Physical Regions of Canada

Horizons: Chapter 1
A. Definition of Region
1. A part of the world that is joined together by at least 1
unifying characteristic
2. All regions have these 3 things:
a. area,
b. location,
c. and boundaries.
B. Types of regions:
1. Political
2. Geographic --characterized by physical features
a. Topographic regions
b. Climatic regions
c. Vegetation
3. Cultural
a. language
b. Religion
We will be studying the physical regions of Western Canada.

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF REGIONS
A. Plate Tectonics
1. Plates of the Earths crust resulted
from the break up of Pangaea.
2. Plates move because of the
composition of the earth. They move
at the same rate at which our finger
nails grow!
3. The edges of these plates, where
they move against each other, are
sites of intense geologic activity,
such as
a. earthquakes,
b. volcanoes,
c. and mountain building.
d. The Rocky Mountains, for example, are
fold mountains that formed from layers
of the crust pushed together and
crumpled over millions of years.
II. How Physical Regions Form


The diagram to the right
shows the formation
of fold mountains.


The photograph below
shows folds in the
mountains.
Plate tectonics also
cause the terrain to form
valleys, plateaus, and
trenches.

B. Glaciation during ice ages
1. Glaciation is a phenomenon in which massive
ice sheets formed in the Arctic and Antarctic
and advanced toward, and retreated from, the
Equator.
a. Creation of Glacial Ice and Glacier Movement via
web video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
cBcMfaSxpk&feature=related
2. Glaciations were characterized by cool, wet
climates and thick ice sheets extending from
each pole.
3. When ice sheets began to melt at the end of
the last ice age, about 12,000 years ago, some
of the melt water became lakes;
1. Lake Agassiz, for example, covered much of the
southern prairies.
2. The Canadian Shield was scraped by large ice sheets,
leaving only a thin layer of soil.
3. As glaciers retreat, they also leave debris in the form
of hills.

The extent of the ice sheet over North America during the last ice age.
See Horizons page 17 for a map of Canada during the last ice age.
This diagram shows an ice sheet at least one kilometer thick.
Notice the melt water and the debris left behind as the glacier
retreats (or melts).
C. Climate
1. A regions climate is determined in
part by its relative location to the
poles and/or the Equator.
2. Climatic regions are typically
warmer the closer they are to the
Equator and colder the closer they
are to the poles.


D. Topography
1. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation,
slope, and orientation of physical features.

III. PHYSICAL REGIONS OF CANADA

A. Canada can be divided into 6 physical regions based on its
geology (either through tectonic activity or glaciation),
climate (and resulting vegetation) and topography.

B. These 6 regions are:
1. Arctic
2. Cordillera
3. Interior Plains
4. Canadian Shield
5. St. Lawrence Lowlands
6. Appalachian