Geography 2011A/B Study Guide - Summer 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Great Lakes, Canada, Agriculture
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Geography 2011A/B
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
MODULE ONE
Natural Regions of Ontario
Natural Regions of Ontario
• Ontario lies (predominantly) in 2 types of natural regions:
1. The Canadian Shield (aka the Laurentian Plateau)
2. Interior Plains and Lowlands
- Hudson Bay Lowlands (aka Interior Plains)
- Lowlands (Great Lakes-St. Lawrence)
• 90% of Ontario land area is made up by the Canadian Shield and the Hudson Bay Lowlands
• But less than 10% of Ontario population lives in these areas
Canadian Shield: (the middle portion of the province)
Best summed up by 3 words: Rocks, lakes, forest
(1) Rock:
• Igneous and Metamorphic
• Between 1.5 and 3.5 billion years old
• High mountains eroded down to rocky ridges
• Now source of a variety of minerals
(2) Lakes:
• The thousands of lakes are result of glaciation, on and off, over the last million years
• Massive ice sheets (glaciers) scoured and gouged changing drainage patterns
• Glaciers scraped the soil from the rocks leaving exposed rocks and “pockmarks” full of meltwater
(3) Forest:
• Since the last ice age ended -- 15,000 years ago in Southern Ontario, but only 6,000 years ago in Northern
Quebec – the land has become covered with a thick boreal forest of coniferous trees.
• Soil is thin and acidic supports tree species like Jack Pine, Balsam Fir, White and Black Spruce (Forestry is
an important economic activity)
• Trees continue north to treeline where trees dwindle, and tundra begins.
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands (Southern portion of the province)
o Actually 2 similar lowlands that are fairly flat and characterized by very fertile soil -- the Great Lakes
Lowland and the St. Lawrence Lowland
o Divided by an arm of the Canadian Shield called the Frontenac Axis (touches Lake Ontario
between at Kingston)
St. Lawrence Lowland: (East of Kingston)
o Formed by a Rift Valley = faults or crack in the Earth’s crust (hundreds of millions of years ago)
which split the valley which was then part of the Canadian Shield.
o The floor of the valley fell, creating the lowland.
o After the last ice age, high ocean levels allowed the Atlantic Ocean to creep inwards as far as
Ottawa, creating a very flat landscape.
o Geologic activity produced the Monteregian Hills. Once the core of unfinished volcanoes, the
surrounding rock eroded away leaving a series of large hills (e.g. Mount Royal, Montreal)
Great Lakes Lowland: (West of Kingston)
o Covered with about 30 metres of debris left by glaciers
o These deposits result in a gently rolling terrain and contribute to the fertility of its soils.
o Agriculture and urban development dominate the landscape today
o Soil and climate is excellent for agriculture – 52% of Canada’s prime farm land is here
o The dominant NATURAL feature is the Niagara Escarpment
The Niagara Escarpment:
o Erosion over hundreds of millions of years has left a rocky ridge 30 to 50 metres above the
surrounding area.
o The Escarpment is over 1,000 km long
o It stretches from New York State, across Niagara Falls (The Niagara River falls over the
escarpment’s edge), north to Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula, then into Michigan via Manitoulin
Island
o In Ontario the Niagara Escarpment is now recognised by the UN as a World Biosphere Reserve.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o The Niagara Escarpment creates a micro climate which protects the Niagara fruit belt from harsher
temperatures.
This photo gallery really gives you a sense of the Niagara
Escarpment: http://www.escarpment.org/home/gallery/index.php
Hudson Bay Lowlands (Northern portion of the province)
o Third Largest Wetland in the World
o About 25% of the land mass of Ontario
o Vast sodden plain
o Slopes very slowly toward sea (Hudson Bay which is SALT water)
o Composed mostly of muskeg or peatlands
o Water in the form of permafrost underlies much of the region
o Population is very sparse
If you really want to get a sense of Ontario's far north watch this amazing journey: http://www.ninerivers.ca/
Water and the Great Lakes
Water:
In this part of the world, water is very common. We tend to lose sight of the fact that it is vital. Without it, earth would
be uninhabitable.
• we drink it, we bathe in it, we use it to prepare food
• we dig wells to tap it
• we flush our waste into it
• we build reservoirs to contain it
• we build channels, aqueducts and pipelines to carry it
• we erect bridges over it
• we use it for agricultural and industrial developments
• it also has a focus for recreation – we swim, sail, relax on shoreline
Water:
In Ontario, water is common property. It is bought and sold for a very low cost, no where near its actual value. We
tend to value land, not water.
In Ontario, we tend to think very little about water, except in times of flood or drought – when there is too much or too
little. We get concerned when abundance or scarcity threatens property or lives.
We have also recently been reminded that we need CLEAN DRINKING water – by events like the Walkerton Water
Tragedy and “boil water advisories.” We get VERY CONCERNED when contaminated water causes people to get
sick or die.
This link shows how scarce fresh surface water is on earth: https://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthwherewater.html
Great Lakes:
• a Great Lake is ANY lake over 500 square km
• there are approximately 250 other Great Lakes world wide
• many are in Canada – we claim about 1/3 of all the great lakes
• the Laurentian Great Lakes – Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, Ontario – makes the others seem tiny by
comparison
General Characteristics of the Great Lakes Basin:
Watershed: 295,000 square miles
764,051 square kilometres
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Natural regions of ontario: ontario lies (predominantly) in 2 types of natural regions, the canadian shield (aka the laurentian plateau) 90% of ontario land area is made up by the canadian shield and the hudson bay lowlands: but less than 10% of ontario population lives in these areas. Canadian shield: (the middle portion of the province) Best summed up by 3 words: rocks, lakes, forest (1) rock: Glaciers scraped the soil from the rocks leaving exposed rocks and pockmarks full of meltwater (3) forest: since the last ice age ended -- 15,000 years ago in southern ontario, but only 6,000 years ago in northern. Great lakes-st. lawrence lowlands (southern portion of the province: actually 2 similar lowlands that are fairly flat and characterized by very fertile soil -- the great lakes. Lowland and the st. lawrence lowland: divided by an arm of the canadian shield called the frontenac axis (touches lake ontario between at kingston)
