Prairie Provinces Flashcards
What provinces lie here?
Alberta Saskatchewan and Manitoba
What is the economy based on
energy resources and agriculture
What is the most impt natural resource found in western part of reigon
Oil
Where did the name Alberta originate from
Princess Louise Carline Alberta, 4th daughter of Queen Victoria + Prince Albert
Where did the name Saskatchewan originate from?
derived Cree word meaning “swift flowing water”
Where did the name Manitoba originate from?
derived from cree word meaning “straits of the great spirit”
Where does the region lie in?
Interior Plains + Canadian Shield
How is climate?
cold, dry winters
hot dry summers
little precipitation
What is the Great Sand Hills
unique landscape formed from wind that has caused sandy beach deposits of former glacial lakes to form into dunes
What were land surveyors doing to the land?
preparing land for eastern european settlement
due to lack of topographic obstacles, it was easy to divide land into grid system, lots of perfect squares each 1/4 of square mile
- land survey patterns ignored the fact that some land was already occupied by Indigenous Peoples
Who were most popular in region and how did they react to the surveying of the land?
Metis
reacted by organized rebellions
- other semi-nomadic Indigenous Peoples felt little choice but to sign treaties
Eastern European families were given 1 square lot for free, but what did they not have access to?
they were given land to build homestead for free, but no access to electricity or plumbing
What were the challenges facing homesteaders
square grid survey sys encouraged highly dispersed rural population creating a sense of isolation
- many settlers not prepared for climate and far distance to any large population centers
Forced them to be innovated
-practicing summer fallow for their crops to succeed
what is summer fallow
Practice of leaving land idle for a year or more to accumulate soil moisture
What were the 4 political movements in Prairies
- CCF (cooperative commonwealth Federation)
- Social Credit Party
- Reform Party
- Canadian Alliance
What were the patterns of early settlement?
-villages + towns arranged in linear pattern linked to railroads (provided basic services for nearby farmers)
- larger towns developed around grain elevators
- each village was home to freq used services
Why are rural population declining?
-farms becoming larger, more mechanized
-grain farms becoming more common, no livestock so minimal staffing
Why are villages declining?
- lower rural population density of rural areas leads to less business for villages
-increased use of trucks + cars opposed to railroads - rationalization of road + rail sys
-infreq used transportation corridors shutdown
-fewer villages result in reduce need to maintain local transportation network
Where are the sites of growth in Prairie Provinces
- dormitory towns
- sites of govt services
- resource towns
How is the agricultural land divided into?
Belts
1. fertile belt
2. dry belt
3. agricultural fringe
What is the agricultural fringe?
grain grown lower quality, used primarily to raise livestock
What is the Fertile Belt
High levels of soil moisture + adequate frost-free period
- typical crops are canola, wheat, beans, peas, and sunflowers
-mixed farming is common (crops mixed w/ beef + pork production)
What is the Dry Belt
- cattle ranching
- wheat is the only crop that can grow here
- practice of continuous cropping is common
- irrigation necessary due to long periods of dry weather
what is continuous cropping
practice where stubble left after harvest is not removed, the stubble aids in controlling weeds and reducing soil erosion
What is an important secondary sector industry in the Prairies?
livestock processing
- main export market is US
The oil that Canada exports, how much goes to the US?
98%
Where is teh major oil production center
Fort Mcmurray
The sedimentary rock underlying the western Prairies contains deposits of waht?
fossil fuels
Vast amts of oil mixed w/ sand is called —–
Bitumen
How is bitumen transported?
mixed w/ hot water to processing plants where large hydrocarbon molecules are broken into smaller ones
- sent to refineries through pipelines, and processed into gasoline, diesel, and propane
What environmental issues does the oil industry face
-unsure what to do with vast quantity of waste products
- water that is used to separate oil from sand becomes toxic, cant be released into local rivers/lakes
where is teh toxic water stored
in vast tailing pond
- leakage from these ponds can affect groundwater or nearby surface water
what projects are underway to deal with the toxic water
bury the sludge in deep pits + cover w/ layers of soil
Where is most of the lumber production in Prairies
Alberta
Where is the paper and pulp mills?
Manitoba, small resource towns
Aurora Borealis
Northern lights
How is there flooding in Red River
red river flow south to north through flat land w/ impermeable chernozemic soil
- in spring, melting snowpack at head of river in south adds to discharge, ice at mouth in north creates damming effect
