (black soil due to carbon content) and in others it is almost desert like

• Extends to the Gulf of Mexico

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

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands

• Located south of the shield (southern Ontario and Quebec)

• Good soil is a the result of flooding by the Champlain Sea that receded

• Experienced volcanic activity a long time ago

• Relatively flat.

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

Hudson Bay Lowlands

• North of the shield

• Some places rock is 2000m thick

• Poor drainage and flat terrain

• swamp like forests.