Social Studies 9 - Physical Geography of Canada Assignment

The 8 physical geographical regions in North America

By Jacob LilleyFeb 10, 2014

The 8 physical geographical regions in North America

Region Color

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands

Blue

Canadian Shield Red

Interior Plains Yellow

Intermountain Region Green

Arctic Plains Purple

Appalachian Region Orange

Coastal Plains Brown

Western Cordillera Pink

APPALACHIAN REGION

in orange

REGION

The Appalachian region is a place with lots of mountains on the east coast of North America.

climate

The climate of the Appalachian Region is affected by two ocean currents. The labrabor current bring cold water south from the arctic and causes freezing during the winter months in the northern parts of the region.

Vegetation

The Appalachian Region was heavily forested with mixed coniferous and deciduous tree. These could survive in the poor and unproductive mountain soil, and flourish on plateaus and in the river valleys, where the soil was much more productive.

THE COSTAL PLAINS

Region

The coastal plains region starts at cape cod and runs all the way south to Florida. The are also coastal plains in Alaska on the north coast. There is a coastal plain in Canada in the Yukon it is on the north shore and west of the Mackenzie river.

climate

In the north, the climate is cold snowy winters, and hot humid summers.

Vegetation

The vegetation is small, wet, soggey and hard to grow things there.

THE INTERIOR PLAINS

THE INTERIOR PLAINS -Region The Interior Plains are a vast sweep of plain,

but they are not entirly flat. In most places the land is composed of gently rolling fills and deep river valleys. In the United States, the Interior Plains run between the Appalachian Mountains, on the east coast. In Canada, the Interior Plains run between the Canadaian sheild and the Rocky Mountains. From north to south, the Intearior Plains extend from the gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean.

THE INTERIOR PLAINS -climate The climate Interior Plains is a

continental climate, affected by its location in the heart of the continent far from the moderating influence of the oceans. It is a climate of extremes, including long, hot, summers ,cold winters, and little precipitation.

THE INTERIOR PLAINS -vegetation Originally, the central lowland east of the

Mississippi was covered with deciduous trees and scattered evergreens. West of the Mississippi, in the Great Plains, prairie grass grew as tall as a person. The natural vegetation of the Canadian prairies was also grasslands trees grew only in the river valleys. In the northern portion of the Interior Plains, boreal forest grow, gradually become tundra towards the Arctic Ocean.

THE CANADIAN SHEILD

Canadian Shield Region

The Canadian shield is more the 2 billion years old. It consists of volcanic mountains that were leveled by millions of years of erosion. It is the geographic foundation of Canada.

Canadian Shield -climate The climate varies thought out the

vast area covered by the Canadian shield. As you travel north, the winters become increasingly long and cold, with the summers becoming shorter and cooler.

Canadian Shield -Vegetation

Boreal cover most of the shield, since evergreen, such as spruce, pine, and fir, are more suited to the thin, sandy soil. Some deciduous trees, such as poplar and white birch, are also present.

The impact of acid rain and smelting on the local environment was devastating. By the 1970s, decades of mining and smelting had left soils on local sites so acidic that nothing would grow. Some 10,000 hectares had been made into nothing.

The Arctic

The Arctic Region

The Arctic in northern Canada is a combination of lowlands and mountains. The lowlands are found in a series of islands lying to the north of Hudson Bay. The mountains are found in the extreme northwest border.

The arctic Region-climate The Arctic climate is very severe

because it is so far from the equator. Winter lasts for ten months in the far north. Summer is very short, and not very warm . Because it has little precipitation, the Arctic is actually a desert.

The climate is changing in the arctic. It is getting warmer. The sea ice is melting negative effect on the Ice dependent sea mammals. Increasing average temperatures are melting glaciers and polar ice caps and raising sea levels, putting coastal areas at greater risk of flooding. Mounting evidence indicates that these changes are not the result of the natural variability of climate. The theory of human-induced climate change is supported by numerous respected scientific bodies, including the British Royal Society, the American National Academies and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Changes to Vegetation- 1. tree are growing farther north 2. permafrost is melting turning land into wet lands 3. mosses are dying. Changes to fish: The timing of the melting of sea ice in the spring and the summer affects algae

growth at the ice edge and the population of krill, important food supplies for many animals, including the Arctic cod, which is prey for belugas, narwhals, and seals. Changes to sea ice would therefore have important effects that would be seen throughout the Arctic food web.

