Canada's Physical base Flashcards
What are the 3 main natural landforms
Mountains, PLateaus and Valleys
What are identifies the physiographic regions?
They are large areas of the earth’s crust with 3 characteristics. They:
• extend over a large, contiguous area with similar relief features
• are shaped by a common set of geomorphic processes
• possess a common geological structure and history
How many physigraphic regions are there?
7 The canadian sheils Arctic lands Cordillera Interior plains Hudson Bay Lowlands Appalachian Uplands Great Lakes- St lawrence Lowlands
denudation
gradual erosion of mountains
weathering
breaking down of mountains into smaller rocks
which is the largest and which is the smallest physiographic region?
Canadian sheild is the largest and great lakes is the smallest
which is the most varried and the most uniform
Cordillera most varried and Hudson’s Bay most uniform
what is the most dramatic different regions
mountainous cordillera compared to the Hudson Bay Lowlands
Which ice sheets shaped virtually all of canada
Wisconsin
what were the two main ice sheets of the wisonsins
The laurentide (Hudson’s Bay) and the Cordillera
Where did the ice sheets retreat first
The interior plains and then much later Ontario and Quebec
Where are the canadian sheilds lowest and highest elavations
lowest = HUdson's bay highest = Labrador
How long ago was the last iceage and how old do geologist consider canada’s vegetation
12000 years ago and 10000 years old
Describe the Canadian Sheild
largest region, scraped surface of molten rock. Has great mining potential, was subjected to erosion 12 000 years ago, strations in the rock demonstrate the direction of ice movement.
`Arctic Lands
Nearly 10% of canada.Rock surface, covered by lichen. Eradic rocks brought by glaciation. Largely a lowland. Sits at sea level. Large amount of kyrosolic (frozen soil) Dry and cold, it is a treeless tundra and is a fragile environment.
Cordillera
16% of canada from southern BC to Yukon. serious folding and faulting caused mountains, St. Elias Range, Highest Mnt is Mt Logan. The rockies
Interior plains
20% of canada
valuable deposits of fossil fuels
sedimentary plains
thin grass, dusty, badlands
Highest point is cypres hill. Used to be a huge inland sea. NO tectonic plates in it;s making. Basins contain fuels. The laurentide ice sheet retreated 12000 years ago.
Three sub regions based on elavations. Manitoba lowland, saskatchewan plain and the alberta plain
Hudson’s Bay Lowlands
3.5% swampy, poor drainage, few setttlements and perma frost.From James bay to Churchill river. Formed by warm climate that melted the laurentide, creating the Tyrell sea which after the earth’s crust began to rise (lack of ice sheet pressure) the sea retreated,
Appalachian Uplands
Northern chain of mountains from US
the vegetation is trees. 2%of canada Lots of logging the highest point is in the gaspe penninsula with MT jacques cartier
Great Lakes- St Lawrence
less than 2% most populated region thin glacial deposits limestone deposits exposed forming the NIagara escarpment, fertile soils, landscape shaped by Champlain Sea 2000 years ago,
What influences the development of climatic zones?
- Solar energy / latitude
- Global circulation system (winds,
air masses, and ocean currents) - Marine and continental location
- “Continental effect”: air masses
change temperature quickly over
continental expanses
The bulk of Canada’s territory is
associated with which two climatic types
Arctic and Subarctic zones
What three factors produces climatw
- the amount of solar energy absorbed by the earth and atmosphere is made into heat (low latitudes have higher temps, high latitudes have lower temps
- global circulation system redistributes the energy.
- the continental effect= land masses heat up and cool more quickly than oceans. Greater distance from the ocean affects the temperature
How many climatic zones does canada have
7
the pacific-cordiller-prairies-subarctic-arctic-greatlakes-atlantic
subarctic the largest (canadian sheild area)
