A brief description of the climate in the St. Lawrence Lowlands. Climate Snowy Terrain 21. If you were to overlay a map of the Canadian Shield with this week's population density map, you would see that Canada's major population centers do not extend into the Shield. Image by Jon Sullivan. As Europeans began to settle and colonize the country, beavers found in the Shield region became a source for the fur trade (see also Exploration). [2] In total, the exposed area of the Shield covers approximately 8,000,000km2 (3,100,000sqmi). Each is home to rock of different ages, types and formation characteristics, as well as different mineral deposits. Deciduous trees include red and mountain maple; white and paper birch; trembling aspen; black ash; and balsam poplar. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/place/Canadian-Shield, The Canadian Encyclopedia - Canadian Shield, Canadian Shield - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). The Canadian Shield, a hilly region of lakes and swamps, stretches across northern Canada and has some of the oldest rocks on Earth. The Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Lowlands are a humid continental climate, meaning that there is little precipitation and a large temperature range. The Craton stretches from Greenland to Mexico. The annual temperature range is 23C and Vancouver's annual precipitation is 1167mm. ClimateData.ca is supported by the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (CCCS) of Environment and Climate Change Canada as part of its efforts to provide Canadians with easy access to climate related data and to help increase their resilience to climate change. The human population tends to be scarce in the taiga, but many mammals are present in the area, such as caribou, wolverines, weasels, minks, otters, grizzlies, and black bears. Because the Shield was formed through a series of orogenies, it was once a mountainous region. In the Canadian Shield , there are short cold winters and long hot summers . Summer temperatures in the city are not as hot and the winter temperatures are not as cold as others. 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. This unique strip of desert is 12 miles wide and winds for 125 miles in the rain shadow of both the Coast and Cascade mountain ranges. July in Fond-du-Lac, Canada, is a pleasant summer month, with temperature in the range of an average high of 22.3C (72.1F) and an average low of 11.5C (52.7F). Some of the regions natural resources include timber, such as maple, birch, aspen, fir and spruce; water from rivers and lakes created by long-retreated glaciers; and minerals, such as titanium, uranium, copper, iron, nickel, gold, zinc, silver, platinum and diamonds. The southern part of the Canadian Shield gets lots of rain and snow each year. While at times a barrier to settlement, the Shield has also yielded great resources, including minerals, coniferous forests and the capacity for hydroelectric developments. Learning from Indigenous people, coureurs de bois, voyageurs and explorers used the birchbark canoe to travel and trade along the Shields many waterways. 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 The region gets around 18 inches of rain each year. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. . (See also Geological Survey of Canada. East of the Shield is the maritime area, separated from the . Climate The Shield has man y climate changes. Climate. Around the same time, silver was discovered near Cobalt , Ontario, in 1903. Canadas boreal forest (270 million hectares) stores carbon, purifies the air and water, and regulates the climate. 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. If you have any comment, feedback or need support, please contact us. 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. How your Landform effects the people who live there. The multitude of rivers and lakes throughout the region is caused by the watersheds of the area being so young and in a state of sorting themselves out with the added effect of post-glacial rebound. What kind of rocks are in the Canadian Shield? However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. The lowlands of the Canadian Shield have a very dense soil that is not suitable for forestation; it also contains many marshes and bogs (muskegs). Later, beginning in the mid-1800s, railway construction meant blasting through Canadian Shield rock, exposing valuable minerals in the process. Of all the biomes with forests, the boreal forest is projected to experience the largest temperature shift. Tundra typically prevails in the northern regions. In the southern parts, the climate is seasonal; the average temperature in the winter is -. Spanning the width of North America, Canada is the worlds second largest country after Russia, and home to a diverse topography that ranges from deserts to tundra, plus coastlines that rim not only the Great Lakes but also three of the worlds five oceans. The average temperature in Quebec is 4.8 C. On the opposite side of the Canadian Shield in the south, we see a more humid climate, with cold winters and warm summer occurring. The Canadian Shield (French: Bouclier canadien [buklje kanadj]), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. 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. Explore all the available data through high resolution maps and graphs. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. 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). During the day, desert temperatures rise to an average of 38C (a little over 100F). This arrangement was caused by severe glaciation during the last ice age, which covered the shield and scraped the rock clean. Did you know that because of the extreme climate growing season lasts from 60 - 120 days, so book your trip soon! Temperate deciduous forests are most notable because they go through four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. 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. Ont., Canada). The Shield can be divided into seven geologically distinct regions sometimes referred to as provinces. Climate: Toronto. Climate Graph, Temperature Graph, Climate Table. Canadian Shield . Summers are short, lasting maybe 50 to 100 days without frost. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The coast of the . The resulting surface consists of rocky, ice-smoothed hills with an average relief of 30 metres (100 feet), together with irregular basins, which are mostly filled by lakes or swamps. The Great Lakes have a significant impact on the Canadian climate. The western portion of the Eastern Canadian Shield Taiga ecoregion is composed of the Larch Plateau and the Richmond Hills, with elevations ranging from 150 m near the coast of James Bay to 450 m further east. The Canadian Shield Taylor, Rachel, Jessica, Artem, & Luc 3. Located within the Golden Horseshoe, Toronto is the capital of Ontario, the financial centre of Canada, and the country's most populous city. 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). 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. Climate: Northwest Territories. Climate-Data.org. 8 Apr. In addition to the thousands of small lakes throughout the Shield, the region also borders many of the larger lakes and waterways of Canada: the eastern shores of Great Bear Lake,Great Slave Lake, Lake Athabasca and Lake Winnipeg; the northern shores of Lake of the Woods, Lake Superior and Lake Huron; and the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. The climate in this area has four distinct seasons. The Canadian Shield is among the oldest on Earth, with regions dating from 2.5 to 4.2 billion years. The Labrador Current brings cold water south of the Arctic. The region gets around 18 inches of rain each year. In the southern parts, the climate is seasonal; the average temperature in the winter is -. Climate The climate of the Canadian Shield varies. T he Taiga Shield Ecozone stretches across part of Canada's subarctic north. The boreal forest corresponds with regions of subarctic and cold continental climate. The current surface expression of the shield is one of very thin soil on top of the bedrock, with many bare outcrops. Most temperate forests dont get as much rainfall as tropical rainforests, but they do get enough rainabout 30 to 60 inches each yearto grow big trees. Learn about emissions scenarios to consider a range of possible futures and minimize risk. See more current weather Annual Weather Averages Near Ottawa Averages are for Ottawa Int'L. This area lies between the western border of the Shield and the Canadian Rockies. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. As mountains erode, their roots rise and are eroded in turn. How many hours of Daylight does the Canadian Shield have? What is the annual precipitation in Canada? Also known as: Canadian continental shield, Canadian-Greenland Shield, Laurentian Shield, Precambrian Shield. The mountains of the Canadian Shield were subsequently eroded by weather such as wind and rain. The age of the Canadian Shield is estimated to be 4.28 Ga. At night, desert temperatures fall to an average of -3.9C (about 25F). Southern Ontario is one of the densest regions in the country. The Churchill and Grenville provinces contain deposits of uranium, lead and zinc. These are the main differences through the Canadian Shield. Like weather, as glaciers grow and move they also smooth the landscape, as well as move sediment. The origin of life traces to the Archean, with prokaryote fossils known from 3.5 billion years ago. So far, temperatures have shifted up to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and by the end of the century temperatures could increase by 11 degrees Celsiusa lot for an ecosystem that is generally below freezing. Precipitation collects acidic particles and gases and becomes acidic. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Leaves change color (or senesce) in autumn, fall off in the winter, and grow back in the spring; this adaptation allows plants to survive cold winters. Learn why climate models are run over the historical period and how you can access this data. The growing season is only 60 days in duration. 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. The lowlands of the Canadian Shield have soggy soil suitable for planting trees, but it contains many marshes and bogs. Distinct for its mix of coniferous and deciduous trees, high latitude location, and ability to grow in sub zero temperatures 6 to 8 months per year, boreal forests cover vast expanses in Canada, Alaska, and Russia. The growing season of about 120 days coincides with . 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. 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. At night, desert temperatures fall to an average of -3.9 degrees celsius (about 25 degrees fahrenheit). North of this region, the Superior Province is one of Canadas most important sources of metals, including deposits of copper, gold, iron and silver. It[clarification needed] was split[when?] 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. Most of Antarctica is too cold and dry to support vegetation, and most of the continent is covered by ice fields. New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article Canada is home to 28% of the worlds boreal forests, with 75% of Canadian forests part of the global boreal forest ring. For a plain-language summary, please see Canadian Shield (Plain Language Summary). Tropical rainforest 7. Canada is the only country to border three oceans - the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific. The UN has warned that the world needs to . Floods are the most frequent natural hazard in Canada. These processes include erosion, glaciation and plate tectonics. 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. ClimateData.ca provides historical climate simulations from 24 climate models developed by scientists from around the world. First Nations-Food Beaver (Sometimes Eaten As Food) 23. This is because the Canadian Shield has unusually large areas of relatively exposed rock from the Archean eon, roughly 2.5 to 4 billion years ago. (Weather station: Ottawa Int'L. Of the three provinces that makeup the Canadian prairies, Manitoba is the most humid and thus typically receives more rainfall than Alberta and . 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. The climate in the Canadian Shield varies through its vast scenery and location. Canada's growth rate has been anywhere between 0.8% and 1.2% for the past ten years. 