  Changes to Terrestrial Mammals: Several caribou herds are decreasing, and some caribou are

endangered. Climate change maybe decreasing, as it may change extreme weather events and forage availability.

  Changes to Marine Mammals: the sea ice is decreasing and this will change where the the

mammals go, how far they go, where they migrate, and they reproduction. the reduced ice cover and access to seals would limit hunting success by polar bears, which decreases bear populations.

THE WESTERN CORDILLERA

Western Cordillera - Region

The Western Cordillera region runs along the west coast of North America. It consists of range after range of mountains, separated by plateaus and valleys. The Rocky Mountains are the most easterly range of mountains of the region. In the US, they veer towards the interior of the continent, to a great extent. The coastal chains of mountains are volcanic mountains, but the inner ranges of mountains (The Rocky Mountains) are fold mountains.

Western Cordillera - Climate

The climate of the Intermountain Region is affected by its location and by its elevation. Winters can be cool and wet of hot and dry, depending on the region. In the southern portions of the region, winters are short and warm with very little precipitaion, althought the climate is more moderate, with moist winters and hot dry summers.

Western Cordillera - Vegetation Very few life forms, beyond lichen, can

grow on the mountains of the Arctic. Trees cannot grow on the tundra, either, because the climate is too cold and dry, and only a small amount of thawing occurs during the summer. Small shrubs, mosses, and lichens are the only thing that can grow. The cling to the ground, soaking up the small amount of warmth and moisture available.

Environmental concerns in the Canadian Shield

The impact of acid rain and smelting on the local environment was devastating. By the 1970s, decades of mining and smelting had left soils on local sites so acidic that nothing would grow. Some 10,000 hectares had been made into nothing.

Intermountain Region

Intermountain Region

The intermountain Region is an area in the US and Canada the lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Coast Mountains, the Cascades, and the sierra Nevada. It is a thinly populated area of high plateaus and isolated mountains, and contains the only desert in the US. In Canada, the region consists of the interior plateau valleys of British Columbia and the Yukon

Intermountain Region - Climate The climate of the intermountain Region

is affected by its location and by levitation. Winters can be cool and wet of hot and dry, depending on the region. In the southern portions of the region, winters are short and warm with very little precipitation. The northern portions of the region also lacks precipitation, although the climate is more moderate, with moist winters and hot dry summers. 

Intermountain Region - Vegetation The vegetation of the Intermountain

Region generally ranges between sparse grassland to plants that can survive in semi-desert or desert conditions. The higher areas are covered in thin pine forest.

Environmental concerns in the intermountain region

Serious problems have arisen as a result of timber harvesting, grazing, oil exploration, mining, and reservoir operations in the intermountain. Logging and oil exploration have been responsible for accelerated slope erosion both from the operations themselves and from the access roads built to reach them. Erosion has stripped away the often thin soil cover and caused serious silting of streams. Trace quantities of harmful metals have been released into streams and groundwater from mining operations, particularly from the leaching of mill tailings.

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands - Region The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowland is the

small geographical region in Canada. It includes the triangle formed by Lakes Huron, Ontario, and Erie. The region contains several escarpments, the best known being the Niagara Escarpment, which extends from Niagara Falls to Manitoulin Island. The region is also cut by a short extension of the shield near Kingston, and then continues along the St. Lawrence River.

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands - Climate The climate is essentially a humid

continental climate. It is humid because of the presence of the Great Lake. The Great Lake tend to cool the temperature during the summer. By storing heat, The Great Lakes warm the surrounding areas in the winter. Winters vary from cool to cold, and summers from warm to hot.

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands - Vegetation Originally this region, which has very fertile

soils, was heavily treed. The Great Lakes portion once had Canada’s largest broad-leafed forest, because its soil climate condions allowed maple, beech, hickory, and walnut trees too thrive. Elsewhere in the region the vegetation was mixed forest of both deciduous and conifers, such as maple, beech, oak, ash, and birch, along with spruce, fir, pine and cedar.

Sources

http://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/canada

https://sites.google.com/site/intermountainregionhannan/vegetation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermountain_West