Unit 2 Geography

• Gulf of Mexico Air Mass


  • Warm and moist
  • Comes from the tropics
• Gulf of Mexico Air Mass in summer

  • +33°C and high humidity
• Gulf of Mexico Air Mass in winter

  • +5°C (warmer temperatures) and raining
• Arctic Air Mass


  • Cold and dry, bringing cold air
  • Not much humidity
• Arctic Air Mass in winter

  • -15°C and crunching snow
• Arctic Air Mass in summer

  • +25°C and blue skies
• Pacific Air Mass


  • Wet
  • Often broken up when it gets to us, so sometimes brings scattered rain
• Dry desert climates have very low rainfall and hot summers but mild winters.
• Tropical climates have high temperatures all year round with little seasonal variation.
• The main types of climate are tropical, dry desert, Mediterranean, temperate, continental, polar
• Mediterranean climate is found around the Mediterranean Sea and has warm, dry summers and cool wet winters.
• Climate is the average weather over time at a place
• Weather is what happens on any given day or week
• Tropical Rainforest Climate has high rainfall all year round with no distinct seasons.
• Landform Region


  An area of the earth with a unique set of physical features
• Regions of Canada


  • Western Cordillera
  • Interior Plains
  • Canadian Shield
  • Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands
  • Appalachian
  • Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands
  • Innuitian Mountains
• Western Cordillera


  • Location: Along the western edge of Canada, covering most of Yukon territory and British Columbia and western Alberta
  • Physical Features: Range after range of high, sharp-peaked mountains separated by plateaus and valleys, running North to South
  • Created recently by the collision of the North American and Pacific plates
  • Biological Features: Herbs, lichens and shrubs at higher elevations and various types of coniferous forest and grasslands at lower elevations. Several species have adapted to the harsh climates of the higher elevations, including Mountain Goat, Gyrfalcon, White-tailed and Willow Ptarmigan, Water Pipit and Rosy Finch. Mule Deer, Rocky Mountain Elk, Stone Sheep, Grizzly Bear and Black Bear are common at lower elevations
  • Resources: Lightly populated, travel is difficult. Rich in minerals, timber, and sources of hydro electricity
• Interior Plains


  • Sedimentary rock rich in non-metallic minerals such as coal, with some igneous and metamorphic
  • Very flat, with deep, fertile soil
  • Created when sediments from the Shield and the Rocky Mountains were deposited in shallow inland seas and compressed into layers of sedimentary rock
  • Cold winters, hot summers
  • The southern part is mostly treeless, with grasses and herbs
  • The northern part is home to a belt of coniferous trees called the boreal forest
  • Extensively used for farming wheat and cattle
  • Known as Canada's "Bread Basket"
  • Sedimentary rock contains rich mineral, coal, oil and gas deposits
• Canadian Shield


  • Covers more than half of Canada
  • Relatively flat with rounded hills of metamorphic rock, which are actually the roots of ancient mountains
  • Some of the world's oldest rocks can be found here, at or near the surface of the ground
  • In the last ice-age, glaciers scraped soil away and formed many small lakes
• Great Lakes- St Lawrence Lowlands


  • South of the Canadian Shield in Ontario and Quebec
  • Smallest landform region in Canada
  • Glaciers deposited a huge amount of soil, sand and gravel here, creating a landscape of flat plains with small hills and deep river valleys
  • The great lakes are located in basins gouged out by the glaciers
  • Prior heavy farming and urban sprawl, this area was home to large mixed forests
  • 50% of Canada's population lives here
  • 70% of Canada's manufacturing industries and located here
  • Well-suited to farming because of excellent soils and warm climate
• Appalachian


  • Covers some of southern Quebec, and most of the Atlantic Provinces
  • Oldest highland region in Canada, created when the North American plate collided with Europe and Africa about 300 million years ago
  • Erosion has rounded the mountains over time, creating a landscape of rolling mountains and hills
  • The Appalachians are characterized by a wealth of large, beautiful deciduous broadleaf (hardwood) trees
  • During the 19th and early 20th centuries the Appalachian forests were subject to severe and destructive logging and land clearing
  • Animals that characterize the Appalachian forests include squirrels, rabbits and deer, which have greatly increased in abundance as a result of the elimination of the Gray Wolf and the Eastern Cougar or Mountain Lion by European settlers
  • Long ocean bays provide deep harbours for ocean freighters
  • Sedimentary rock rich in non-metallic minerals such as coal, with some igneous and metamorphic
• Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands