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. Canada is home to several mountain ranges, including the northern arm of the Appalachian Mountains. This results in very hot summers and very cold winters. Explore various training modules and get up to speed on how to incorporate climate data into your decision making process. Home Page. When the Greenland section is included, the Canadian Shield is approximately circular, bounded on the northeast by the northeast edge of Greenland, with Hudson Bay in the middle. Boreal Forest 3. Just another site canadian shield climate graph Due to its numerous rivers, the Canadian Shield region produces a significant amount of hydroelectricity. What are the climate factors that contribute to the boreal forest biome? The Canadian Shield formed over 3 billion years through processes such as plate tectonics, erosion and glaciation. First Nations-Clothing An Animal Hide 22. Overcast. A wide range of wildlife calls the Canadian Shield home. They are the Nain, Grenville, Southern, Superior, Churchill, Slave and Bear provinces. The rocks that now form the surface of the Shield were once far below the Earth's surface. The main regions of Canada are the mountainous west coast, flat central prairies, eastern forested plains, and frozen north.Almost every region in Canada is home to an abundance of forests, rivers, and lakes. The warmest month is July, with an average high-temperature of 22.3C (72.1F) and an average low-temperature of 11.5C (52.7F). The growing season of about 120 days coincides with summer daylight averaging about 15 hours, while winter daylight averages about 8.5 hours. The Canadian Shield, a northern region constituting almost half of Canada, has a cold, dry climate characterized by Arctic winds, heavy snowfall during the winter, cool, short summers in the north and warm summers in the south. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The Canadian Shield constitutes the largest mass of exposed Precambrian rock on the face of Earth. The town prospered during the silver rush of the early 20th century, before going into decline in the 1920s. Deciduous Forest 4. The nearby but less-known Temagami Magnetic Anomaly has striking similarities to the Sudbury Basin. 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. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the ancient geologic core of the North American continent. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Public Works . The exposed metamorphic rock of the Canadian Shield mostly traces to the Precambrian era, between 4.5 billion and 542 million years ago, including extensive exposed rock from the Archean eon. This arrangement was caused by severe glaciation during the ice age, which covered the Shield and scraped the rock clean. How do we plan for a future that is uncertain? Forests are not as dense in the north. What kind of climate does the Canadian Shield have? Web. Few trees grow here, and farming is not practical. Sun & Moon Weather Today Weather Hourly 14 Day Forecast Yesterday/Past Weather Climate (Averages) Currently: 45 F. Taiga Cold in the winter and warm in the summer, the taiga is the worlds largest land biome. The population in the Canadian Shield is somewhere around 7 million . Clothing allows us to stay comfortable in areas with cooler temperatures. How are weather station observations used to create a country-wide view of Canadas weather? 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. During the Pleistocene Epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago), the vast continental glaciers that covered northern North America had this region as a centre. In the Canadian Shield , there are short cold winters and long hot summers . Climate is not only wholly dependent on these regions, however. The shield is also covered by vast boreal forests that support an important logging industry. The high pressures and temperatures at those depths provided ideal conditions for mineralization. Deforestation only occurs when forests are permanently removed so the land can be used for something else. With an area close to 5 million km 2, the Canadian Shield covers 48 per cent of Canada's land surface (including freshwater lakes and Arctic islands). Because most of the tundra is underlain by permafrost, vegetation is not able to put down deep roots, stunting growth. 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. 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 . Find out which ones could be most relevant to you. Ejecta from the meteorite impact was found in the Rove Formation in May 2007. 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. First remeasurement (2017) estimate of Canada's forest area. Unsurprisingly, these oceans have a significant impact on the climate of the land nearby. North of the boreal forest is the Arctic tundra ecozone, characterized by low-growing vegetation and few to no trees. The shield, particularly the portion in the Northwest Territories, has recently been the site of several major diamond discoveries. 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. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Listing total number of features into an ArcGIS Online feature pop-up, Coldest 1. Given their size and depth, the lakes gain heat in the summer months and release it during the winter. Adapting to a changing climate requires confronting and dealing effectively with a wide range of uncertainties. The climate of Canada The best time to visit Canada The worst time to visit Canada Weather hazards Weather in January Weather in February Weather in March Weather in April Weather in May Weather in June Weather in July Weather in August Weather in September Weather in October Weather in November Weather in December Most visited locations 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. [19] In the case of polar bears (Ursus maritimus), the Shield area contains many of their denning locations, such as the Wapusk National Park. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. 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. Lakes and rivers in the south house a variety of fish species including trout, burbot and northern pike. The mixed coniferous and deciduous tress can survive in the poor and unproductive mountain soil, and flourish on the plateaus and in the rivers. It covers 8,000,000 square kilometers. Large . This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Transitional between the tundra and the boreal forests is the Northern Canadian Shield Taiga ecoregion, characterized by low-lying bushes because of the increasingly severe weather and unsuitable soil conditions (WWF, 2001). 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. 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.

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