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. The north is vast and sparse compared to the south. 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. Antarctic tundra occurs on Antarctica and on several Antarctic and subantarctic islands, including South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the Kerguelen Islands. The kimberlite eruptions then bring the diamonds up from over 93 miles below the surface. The location in regards to east and west does not really matter as much as north and south. The largest, and one of the best known, is Sudbury, Ontario. Comparable to sandpaper on wood, these forces slowly wore down the mountains, so that by about 800 million years ago, the low-relief surface of the Shield had been created. What type of climate characterizes the boreal northern forest biome temperature rainfall? Canada is home to several mountain ranges, including the northern arm of the Appalachian Mountains. In the southern parts, the climate is seasonal; the average temperature in the winter is -. 3 What kind of climate does the Canadian Shield have? Explore various training modules and get up to speed on how to incorporate climate data into your decision making process. The Canadian Shield: The Canadian Shield is a North American geological phenomenon of exposed bedrock made up of igneous and metamorphic rock. Sudbury is an exception to the normal process of forming minerals in the Shield since the Sudbury Basin is an ancient meteorite impact crater. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. This is one of the largest-known meteorite impact craters on Earth, though not as large as the Sudbury crater; it is currently ranked 5th, while Sudbury is 3rd. 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. Mountains have deep roots and float on the denser mantle much like an iceberg at sea. [9] The Shield was originally an area of very large, very tall mountains (about 12,000m or 39,000ft)[10] with much volcanic activity, but the area was eroded to nearly its current topographic appearance of relatively low relief over 500 million years ago. The Canadian Shield is a large area of exposed precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rock. Everything You Need to Know About Life in the Canadian Shield. 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. Of all the biomes with forests, the boreal forest is projected to experience the largest temperature shift. The average temperature ranges from -15 to -35 celcius. While at times a barrier to settlement, the Shield has also yielded great resources, including minerals, coniferous forests and the capacity for hydroelectric developments. The Canadian Shield is so large that the climate varies across it. Also known as: Canadian continental shield, Canadian-Greenland Shield, Laurentian Shield, Precambrian Shield. For a plain-language summary, please see Canadian Shield (Plain Language Summary). Several factorsnamely, the solar elevation angle, day length, and snow coverconspire to produce this cold climate. Canada's topography is dominated by the Canadian Shield, an ice-scoured area of Precambrian rocks surrounding Hudson Bay and covering half the country. The boreal forest area gives way to the Eastern Canadian Shield taiga that covers northern Quebec and most of Labrador. The Russian term "taiga" refers to the northern edge of the boreal coniferous forest. Adding TravelTime as Impedance in ArcGIS Network Analyst? Even if the portion of the Shield found in the Arctic is excluded, the Canadian Shield remains the largest physiographic region in Canada. Climate Graph & Average Temperature Quebec. They are the Nain, Grenville, Southern, Superior, Churchill, Slave and Bear provinces. 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. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The region has numerous pine forests and sand dunes, the perfect habitat for unique plant life. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Identifying port numbers for ArcGIS Online Basemap? Click Hereto learn more about the CCCS services. Learn about four types of historical data: historical weather station data, adjusted and homogenized data, gridded historical data, and modelled historical data. Since Vancouver is near water, their climate is based on it too. Winters in the Canadian Shield are fantastic for skiing and building snowmen. The mean annual temperature ranges from -4C to 0.5C; the mean summer temperature ranges from 11.5C to 14C; and the mean winter temperature ranges from -20.5C to -14.5C. Unique geographic features and formations can significantly impact the climate in an area. Click Here to learn more about the CCCS services. It is the world's largest continental shield covering 8 million square km (3 million square miles) and mostly consists . Human beings, which have a role as stewards of creation, have a deep curiosity to understand nature, and this is reflected in identifying the Canadian Shield and its ecological and scientific values. Did you know that because of the extreme climate growing season lasts from 60 - 120 days, so book your trip soon! It is the Earth's greatest area of exposed Archean rock. In the northern parts, the climate is very cold. The Canadian Shield Taylor, Rachel, Jessica, Artem, & Luc 3. This area lies between the western border of the Shield and the Canadian Rockies. Comparable to the present-day Himalayas in size, the Grenville Mountains may have been the largest mountain range ever created on Earth. [16] The Canadian Shield also contains the Mackenzie dike swarm, which is the largest dike swarm known on Earth.[17]. Weather Time Zone DST Changes Sun & Moon Weather Today Weather Hourly 14 Day Forecast Yesterday/Past Weather Climate (Averages) Currently: 16 F. The true extent of the Shield is greater still and stretches from the Western Cordillera in the west to the Appalachians in the east and as far south as Texas, but these regions are overlaid with much younger rocks and sediment. The average temperature in Quebec is 4.8 C. It is marked by cool summers (except the Lac Seul Upland area which has warm summers) and very cold winters. The average temperatures range from 59 degrees F (15 degrees C) in the summer to -31 degrees F (-35 degrees C) in winter. See more current weather Annual Weather Averages Near Ottawa Averages are for Ottawa Int'L. Who wrote the song The Maple Leaf Forever? Learn how to manage uncertainty related to greenhouse gas emissions by using emissions scenarios. They play an important climatic role, keeping temperatures in the area low with high humidity, interrupting winds, and reducing variable weather such as thunderstorms and cyclones. Taiga Cold in the winter and warm in the summer, the taiga is the worlds largest land biome. The Canadian Shield is the part of the North American craton that is exposed. It snows approximately nine months a year, leaving three months for a cool, short summer(average temperature 14.8C). Coldness is the dominant climatic factor in taiga ecosystems, although a surprising