  • A series of islands located in Canada's far north and north of Canadian Shield but south of Hudson Bay
  • Low-lying, barren islands with coastlines ranging from extensive lowlands to spectacular cliffs
  • Summer is brief, but sunny, it is cold and frozen in the winter
  • It is dark all day in the winter and light all day in the summer
  • This is a layer of sedimentary rock rests on top of the underlying shield
  • Flat low area covered by bogs and fens, and dotted with ponds,lakes and streams
  • Sparsely vegetated, with vast seemingly lifeless areas
  • The ground is mostly composed of permafrost, making construction difficult and often hazardous, and agriculture virtually impossible
  • Mostly muskeg or peat-forming wetlands
  • The region is famous for its polar bears
  • Caribou migrate to the area in summer
  • In summer the coast of this region is alive with birds, such as lesser snow geese, Canada geese, brant, tundra swans, oldsquaw, king eider, and northern phalarope and many shore-birds
• Innuitian Mountains


  • A mountain range in Canada's Arctic territories of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories
  • In some locations they measure over 2,500 meters in height, and 1290 km in length
  • Shaped at a time when the North American Plate moved northward
  • They are younger than the Appalachians, and so erosion has not yet rounded them significantly
  • They are above the treeline, preventing any vegetation from existing
  • Largely unexplored, due to the hostile climate
  • They are named after the northern indigenous people, who live in the region
• Landform Region


  An area of the earth with a unique set of physical features
• Regions of Canada


  • Western Cordillera
  • Interior Plains
  • Canadian Shield
  • Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands
  • Appalachian
  • Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands
  • Innuitian Mountains
• Western Cordillera


  • Location: Along the western edge of Canada, covering most of Yukon territory and British Columbia and western Alberta
  • Physical Features: Range after range of high, sharp-peaked mountains separated by plateaus and valleys, running North to South
  • Created recently by the collision of the North American and Pacific plates
  • Biological Features: Herbs, lichens and shrubs at higher elevations and various types of coniferous forest and grasslands at lower elevations. Several species have adapted to the harsh climates of the higher elevations, including Mountain Goat, Gyrfalcon, White-tailed and Willow Ptarmigan, Water Pipit and Rosy Finch. Mule Deer, Rocky Mountain Elk, Stone Sheep, Grizzly Bear and Black Bear are common at lower elevations
  • Resources: Lightly populated, travel is difficult. Rich in minerals, timber, and sources of hydro electricity
• Interior Plains


  • Sedimentary rock rich in non-metallic minerals such as coal, with some igneous and metamorphic
  • Very flat, with deep, fertile soil
  • Created when sediments from the Shield and the Rocky Mountains were deposited in shallow inland seas and compressed into layers of sedimentary rock
  • Cold winters, hot summers
  • The southern part is mostly treeless, with grasses and herbs
  • The northern part is home to a belt of coniferous trees called the boreal forest
  • Extensively used for farming wheat and cattle
  • Known as Canada's "Bread Basket"
  • Sedimentary rock contains rich mineral, coal, oil and gas deposits
• Canadian Shield


  • Covers more than half of Canada
  • Relatively flat with rounded hills of metamorphic rock, which are actually the roots of ancient mountains
  • Some of the world's oldest rocks can be found here, at or near the surface of the ground
  • In the last ice-age, glaciers scraped soil away and formed many small lakes
• Great Lakes- St Lawrence Lowlands


  • South of the Canadian Shield in Ontario and Quebec
  • Smallest landform region in Canada
  • Glaciers deposited a huge amount of soil, sand and gravel here, creating a landscape of flat plains with small hills and deep river valleys
  • The great lakes are located in basins gouged out by the glaciers
  • Prior heavy farming and urban sprawl, this area was home to large mixed forests
  • 50% of Canada's population lives here
  • 70% of Canada's manufacturing industries and located here
  • Well-suited to farming because of excellent soils and warm climate
• Appalachian


