Forces that Shape Earth and Geological Time! CGC1D- Canadian Geography

Planet Earth Geologic History Landforms Rock Cycle Cenozoic (66 mya – present) Mesozoic (245 -66 mya) Dinosaurs Paleozoic (570 -245 mya) Ancient Life Precambrian (4600 -570 mya) Earliest Life Landforms Rock Cycle

Earth’s Interior HYDROSPHERE ATMOSPHERE Crust/Asthenosphere Air ATMOSPHERE Water Crust/Asthenosphere - 8-64 km thick - cold & fragile Granite and Basalt Land LITHOSPHERE Mantle - 1800 km thick - hot & molten - Magnesium and Silicon Outer Core - 2000 km thick - 3 - 4000°C - liquid Nickel and Iron Inner Core - 1400 km thick - 5 - 6000°C - solid Nickel and Iron

Geologic History Precambrian Era (Canadian Shield) Vulcanism Fault Ancient Sea Igneous Rock

#1 - The Canadian (also called the Precambrian) Shield 1. Precambrian Canada #1 - The Canadian (also called the Precambrian) Shield the geologic core of the country ancient (4 billion years in some places), hard igneous rock from which all the other areas were created used to be a huge mountain range

Precambriam Extensive volcanic activity folding/faulting and erosion Intrusive / extrusive igneous rock Cooling, creates Canadian Shield Foundation of Canada’s landmass Heat/Pressure (metamorphism) creates storehouse of Canada’s metallic mineral wealth Surrounded by ancient sea

Geologic History Paleozoic Era (Shallow seas) Erosion Erosion Sediments Sediments Igneous Rock

#2 - The surrounding series of plains or lowlands made of sedimentary rock most of the sediments were eroded from the ancient Precambrian Shield includes the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands, the Interior Plains, the Hudson Bay Lowlands, and the Arctic Lowlands Erosion Deposition Transportation

Paleozoic con’t Extensive erosion, transportation (rivers), deposition of sediments from the Shield into adjacent seas Compression of sediments in ancient seas create sedimentary rock Today these sedimentary rocks form the bedrock for parts of every province Organisms in seas form basis of oil/gas deposits in west Swamps (tropical climate) create coal beds in east

Geologic History Late Paleozoic/ Early Mesozoic Era (Appalachians formed!) Erosion Sediments Sediments Igneous Rock Mountains Forming

Late Paleozoic, early Mesozoic! Creation of super-continent Pangaea folds/faults/uplifts Appalachian mountains in the east NA is very tropical! Sediments keep on building up Breakup of Pangaea as NA Plate moves West colliding with the Pacific Plate

Finally, Cenozoic era creates today’s mountain ranges… #3 - The mountainous rim also made up of, in part sediments from the ancient Shield, also with metamorphic rock unlike the flat lowland areas, the mountainous rim rocks have been uplifted by tectonic forces there are three main mountain areas that make up the mountainous rim

the Appalachian Mountains (the oldest and hence the lowest due to longer erosion) the Innuitian Mountains of the very far north the Western Cordillera (the youngest, and highest, is actually a series of several different ranges dominated by the famous Rocky Mountains, the most easterly of the Cordilleran ranges)

Geologic History Cenozoic Era (last 65 million years!) Sedimentary Mountains Eroding 4. 2. Mountains Forming Sedimentary Plains 1. APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS PACIFIC OCEAN ROCKY MOUNTAINS Igneous Rock ATLANTIC OCEAN INTERIOR PLAINS 3. CANADIAN SHIELD

Glaciers!!! – ended about 20 000 years ago Plate Collision 3. Mesozoic Canada Glaciers!!! – ended about 20 000 years ago Western Cordillera Interior Plains Canadian Shield Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands Appalachians 4. Cenozoic Canada Landforms not seen (in the back) - Hudson Bay Lowlands, - Arctic Lowlands, - Innuitian Mountains

Intrusive Volcanic / tectonic activity begin to uplift the Coastal Range Tectonic forces uplift the Rockies/and as the plate rotates NW the Innuitian Mountains. (Arctic) Dinosaurs roamed inland sea west of the Rockies (Red Deer Alberta) until extinction @ end of Mesosoic Cenozoic: Rockies/Coastal Mntns. continue to form Volcanic Activity create plateaus between Rockies and Coastal Ranges

Rock Cycle Videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8dDq3el_tQ&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcfstbQyrzU

Rock Cycle MAGMA Heats and melts Cools and hardens IGNEOUS METAMORPHIC Weathers, erodes, and deposits Stresses or heats SEDIMENTARY