CGC1D – Physical Geography Test Notes

CGC1D – Grade 9 Geography – Physical Geography Test Notes Geography notes ● Formation of Canada ● Step 1:hot volcanoes were located where the North American Canadian area is located. ● step 2:erosion eroded away the tops of the volcanoes making them shorter ● step 3:more erosion literally combined the volcanoes into one mass of rocky land ● step 4:the mass of land is now a hard smooth plate, the Canadian Shield ● step 5:the Atlantic plate crashed into the east side of Canada and the area of subduction formed the Appalachian mountains ● step 6:erosion moved sand and dirt into the Pacific ocean and the Atlantic ocean ● step 7:the Pacific plate collided with the west side of Canada, forming the Rocky Mountains ● step 8:the water between the Rocky Mountains and the Canadian shield drained south forming the Interior Plains ● step 9:glaciers formed the Great Lakes The Canadian Shield ● ● ● ● ● Igneous and metamorphic Lead, nickel, copper, zinc (metallic minerals) Sudbury, Thompson, Yellowknife Not farming Water flow good The Lowlands 1. Interior plains 2. Great Lakes-St. Lawrence lowlands 3. Hudson Bay- Arctic lowlands Interior plains (Paleozoic) ● ● ● ● ● ● Covered by inland seas Coal, potash Erosion made 3 elevation separated by escarpment Soil is fertile Wheat, barley, canola, sunflower, flax (bread basket) Cattle Great Lakes (Paleozoic) ● ● ● ● ● 2 parts separated by shield Bedrock from sedimentary Niagara Escarpment Agriculture Transportation and cities Hudson Bay ● Swampy forest ● Sedimentary ● Ignite, oil, natural gas The Highlands 1. Appalachian mt. 2. Innuitian mt, 3. Western Cordillera Appalachian (Paleozoic) ● Oldest highland ● Sedimentary ● Coal Innuitian (Mesozoic) ● Sedimentary mostly Western Cordillera ● 1. 2. 3. Geologically young Coast mt. (Vancouver island) Interior plateau Eastern mt (Columbia mt and Rocky mt) Timeline of Earth ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 4.6 billion years old. Been through at least 5 ice ages Precambrian lasted 87% of Earth's history (4 billion years). The only part of Canada that existed during the time was the Canadian Shield (volcanoes that were 1.5 times as tall as Everest Shallow seas surrounded Canada Only single-celled organisms lived at this time Then the Cambrian explosion happened (lots of life) Paleozoic Era-570 million years long Canadian shield eroded, base for Appalachians formed (Early Paleozoic) Base for Cordillera formed, Appalachians rose and folded, sedimentary rocks forced up, out of sea)-late Paleozoic Insects and amphibians PANGEA““`(broke up 200 mil years ago) Mesozoic era-180 million years When the Mesozoic dinosaurs finally died, nobody cared and nobody cried Pangea broke up, because of its explosive relationship making it crack at the center (Just be Friends) Everything began moving to where it is today Innuitian mountains folded Erosion of Appalachians Rockies folded and faulted There was a lake where Alberta is (Fossils, oil, gas, etc.) Asteroid, mass extinction Cenozoic Era-2 million years HOOMANS (30 sec until midnight) Glaciation of Canada Appalachians eroded Parts of the Earth v The Structure-Crust, Mantle, Core (Inner and Outer) v Crust-8-64 km thick, cold, fragile, Igneous Rock v Mantle-hot magma, 1800 km thick, metals v Outer core-2000 km thick, 3-4000 degrees, more metal v Inner core-400km, solid metal v The Spheres-Lithosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere, Atmosphere v Lithosphere-rocks and minerals, land v Hydrosphere-water v Biosphere-everything living v Atmosphere-Air Plate Tectonics ● Alfred Wegner proposed the theory (proofs below) ● He saw the jigsaw fit (How continents fit perfectly together) ● He saw fossil evidence (fossils of the same species but on different continents) ● There was landform evidence (mountains were split across oceans) ● Glaciation (ice was where it wasn’t supposed to be) ● Pangea was the last super continent ● >< Convergence, <> Divergence, Transform Boundaries ● Convergence is when one plate subducts (goes under) another plate ● It melts back into the mantle ● An example of this is the Pacific Ring of Fire (underwater ring of volcanoes that make new land) ● This also creates mountains as the plates push into each other ● Divergence is when two plates pull apart from each other ● E.g. The Atlantic Ridge ● Volcanic