Canadian Shield, one of the world's largest geologic continental shields, centred on Hudson Bay and extending for 8 million square km (3 million square miles) over eastern, central, and northwestern Canada from the Great Lakes to the Canadian Arctic and into Greenland, with small extensions into northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and New New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article Two main climate types are found in this region. A warming climate and a map that stretches quite literally to the ends of the Earthplenty of land for planting, development and the likemake Canada's agriculture future look bright, but . For a plain-language summary, please see Canadian Shield (Plain Language Summary). Snowfall is abundant in the north, which receives the least sunshine of fewer than 1500 hours annually. Tsuyoshi Iizuka, at al., "Geology and Zircon Geochronology of the Acasta Gneiss Complex", the largest-known meteorite impact craters on Earth, "Metallogeny and Tectonic Evolution of the Trans-Hudson Orogen", Alberta Heritage - Alberta Online Encyclopedia, 3-D Magnetic Imaging using Conjugate Gradients: Temagami anomaly, Report on the 2007 Diamond Drilling Program, McClarty Lake Project, Manitoba: The Pas Mining District NTS 63-K-08; UTM ZONE 14 N 415938 E, 6038968 N; 542928N 1001752W, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Canadian_Shield&oldid=1144657401, This page was last edited on 14 March 2023, at 21:53. in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. 2 What are the main biomes of Florida? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. These particles will have a pH level below 5.6. The Canadian Shield is a physiographic division comprising four smaller physiographic provinces: the Laurentian Upland, Kazan Region, Davis and James. Not only does Canada have the longest coastline in the world, its also the only country to border three oceans: the Arctic, Atlantic, and the Pacific. Many mammals such as caribou, white-tailed deer, moose, wolves, wolverines, weasels, mink, otters, grizzly bear, polar bears and black bears are present. Today, the largest concentration of active mines on the Shield and in the world is located around Sudbury, Ontario. Summers are short, lasting maybe 50 to 100 days without frost. Deciduous trees include red and mountain maple; white and paper birch; trembling aspen; black ash; and balsam poplar. (This is the full-length entry about the Canadian Shield. The region gets around 18 inches of rain each year. Read on to discover 10 major geographical features that shape the climate of Canada. All maps, graphics, flags, photos and original descriptions 2023 worldatlas.com, Major Geographical Features That Shape The Climate Of Canada, Australia's Most Famous Geographical Features, Mexico's Most Famous Geographical Features, The Important Features Of The Mediterranean Climate. Climate Graph & Average Temperature Quebec. Figure 1: Northwestern Manitoba - This photograph, taken in northwestern Manitoba, shows an aerial view of gravel ridges that mark the location of crevasses in the ice sheet that once covered the Canadian Shield.Each ridge is about 3 metres high and 10 metres wide. Meanwhile on the West Coast, the warm and humid ocean currents of the Pacific collide with the coastal mountain range, resulting in orographic, or mountain-caused, rainfall that can exceed 100 inches from the autumn through to the spring. APPALACHIAN REGION Climate This region is affected by 2 currents, the Labrador current and the Gulf Stream. Typical Canadian Shield: pines, lakes, bogs, and rock. The mountain region itself experiences year round snow in high elevations, significant rain on the western windward side and minimal precipitation on the leeward side resulting in a south-western desert landscape. ), The Canadian Shield refers to the exposed portion of the continental crust underlying the majority of North America. Deforestation only occurs when forests are permanently removed so the land can be used for something else. Substantial gold discoveries were also made in Ontario at Kirkland Lake in 1906 and Timmins in 1912, and in Qubec at Rouyn-Noranda in 1920. Climate The Shield has man y climate changes. Throughout the Shield there are many mining towns extracting these minerals. The Canadian boreal region spans the landscape from the most easterly part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to the border between the far northern Yukon and Alaska. If you have any comment, feedback or need support, please contact us. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". 2016. Canada Also see the Interactive Physical Maps and Climate Graphs for Canada Alert, Nunavut Calgary, Alberta Halifax, Nova Scotia Iqaluit, Nunavut Toronto, Ontario Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories Vancouver, BC Winnipeg, Manitoba Yellowknife, Northwest Territories United States Anchorage, Alaska Barrow, Alaska Denver, Colorado Honolulu, Hawai'i Unsurprisingly, these oceans have a significant impact on the climate of the land nearby. