ADMN 417 Lecture 8: Prairies Western Can - imp terms
1 Jul 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Western Canada textbook notes
KEY TERMS
1. Athabasca tar sands: The largest reservoir of crude bitumen in the world
and the largest of three major oil sands deposts in Alberta, also known as the
oil sands
2. Upgrader: A processing plant that breaks large hydrocarbon molecules into
smaller ones by increasing the hydrogen to carbon ratio. The product is
supplied to refineries which will process it into gasoline, jet fuel, diesel,
propane and butane
3. Western Sedimentary Basin: Within the geological structure of the Interior
Plains, normally flat sedimentary strata are bent into a basin- like shape.
Often contain petroleum deposits.
4. Orographic uplift: Air forced to rise and cool over mountains. If the cooling
is sufficient, water vapour condenses into clouds and rain or snow occur
5. Chinooks: A dry, warm, downslope wind in the lee of a mountain range. Also
called a rain shadow wind because it has dropped most of its moisture on
windward slopes
6. Alberta clippers: A low pressure system that begins when warm, moist
winds form the Pacific Ocean comes into contact with the Rocky mountaisn
and then the winds form a Chinook in southern Alberta
7. Palliser’s Triangle: Area of short- grass natural vegetation in southern
Alberta and Saskatchewan determined by Captain Palliser . Northern
extension of the Great American Desert and therefore unsuitable for
agricultural settlement
8. Tailings: Waste or residue from a mining operation
9. Great American Desert: The treeless Great Plains as described by American
explorers in the nineteenth century; in fact, such lands have semi-arid
climate and a grasslands vegetation cover
10. Dominion Land Survey: This survey method divided Western Canada into
one-square-mile sections to allow ownership of specific land units by
homesteaders and others
11. Homesteader: A settler who obtained land. In Western Canada, quarter
sections were available as homesteads under the federal government’s plan
known as the Dominions Lands Act where a settler paid a $19 fee for a
quarter section
12. Summer fallow: The farming practice of leaving land idle for a year or more
to accumulate sufficient soil moisture to produce a crop or to restore soil
fertility; summer fallowing in being replaced by continuous cropping
13. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC): Organization
founded in 1960 to control world prices and thus obtain a fair price for its
members and other petroleum producers
14. Carbon tax: An emissions pricing policy (cap and trade system or emission
tax). Emitters would pay for every tonne by purchasing emission allowances
auctioned by government
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
15. Western Alienation: Feeling on the part of those in Western Canada and BC-
derived from past government actions and a natural periphery response to
the core- that they have little influence on federal policy and that Central
Canada controls the government of Ottawa
16. Crow Benefit: The Crow’s Nest Pass agreement between the Canadian
Pacific Railway and the federal government ensured that the rail rates for
grain were low, and in this way helped to overcome the disadvantage of a
long rail distance to ports.
17. Carbon sequestration: Carbon capture and storage technology involving the
capturing of CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuel power
stations or other large carbon emitters and the storing of the CO2 in deep
stable geological formations
18. Continuous cropping: A popular farming practice in grain growing areas
where the stubble left after harvest is not tilled; stubble serves to control
weeds and reduce soil erosion by wind
19. Bakken formation: A geological structure containing large quantities of oil
trapped in shale. It lies in Williston Basin in southern Saskatchewan and
Manitoba and extends-
20. Bitumen: A tar like mixture of sand and oil
21. ‘hewers of wood and drawers of water’: Within the context of the
core/periphery model, the term refers to periphery regions where primary
production prevails; core areas on the other hand focus on the processing of
those raw products. Its application to a country’s economy refers to the
exporting of raw materials rather than finished goods
22. Potash: A general term for potassium salts. Potassium is a nutrient essential
for plant growth.
Two physiographic regions dominate the landscape
oThe Interior Plains
Where agriculture takes place
oCanadian Shield
Noted for mining and logging
Western Canada is composed of three provinces- Alberta, Manitoba and
Saskatchewan
1. Water is a scares resource and the region’s dry continental climate
sometimes results in a water deficit which in turn leads to crop failure
2. Distance to world markets has proven to be a major stumbling block to the
region’s economic development because of tis need to export its surplus
energy, food and mineral resources
Three renewable resources- the fertile soils of the Canadian Prairies, the
boreal forest of its northern lands and its rivers offer the prospect of a
sustainable economy, if managed properly
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
oThe huge deposits of oil sands and potash while non- renewable, have
over a hundred years of reserves and thus might be expected to
provide support for the regional economy over that period of time,
assuming that commodity pries remain high and unforeseen
geopolitical events don’t alter the current situation
Western Canada had the lowest unemployment rate of the six regions
The northern half of Western Canada is the regional hinterland where less
than 5 percent of the region’s population lives
While most resides in resource towns such as Fort McMurray and Thompson,
nearly a hundred Aboriginal settlements are scattered across this boreal
landscape
Western Canada’s Physical Geography
Western Canada has two major physiographic regions:
oThe Interior Plains
The sedimentary rocks contains valuable deposits of fossil
fuels
By value, the four leading mineral resources are oil, gas,
coal and potash
Most petroleum production occurs in a geological
structure known as the Western Sedimentary Basin
Western Sedimentary Basin: Within the geological
structure of the Interior Plains, normally flat
sedimentary strata are bent into a basin- like shape.
Often contain petroleum deposits.
In Northeastern Albera, the huge petroleum reserves in the
Athabasca tar sands are exploited by surface mining
techniques such as hydrotransport in which the oil sands are
mixed with extremely hot water and transported to an
upgrader plant by pipeline.
Athabasca tar sands: The largest reservoir of crude bitumen
in the world and the largest of three major oil sands deposits in
Alberta, also known as the oil sands
Upgrader: A processing plant that breaks large hydrocarbon
molecules into smaller ones by increasing the hydrogen to
carbon ratio. The product is supplied to refineries which will
process it into gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, propane and butane
oThe Canadian Shield
Extends into much of Manitoba and Saskatchewan and small
portion of Alberta
Rocky terrain makes cultivation virtually impossible
Forestry does take place along the southern edge, particularly
southeastern Manitoba
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The product is supplied to refineries which will process it into gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, propane and butane: western sedimentary basin: within the geological structure of the interior. Plains, normally flat sedimentary strata are bent into a basin- like shape. Often contain petroleum deposits: orographic uplift: air forced to rise and cool over mountains. If the cooling is sufficient, water vapour condenses into clouds and rain or snow occur: chinooks: a dry, warm, downslope wind in the lee of a mountain range. Alberta and saskatchewan determined by captain palliser . Canada controls the government of ottawa: crow benefit: the crow"s nest pass agreement between the canadian. It lies in williston basin in southern saskatchewan and. Its application to a country"s economy refers to the exporting of raw materials rather than finished goods: potash: a general term for potassium salts. Potassium is a nutrient essential for plant growth. Two physiographic regions dominate the landscape: the interior plains.