activity, and cracks in the earth’s surface (ridges) appear ● Creates new crust ● Convergence and divergence is a cycle ● Transforming Boundaries are when two plates slide against each other ● Creates friction and faults ● E.g. San Andreas Fault ● Folding-the process that causes enormous pressure and forces the Earth to buckle ● Faulting-when the Earth cracks open Rock Cycle ● Area of Subduction:an area of land forced upwards by the collision of another plate Glaciers ● Form when ice is stored for a long time. ● Cause erosion Erosion ● Mechanical Weathering:rain, snow, ice, wind, temp, changes ● Worms can break down soil ● E. g. ice ages, Thermal Expansion(ice expands, causing cracks in bridges, sidewalk) ● Chemical Weathering:rock dissolved or changed by chemical process ● E.g. rust, acid rain ● Broken Earth pieces are called weathered material ● EROSION IS TRANSPORTATION OF SUCH PIECES ● Deposition- it stops moving and stays where the forces of nature carried it *Most southern point in Canada is Pelee ● v Erosion= Moving away sediment, and Weathering= actual wearing down of land. Rocks ● v Identifying features: Crystals (Metamorphic), Fossils (Sedimentary), Gas Bubbles (Igneous), Glassy surface (Igneous), Ribbonlike Layers (Metamorphic), Sand pebbles (Sedimentary) Sedimentary Rock ● ● ● ● ● v g. Conglomerate, limestone v Formed from particles of sand, shells, pebbles, etc. v Accumulates in layers, hardens to rock over time v Soft, breaks easily v The only type to contain fossils Metamorphic ● ● ● ● ● v g. Gneiss, Marble v Formed under Earth’s surface v Intense heat and pressure v Ribbonlike layers and shiny crystals v Melting causes them to turn back to magma (DIAGRAM ABOVE- rock cycle) Igneous ● v g. Basalt, Obsidian ● v Formed when magma cools and hardens ● v Two types-extrusive (erupted from volcano and cooled on earth’s surface\ 0 ● v Intrusive (Rude af, refused to leave the earth’s surface-clingy af, hardens underneath the earth (slowly)-tsundere af) ● v No crystals form with extrusive ● v Shiny and glassy ● v Sometimes air bubbles are trapped in during the cooling process 1. 2. 3. 4. 2 plates move apart= magma= ridge 2 plates move together= subduction= trench 2 plates move together= crash= mountain chain 2 plates move together= subduction= volcano LOWER-N ● v Stands for Latitude, Ocean Currents, Winds and Air Masses, Elevation, Relief, and Nearness to water ● v Latitude ○ o Generally, the closer you are to the sun, the warmer it is ○ o The Earth is round so the same energy reaches a broader zone ○ o It also hits at an oblique angle instead of a direct one ○ o The glaciers up North reflect the light (90%), while land and water absorb it ○ o The fuller part of the Earth is also physically closer to the sun ● v Ocean Currents ○ o There are warm and cool currents ○ o Cold is Labrador Current, it is in the Maritimes, when you go there, it is foggy, also known as “Iceberg Valley” ○ o Warm is the Gulf Stream, it makes places like England warmer than here ● v Winds and Air Masses ○ o An air mass is a large body of air having the same moisture and temperature conditions throughout ○ o The prevailing winds are also called the “Westerlies” ○ o Jet Stream=really powerful stream of air that flows from west to east ○ o Polar front=boundary between hot and cold ● v Elevation ● v Relief ○ o Cyclonic(When 2 air masses meet), Convectional (when the ground heats the air), relief/orographic (mountain rain) ● v Nearness to water ○ o Moderating effect-when large water bodies affect the surrounding land by moderating the temperature (summers are cooler, winters warmer) Regions of Canada ● v Canada has 15 ecozones Soil ● v Topsoil ○ o Contains humus (dark upper layer made of decaying plant material) ● v Subsoil ○ o Combination of topsoil and parent material ● v Parent Material ○ o Rock ● v Podzol=the soil when it has been leached, it’s hella acidic (in coniferous wood) ● v Leaching is a process that makes the soil poorer ● v Basically, there’s too much precipitation so the nutrients sink to the bottom (trees grow here) ● v Leaching dissolves nutrients ● v Calcification is the opposite (grasses grow here) ● v Capillary action-when water moves upwards through soil Climate Graphs ● ● ● ● v Bars are precipitation v Line is temperature v Growing season= above 5.6 degrees v Months w/o frost=months above 0 degrees