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. The Shield was originally an area of very large, very tall mountains (about 12,000 metres or 39,000 feet) with much volcanic activity, but over hundreds of millions of years, the area has been eroded to its current topographic appearance of relatively low relief. Many of Canada's major ore deposits are associated with Precambrian volcanoes. Arguably, Canada's most crucial geographic feature is the Canadian Shield - an area formed mainly of volcanic rock covered with a thin layer of soil. Given its vast latitudinal reach and widely varying geography, it is unsurprising that Canada experiences several different climatic regions. The high pressures and temperatures at those depths provided ideal conditions for mineralization. into Greenland, Laurentia, Scotland, and Siberia, and is now roughly situated in the Arctic around the current North Pole. Here it collects warm, moist air before continuing across the continent and towards Europe, where these winds are believed to be the reason for Norways warmer temperatures than other regions along the same latitude. Explore all the available data through high resolution maps and graphs. In 2008, researchers estimated rock found on the northern shore of Hudson Bay, 40 km south of Inukjuak, to be 4.28 billion years old. While the bare rock, thin soils, muskeg and insects of the Shield made living there difficult, the development of resource-based industries, such as mining and forestry, promoted increased settlement. It covers much of Greenland, and nearly half of Canada's total area, including Labrador, most of Quebec north of the St. Lawrence River, and much of Ontario, including northern sections of the southern peninsula between the Great Lakes. The Canadian Shield is covered by boreal forests in the south. The Canadian Shield is so large that the climate varies across it. 2 Why does the Canadian shield have thin soil? Long, severe winters (up to six months with mean temperatures below freezing) and short summers (50 to 100 frost-free days) are characteristic, as is a wide range of temperatures between the lows of winter and highs of summer. Canadian Shield: As observed on the map, the Canadian Shield, covering the eastern half of Canada's landmass is an ancient bedrock base of gneiss and granite covered by a shallow layer of soil. (See also Geological Survey of Canada. Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, on the north shore of Great Slave Lake, has the lowest mean annual temperature of any major city in Canada: -5C. Winter daylight hours average about 5.5 hours, and in the summer the daylight hours average about 18.5 hours. The Canadian Shield is so large that the climate varies across it. The growing season of about 120 days coincides with . What is the climate in Canadian Shield? It is marked by cool summers (except the Lac Seul Upland area which has warm summers) and very cold winters. The region gets around 18 inches of rain each year. Hydrologic drainage is generally poor, the soil compacting effects of glaciation being one of the many causes. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Our team will be reviewing your submission and get back to you with any further questions. The ice in turn suppresses solar radiation, holding cool temperatures on nearby land into June and July. Mammals. The traditional calendar seasons, as defined by the . Canadian Shield, one of the worlds largest geologic continental shields, centred on Hudson Bay and extending for 8 million square km (3 million square miles) over eastern, central, and northwestern Canada from the Great Lakes to the Canadian Arctic and into Greenland, with small extensions into northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York, U.S. It is the Canadian breadbasket and an area that is also rich in petroleum, gas, and other mineral resources. Learn why climate models are run over the historical period and how you can access this data. Climate in the tundra regions is too cold for trees to grow, summers are cool and short, and the region is dry. What kind of climate does the Canadian Shield have? [16] The Canadian Shield also contains the Mackenzie dike swarm, which is the largest dike swarm known on Earth.[17]. 2016. The Canadian Shield Taylor, Rachel, Jessica, Artem, & Luc 3. Given the prominence of the boreal forest throughout the Canadian Shield, forestry is also a prominent industry. The Canadian prairies generally receive about 12 to 15 inches of annual precipitation in the semi-arid areas, while the continental regions receive a bit more, averaging 16 to 20 inches a year. With the exception of the Canadian Shield, the rocks of the North American Craton are buried deep within the continent and covered by soil and other material. Glaciation has left the area with only a thin layer of soil, through which exposures of igneous bedrock resulting from its long volcanic history are frequently visible. * Each location provided here corresponds to a point location in Canada. Quebec is a city with a significant rainfall. Weather in July Weather in August The Canadian Shield represents a small segment of Alberta's wilderness, only totaling 1.5 percent, and is completely surrounded by the Boreal Forest Natural Region. Cool summer temperatures can actually