diversity of climates exists. Located within the Golden Horseshoe, Toronto is the capital of Ontario, the financial centre of Canada, and the country's most populous city. Climate in the tundra regions is too cold for trees to grow, summers are cool and short, and the region is dry. Home Page > Population. Smaller predators include the coyote, red and arctic fox, muskrat, wolverine, weasel, mink, marten, otter, and least weasel. The Boreal Shield ecozone is a main contributor to the Canadian economy not only with its economic activities but also with its pure fresh air, water, food, recreation, and wildlife. Around the same time, silver was discovered near Cobalt , Ontario, in 1903. It is covered with relatively thin layers of soil, gravel, etc. Composed almost entirely of volcanic rock, often exposed to the elements or with a thin layer of topsoil, the Canadian Shield is one of the most defining geographic features of Canada. In geology, a shield is generally a large area of exposed Precambrian crystalline igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks that form tectonically stable areas and that normally form the nucleus of continents. Click here to learn more. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. The Canadian shield is centered on Hudson's Bay over eastern, central, and northwestern Canada. 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. The Flin Flon greenstone belt in central Manitoba and east-central Saskatchewan "is one of the largest Paleoproterozoic volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VMS) districts in the world, containing 27 copper-zinc-(gold) deposits from which more than 183 million tonnes of sulfide have been mined."[22]. Animals in the Arctic portion of the Shield include polar bears, Arctic fox, Arctic hares, snowy owls and rock ptarmigan. Two main climate types are found in this region. During the summer, however, the parts of Canada farthest from open water are the warmest. Thanks for contributing to The Canadian Encyclopedia. North of this region, the Superior Province is one of Canadas most important sources of metals, including deposits of copper, gold, iron and silver. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 3 What biome is South Florida? Later, beginning in the mid-1800s, railway construction meant blasting through Canadian Shield rock, exposing valuable minerals in the process. What is the climate in northern Canadian Shield? Due to its numerous rivers, the Canadian Shield region produces a significant amount of hydroelectricity. Canada's Rocky Mountains influence climate as far away as Norway. Hydrologic drainage is generally poor, the soil compacting effects of glaciation being one of the many causes. Throughout the Shield there are many mining towns extracting these minerals. In addition to its rich natural resources, including substantial deposits of such mineral ores as nickel, gold, silver, and copper, and pristine northern ecosystems, the Canadian Shield also serves as a fertile area for human beings trying to better understand the origin of life. However, by some definitions these submerged regions are not technically part of the Shield since they are not on the surface. During the Pleistocene Epoch, continental ice sheets depressed the land surface (creating Hudson Bay) but also tilted up its northeastern "rim" (the Torngat), scooped out thousands of lake basins, and carried away much of the region's soil. The climate of this ecoregion is low to high subarctic, characterized by short, cool summers and very cold winters. 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. It covers 8,000,000 square kilometers. Typical Canadian Shield: pines, lakes, bogs, and rock. Most often they are bordered by belts of folded Cambrian rocks. [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. The climate here features long, cold winters and short, cool summers. Read on to discover 10 major geographical features that shape the climate of Canada. The terrain consists of tundra except in mountainous regions of the east. Given its size, it stretches across the provinces and territories of Nunavut, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Labrador, and the Northwest Territories, average temperatures within the Shield vary greatly. (It also reaches into parts of the United States, in New York, Wisconsin and Minnesota.) The crust, also known as the North American Craton, extends from northern Mexico to Greenland and consists of hard rocks at least 1 billion years old. climate change, global climate change, global warming, natural hazards, Earth, environment, remote sensing, atmosphere, land processes, oceans, volcanoes, land cover . The metamorphic base rocks are mostly from the Precambrian (between 4.5 billion and 540 million years ago) and have been repeatedly uplifted and eroded. Weather in July Weather in August 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. The first prokaryote fossils trace to this time period, and it is speculated that this geologic period encompassed the first development of an oxygen atmosphere and the first appearance of eukaryotes. As the ice retreated from the southern part of present-day Canada a process that began as recently as 11,000 years ago it cut the basins of the Great Lakes as well as the thousands of lakes throughout the Canadian Shield. Learn why ClimateData.ca uses an ensemble of 24 climate models to get a better grasp of what the future may look like. In the southern parts, the climate is seasonal; the average temperature in the winter is -. The boreal forest (or taiga) is the worlds largest land biome. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed. In the northernmost part, a city such as Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, will experience a dry, cold climate most of the year. Located just below the tundra region, these young forests are in constant renewal due to the natural occurrence of forest fire and insect infestation. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. The Canadian Shield is so large that the climate varies across it. 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. 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. The high pressures and temperatures at those depths provided ideal conditions for mineralization. Canada - Topography. 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. We want to hear from you. The Canadian Shield is part of an ancient continent called Arctica, which was formed about 2.5 billion years ago. The Southern Province, for example, is home to the mining district of Sudbury, Ontario, known for its production of copper and nickel. Canadas first diamond mine called Ekati opened there in 1998. 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). Typical Canadian Shield: pines, lakes, bogs, and rock. Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, on the north shore of Great Slave Lake, has the lowest mean annual temperature of any major city in Canada: -5C.
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