  • Covers some of southern Quebec, and most of the Atlantic Provinces
  • Oldest highland region in Canada, created when the North American plate collided with Europe and Africa about 300 million years ago
  • Erosion has rounded the mountains over time, creating a landscape of rolling mountains and hills
  • The Appalachians are characterized by a wealth of large, beautiful deciduous broadleaf (hardwood) trees
  • During the 19th and early 20th centuries the Appalachian forests were subject to severe and destructive logging and land clearing
  • Animals that characterize the Appalachian forests include squirrels, rabbits and deer, which have greatly increased in abundance as a result of the elimination of the Gray Wolf and the Eastern Cougar or Mountain Lion by European settlers
  • Long ocean bays provide deep harbours for ocean freighters
  • Sedimentary rock rich in non-metallic minerals such as coal, with some igneous and metamorphic
• Hudson Bay-Arctic Lowlands


  • A series of islands located in Canada's far north and north of Canadian Shield but south of Hudson Bay
  • Low-lying, barren islands with coastlines ranging from extensive lowlands to spectacular cliffs
  • Summer is brief, but sunny, it is cold and frozen in the winter
  • It is dark all day in the winter and light all day in the summer
  • This is a layer of sedimentary rock rests on top of the underlying shield
  • Flat low area covered by bogs and fens, and dotted with ponds,lakes and streams
  • Sparsely vegetated, with vast seemingly lifeless areas
  • The ground is mostly composed of permafrost, making construction difficult and often hazardous, and agriculture virtually impossible
  • Mostly muskeg or peat-forming wetlands
  • The region is famous for its polar bears
  • Caribou migrate to the area in summer
  • In summer the coast of this region is alive with birds, such as lesser snow geese, Canada geese, brant, tundra swans, oldsquaw, king eider, and northern phalarope and many shore-birds
• Innuitian Mountains


  • A mountain range in Canada's Arctic territories of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories
  • In some locations they measure over 2,500 meters in height, and 1290 km in length
  • Shaped at a time when the North American Plate moved northward
  • They are younger than the Appalachians, and so erosion has not yet rounded them significantly
  • They are above the treeline, preventing any vegetation from existing
  • Largely unexplored, due to the hostile climate
  • They are named after the northern indigenous people, who live in the region
• Arctic region


  Very harsh climate with very short cool summers; extremely cold winter that lasts as long as ten months
• Arctic region


  • Basically a cold desert; receiving less than 35-50 cm of precipitation each year
  • Precipitation is low because the Arctic Ocean and other bodies of water are frozen for most of the year; and there is very little evaporation
  • Coastal Arctic climates are moderated by oceanic influences, having generally warmer temperatures and heavier precipitation than the colder and drier interior areas
• This region includes most of Nunavut as well as northern parts of the Northwest Territories and Quebec
• Pacific Maritime region


  • Lies along British Columbia's west coast and its border with the Yukon Territory on the way to Alaska
  • Pacific Ocean provides a moderating effect to this maritime climate – keeping it mild in winter (above freezing) and cool in summer
• Pacific Maritime region


  • Relief precipitation along the coast is very high; especially in winter when the polar front jet stream moves southward allowing moist Pacific winds to reach this area
  • Many people find this moderate climate attractive, and move to the west coast to escape the harsh winters of the Canadian interior
• Western Cordilleran region


  • Climate varies greatly because of the elevation of Rocky Mountains and insulated valleys
  • Coastal temperatures tend to be warmer than those inland; and northern climates are cooler than southern climates
  • Winters can last up to 8 months in the northern part of the region
• Western Cordilleran region


  • Locations only a few kilometres apart may have very different temperatures and precipitation patterns
  • West facing windward slopes receive a great deal of relief precipitation while leeward slopes and interior valleys are dry because of rain shadow conditions
  • Areas with lower elevations are milder than those with higher elevations
• This region includes almost all of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory as well as a small portion of southwestern Alberta