produce higher photosynthetic efficiency in plants than can warmer conditions. The North American craton is the bedrock forming the heart of the North American continent and the Canadian Shield is the largest exposed part of the craton's bedrock. Some of the ancient mountain ranges can still be recognized as a ridge or belt of hills, but the present appearance of the physical landscape of the Canadian Shield is not so much a result of the folding and faulting and compression of the rocks millions of years ago as it is the work of ice in relatively recent geologic time. The Canadian Shield is dominated by the boreal forest ecosystem. Forests are not as dense in the north. Common coniferous trees include white and black spruce; jack, red, white and eastern white pine; balsam fir; tamarack; eastern hemlock; and eastern red cedar. Typical Canadian Shield: pines, lakes, bogs, and rock. Wildlife Caribou 4. Lakes are largely the result of glacial erosion during the last ice age. Currently the Ekati and Diavik mines are actively mining kimberlite diamonds. ClimateData.ca is a climate data portal produced collaboratively by the countrys leading climate organizations and supported, in part, by the Government of Canada. [15], The Sturgeon Lake Caldera in Kenora District, Ontario, is one of the world's best preserved mineralized Neoarchean caldera complexes, which is 2.7 billion years old. This region does overlap other regions of Canada, including the Cordillera and the Canadian Shield. The northeastern portion, however, became tilted up so that, in northern Labrador and Baffin Island, the land rises to more than 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) above sea level. When these crustal plates collide they may weld together, forming larger landmasses. . It covers much of Greenland, all of Labrador and the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, most of Quebec north of the St. Lawrence River, much of Ontario including northern sections of the Ontario Peninsula, the Adirondack Mountains[6] of New York, the northernmost part of Lower Michigan and all of Upper Michigan, northern Wisconsin, northeastern Minnesota, the central and northern portions of Manitoba away from Hudson Bay, northern Saskatchewan, a small portion of northeastern Alberta,[7] mainland Northwest Territories to the east of a line extended north from the Saskatchewan-Alberta border, most of Nunavut's mainland and, of its Arctic Archipelago, Baffin Island and significant bands through Somerset, Southampton, Devon and Ellesmere islands. The most recent glaciation to affect the area was the Wisconsin glaciation that began around 110,000 years ago. In the United States, the Canadian Shield includes the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York, the northernmost part of Lower Michigan and all of Upper Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and northeastern Minnesota. The Canadian Shield is so large that the climate varies across it. The Canadian Shield, particularly the portion in the Northwest Territories, has recently been the site of several major diamond discoveries. Learning from Indigenous people, coureurs de bois, voyageurs and explorers used the birchbark canoe to travel and trade along the Shields many waterways. The Canadian Shield is rich in natural resources, including minerals, forests and freshwater. This process is known as the winterization of summer. 4 degrees F (-18 degrees C), and in the summer it is 77 degrees F (25 degrees C). Canada's topography is dominated by the Canadian Shield, an ice-scoured area of Precambrian rocks surrounding Hudson Bay and covering half the country. These processes include erosion, glaciation and plate tectonics. The climate in Quebec is cold and temperate. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Adding TravelTime as Impedance in ArcGIS Network Analyst? Impact modelling suggests that, although overall economic impacts may be slightly positive in the short term at moderate degrees of warming, further warming and associated changes in climate will overwhelm systems, causing net economic losses . For example, in Alberta, Canada, it plunges under the mountains and plains to form a foundation under the province and it also stretches to the Western Cordillera in the west and Appalachians in the east, though the formations remain underground (HCF 2007). Some of the highest producing hydroelectric dams include Churchill Falls, Labrador, and James Bay, Qubec. The Canadian Shield refers to the exposed portion of the continental crust underlying the majority of North America. Due to its numerous rivers, the Canadian Shield region produces a significant amount of hydroelectricity. The boreal forest area gives way to the Eastern Canadian Shield taiga that covers northern Quebec and most of Labrador. 2018 2023 ClimateData.ca. In the northern part of the Canadian Shield they get 5 hours of daylight in the winter and 24 hours in the summer months. At 5 million km2, the Shield makes up roughly 50 per cent of Canadas land mass. The mixed coniferous and deciduous tress can survive in the poor and unproductive mountain soil, and flourish on the plateaus and in the rivers. Weather Time Zone DST Changes Sun & Moon Weather Today Weather Hourly 14 Day Forecast Yesterday/Past Weather Climate (Averages) Currently: 16 F. This suggests it could be a second metal-rich impact crater.