Untitled Flashcards Set

Precambrian era: many cycles of mountain building and erosion creating the continental shield of Canada (canadian shield) began 4,600 years ago.

Erratic: misfit bolder picked up by glacier and deposited kilometers away.

Pangea: theory that states all continents were used to be part of a landmass called pangea.

Convection currents: slow moving currents responsible for plate movement.

Lithosphere:also known as the earth crust

Mantle: in between the crust and the core

Inner core: dense and solid layer made mostly of iron and some nickel.

Outer core: the very dense liquid layer made mostly of iron and some nickel.

Continental plates: part of the theory of plate tectonics states the earth’s crust is broken into large,slowly moving pieces that move due to the large convection currents in the mantle.

Mesozoic:began 245 million years ago and pangaea broke apart resulting in the formation of the innuitian and Rocky Mountains.

Cenozoic: began 66 million years ago,many periods of worldwide glaciation and the continents take on their present shape.

Paleozoic:began 570 million years ago. Fossil fuels and salt beds from when canada was located closer to the equator and were covered by shallow seas.

Igneous rock: forms when molten rock cools,hardens and crystallizes Eg.Basalt and Granite.

Sedimentary rock:sedimentary rocks formed when sediments become deposited in low lying areas and then compress,compact and become cemented together through a process called lithification. Eg. sandstone,shale,limestone.

Metamorphic Rock:Changed rocks Eg. Gneiss,slate,marble.

Subduction zone:when an oceanic plate slides under a continental plate and re-melted into the mantle. Eg. pacific coasts of north and south america.

Ring of fire: located in the pacific.

Highlands:mountains made up of Appalachian,Innuitian mountains and Western Cordillera.

Lowlands:valleys made up of Interior plains,great lakes-St.Lawrence Lowlands,Hudson Bay Lowlands,Arctic lowlands.

Hotspot:isolated and fixed spot of Volcanic activity ex.Hawaiian islands.

Mid-ocean ridge: example of a divergent plate boundary when two plates are moving apart, a crust is created forming a ridge.

Topography:

Canadian shield:oldest and largest region in canada formed from volcanic eruptions followed by billions of years of weathering and erosion.

Glaciation: Glacier is a slow moving mass of ice began between one to two million years ago

almost all of Canada and parts of the U.S., Europe and South America were covered by ice sheets ocean levels fell below current levels because enormous volumes of

the world’s water was frozen in the ice sheets.

Moraine: ridges or hills of till found at the ends or sides of a glacier

Alpine Glacier: found in mountain regions

move down valleys from high

elevations to low elevations

under the force of gravity sharpen the upper portions of the mountains and give them a rugged appearance In Canada, they exist in parts of

the Western Cordillera and the Arctic islands

Continental Glacier:

occupy greater areas of land move under their own weight give the landscape a smoother

appearance by eroding higher points on the land and filling in lower areas with the eroded

material exist only in Greenland and

Antarctica today.

Tundra: a treeless plain with permanently frozen subsoil.

Fjord: a long, narrow glacially formed sea inlet that cuts into the coast.

Bog: a type of wetland found in northern areas that features acid rich soils and low growing plants such as mosses.

Rainforests: A tall, dense forest that grows in rainy climates. (B.C.)

Innuitian Mountains:formed when the north american plate moved northward during the breakup of Pangea causing the rocks to fold and uplift or folding

Great lakes and St.Lawrence river: formed from sediments eroded from the shield and Appalachian and shaped by glaciers and faluting.

The canadian shield was formed by:Weathering and erosion,layers of sedimentary rocks from under the sea,rivers carry particles to the sea.