[21]. The Canadian Shield: The Canadian Shield is a North American geological phenomenon of exposed bedrock made up of igneous and metamorphic rock. Overcast. The Canadian Shield is so large that the climate varies across it. Myth: Logging causes deforestation. The Canadian Shield stretches from Labrador to the Arctic. That is half of the Canadian amount. In places the old mountain ranges may be recognized by hills several hundreds of metres in height. Understand how SSPs differ from RCP scenarios and learn about key considerations when using SSPs in climate risk assessments. The southern temperate regions receive up to 1016mm (40) of rainfall evenly throughout the year. The largest, and one of the best known, is Greater Sudbury, Ontario. Mining began in the region in the mid-19th century and was key to Canadas economic development. Taiga Cold in the winter and warm in the summer, the taiga is the worlds largest land biome. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). See more current weather Annual Weather Averages in Resolute Bay Based on weather reports collected during 1985-2015. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The regions climate is intimately tied to its topography, which has many exposed and rocky areas. The data displayed is for the ~10 km x 6 km grid cell within which the selected location lies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Weathered Precambrian pillow lava in the Temagami Greenstone Belt, Folded Precambrian gneiss of the Canadian Shield in Georgian Bay, Ontario, Typical Canadian Shield landscape: spruce, lakes, bogs, and rock. Click here to learn more. For a plain-language summary, please see Canadian Shield (Plain Language Summary).). The climate in this area has four distinct seasons. [20], The Canadian Shield is one of the world's richest areas in terms of mineral ores. The boreal ecozone principally spans 8 countries: Canada, China, Finland, Japan, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States. ). Due to technological advancements, humans have been able to modify their environment and adapt to many different places. Home Page > Population. Omissions? Of the three provinces that makeup the Canadian prairies, Manitoba is the most humid and thus typically receives more rainfall than Alberta and . The current surface expression of the Shield is one of very thin soil lying on top of the bedrock, with many bare outcrops. Given their size and depth, the lakes gain heat in the summer months and release it during the winter. We want to hear from you. The average temperature in Quebec is 4.8 C. Such a large area of exposed old rock as seen in the Canadian Shield is unusual. Standard reports, Table 4.0, Area (1000 ha) of forest and non-forest land in Canada. Thanks for contributing to The Canadian Encyclopedia. The nearby but less-known Temagami Magnetic Anomaly has striking similarities to the Sudbury Basin. The Midwestern Canadian Shield forests that run westwards from Northwestern Ontario have boreal forests that give way to taiga in the most northerly parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Many of the small towns and villages scattered throughout northern Ontario and Qubec were founded around pulp and paper mills and other forestry-related activities (e.g., Atikokan, Ontario). Located in the middle of the continent and stretching east to west for 750 miles, these five water bodies comprise the greatest amount of fresh surface water in the world. At 5 million km2, the Shield makes up roughly 50 per cent of Canadas land mass. ISBN links support NWE through referral fees, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Canadian_Shield&oldid=678554, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. Just another site canadian shield climate graph Past weather data includes: temperature, snow, snow on ground, precipitation, rain, wind speed and direction, heating and cooling degree days, visibility, humidex, wind chill and relative humidity in Canada. What is thought to influence the overproduction and pruning of synapses in the brain quizlet? They can occur at any time of the year and are most often caused by heavy rainfall, rapid melting of a thick snow pack, ice jams, or more rarely, the failure of a natural or man-made dam. Various minerals and precious stones have been mined or continue to be mined on the Shield, including gold, silver, copper, zinc, nickel, iron, uranium and diamonds. The Shield can be divided into seven geologically distinct regions sometimes referred to as provinces. The North American craton is the bedrock forming the heart of the North American continent and the Canadian Shield is the largest exposed part of the craton's bedrock. [13] Much of the granitic rock belongs to the distinctive tonalitetrondhjemitegranodiorite family of rocks, which are characteristic of Archean continental crust. Typical Canadian Shield: pines, lakes, bogs, and rock. In the southern parts, the climate is seasonal; the average temperature in the winter is -.4 degrees F (-18 degrees C), and in the summer it is 77 degrees F (25 degrees C). The historic mapping of this area was done by Alexander Murray, who, in 185152, examined the geology around the Gananoque, Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers, as well as the perimeter of the Shield from Kingston to Lake Superior. Unique geographic features and formations can significantly impact the climate in an area. The forest industry harvests about 400,000 ha of timber each year across the Boreal ecozone . The kimberlite pipes in which the diamonds are found are closely associated with cratons, which provide the deep lithospheric mantle required to stabilize diamond as a mineral. Home Page. In the northern parts, the climate is very cold. The average temperatures range from 59 degrees F (15 degrees C) in the summer to -31 degrees F (-35 degrees C) in winter. Canada's far north lies in the frozen grip of the Arctic, where ice, snow, and glaciers dominate the landscape. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Learn about four types of historical data: historical weather station data, adjusted and homogenized data, gridded historical data, and modelled historical data. Like weather, as glaciers grow and move they also smooth the landscape, as well as move sediment. According to the triangular graph of physiography, climate, soils and natural . The Archean is set at the time period beginning with the formation of the earth's crust and the oldest earth rocks 3.8-3.96 billion years ago and extending to the Proterozoic, 2.5 billion years ago. Climate: Northwest Territories. Climate-Data.org. Shaped like a horseshoe or the shields carried during hand-to-hand combat the Canadian Shield extends from Labrador in the east to include nearly all of Qubec, much of Ontario and Manitoba, the northern portion of Saskatchewan, the northeast corner of Alberta, much of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut and into the Arctic Archipelago. The climate of most of this ecoregion ranges from low to high subarctic, with cool summers and very cold winters. The annual rainfall in Canada varies from 508mm (20) in the arid regions to 2032mm (80) in the mountains. The climate of this ecoregion is low to high subarctic, characterized by short, cool summers and very cold winters. Explanation: Humans can be found living in virtually all types of terrestrial biomes. Examples of this are cities such as Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. Canadian weather is harsh and cold during the long winter months but is more varied during other seasons. The region, as a whole, is composed of ancient crystalline rocks whose complex structure attests to a long history of uplift and depression, mountain building (orogeny), and erosion. The Canadian Shield is a huge rock formation. are timber-productive land. (accessed May 9, 2022). Kimberlites formations where diamonds can be located are scattered throughout the Shield, with the largest deposit located near Lac de Gras, Northwest Territories, about 300 km northeast of Yellowknife. Web. Ontario is the most populous province in Canada. Tundras Explained Barren tundra lands are home to hardy flora and fauna and are one of Earths coldest, harshest biomes. Of all the biomes with forests, the boreal forest is projected to experience the largest temperature shift. Shaped like a horseshoe or the shields carried during hand-to-hand combat the Canadian Shield extends from Labrador in the east to include nearly all of Qubec, much of Ontario and Manitoba, the northern portion of Saskatchewan, the northeast corner of Alberta, much of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut and into the Arctic Archipelago. Few trees grow here, and farming is not practical. The current surface expression of the Shield is one of very thin soil lying on top of the bedrock, with many bare outcrops. Several factorsnamely, the solar elevation angle, day length, and snow coverconspire to produce this cold climate. The kimberlite pipes in which the diamonds are found are closely associated with cratons, which provide the deep lithospheric mantle required to stabilize diamond as a mineral. The Canadian shield is covered by a thin layer of soil and forms the nucleus of the North American cratonan old and stable part of the continental crust that has survived the merging and splitting of continents and supercontinents for over 500 million years. East of the Shield is the maritime area, separated from the . The climate here features long, cold winters and short, cool summers. Recently scientists determined the geographical elements of the Rockies impact climate as far away as Norway. Without mountains, forests, valleys, cliffs, or large rivers to influence wind, precipitation, or sun cover, tundra is home to dry, cold temperatures that do not rise above 50oF during its summer and ten months of below freezing. Hydroelectric developments such as those at Churchill Falls, Labrador, James Bay, Qubec, and Kettle Rapids, Manitoba, continue to feed electricity to urban centres in the south.
Sphere Plane Intersection,
Moma Curatorial Staff,
Hammerhead Bat In New Jersey,
Articles C