Keywords Geography

Combinations of these criteria, but with primary emphasis on geologic structures in southern Canada and the overwhelming influence of continuous permafrost in northern Canada, generate the major physiographic regions of Canada: Arctic Lands, Cordillera, Interior Plains, Hudson Bay Lowland, Canadian Shield Forest Lands, St Lawrence Lowlands and Appalachia. These 7 large regions have broadly homogeneous physical geographic characteristics, and differences between them are visible from satellite images (see REMOTE SENSING). Areas quoted for these regions are the land areas and do not include adjacent continental shelves or bodies of ocean water within Canada's territorial limits. The ecozones of Canada (see NATURAL REGIONS) provide more detailed breakdowns of Canada's land mass based on an ecological classification system.

Author: OLAV SLAYMAKER

Canada Physical Features
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Geological Regions

Natural Regions of Canada

Calgary, Satellite Image
The city of Calgary appears as a blue patch centered on the Bow River. The physiography around the city is visible, with the prairie farms (reddish areas) and rangeland of the foothills (green). The snow-capped mountains show as bright blue areas (courtesy Canada Centre for Remote Sensing).

Arctic Lands
The Canadian Arctic Lands lie north of the treeline and cover 2.6 million km², or 26% of the country (including the Arctic Coastal Plains, the Innuitian Region, Arctic Lowlands and part of the Canadian SHIELD). Except on the Canadian Shield, where much bare rock is exposed, the mainland TUNDRA is a closed mat with up to 900 species of vascular plants. The richness of tundra vegetation decreases towards the Pole. The islands south of Parry Channel (the official name for the body of water whose parts are called Viscount Melville Sound, Barrow Strait, Lancaster Sound and M'Clure Strait) are rock and moss surfaces; the Queen Elizabeth Islands are a desert of mainly bare rock and soil with patch vegetation on moist sites.

Freshwater lakes and rivers are ice-free June-October in the south, July-August in the north; they are ice-covered for the rest of the year. Slightly more than half the precipitation falls as snow which, in a treeless zone, is greatly affected by wind. Snow is moved over the surface, drifted into hollows and becomes hard packed, with wave and ripple forms related to prevailing wind directions. The northwest and the High Arctic are dry with annual precipitation averaging 10 cm. The central Arctic receives 20-30 cm; southern Baffin and northern Québec, up to 50 cm.

Several thousand years of cold CLIMATE have created a condition of perennially frozen ground (permafrost), in which GROUNDWATER occurs as ice in crystals, lenses and layers up to tens of metres thick. In some areas, rock may be frozen but it contains no ice. Permafrost may be tens of metres thick in the south increasing to more than 500 m in the northwestern islands. Each summer the top, active layer may melt down from a few centimetres to a metre or more.

Associated with permafrost is the formation of patterned ground (surface circles, ovals, polygons and stripes). Tundra polygons, a tortoise-shell pattern of cracks up to 30 m apart with ice wedges below the cracks, cover many thousands of square kilometres. Other distinctive PERIGLACIAL LANDFORMS are PINGOS, over 1500 of which have been counted near the Mackenzie Delta.

Land surfaces owe their character, in part, to the underlying GEOLOGY. The mainland east of Great Bear and Great Slave lakes, the Ungava Peninsula and most of Baffin Island are part of the Canadian Shield. These ancient rocks have been much changed through GEOLOGICAL HISTORY and have been glaciated to form an upright saucer with the centre flooded by Hudson Bay.

The eastern rim, extending from Labrador north along Baffin Island and into Ellesmere Island, is a mountainous zone with elevations 1500 m and higher in the north, and a fjorded coast. This zone possesses GLACIERS covering about 5% of the Arctic's surface. The zone between the Shield and the Western Cordillera is a Paleozoic plain (570-245 million years old) gently sloping from 500 m elevation downwards to the Arctic Ocean.

The islands are mostly of SEDIMENTARY ROCKS which form plains, uplands and hills. The rock layers are mainly flat-lying in the south but have been folded, then eroded, in the ARCTIC ARCHIPELAGO. Surface elevations rise from near sea level in the northwest to approach the high mountain rim in the east. The many channels among the ISLANDS may be caused by faulting, or may be fault-controlled and further deepened by riverine EROSION and GLACIATION.

Author: JOHN K. STAGER

Mackenzie Delta, Satellite Image
This satellite image shows one of the world's largest river deltas. It has formed over thousands of years as the river deposits silt and sand into the Beaufort Sea. The maze of islands and streams are home to wildlife (courtesy Canada Centre for Remote Sensing).

Glaciers, NW British Columbia
Glaciers cover 10% of the world's land surface. This satellite image shows glaciers and icefields in northwest BC. The long, narrow fjords were carved by the ice sheets on their last retreat (courtesy Canada Centre for Remote Sensing).

Cordillera
This region is part of the MOUNTAIN system that extends the length of the Pacific Coast of North and South America. The Canadian part of the Cordillera is about 800 km wide, and extends northwestward from 49° north for over 2000 km to the Alaska border at 141° west. Most of the Cordillera lies within BC and the Yukon, but it also extends into southwestern Alberta and NWT. The total area covered by this physiographic region is 1.6 million km² (16% of Canada).

The Cordillera includes plateaus, valleys and plains as well as rugged mountains. The most continuous mountain chains form high rims along the southwestern and southeastern sides of a belt of varied terrain. The Eastern system consists of sedimentary rocks that have been tilted, faulted and folded. The Interior system's mountain ranges and dissected plateaus are underlain by folded sedimentary and volcanic strata, by metamorphic rocks and numerous, small IGNEOUS intrusions. In the Western system, the Coast Mountains consist of a mass of interlocking igneous intrusions and metamorphic rocks, but the outermost mountains are geologically similar to the Interior system.

The oldest recognizable feature of the Cordilleran landscape is the gently rolling upland of its interior plateaus. This ancient surface was sculpted by erosion many millions of years ago. Since then, it has been uplifted, partly buried by lava flows, dissected by river erosion and modified by glaciers. The most widespread landforms and surface deposits of the Cordillera date from the glaciations of the past million years. South of 61° N, only the highest mountain peaks projected above the Cordilleran ice sheet. Farther north, extensive parts of the Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories were too dry for glacier formation, although very cold.

In the glaciated areas landforms such as cirques and U-shaped valleys are common in the mountains and along the edges of higher plateaus. Features such as striations, DRUMLINS, ESKERS and till plains are widespread on plateaus and plains. Valleys and lowlands commonly contain thick silts and clays that were deposited in ice-dammed lakes during glacier melting, and sands and gravels that were deposited by meltwater streams.

During the 12 000 years of postglacial time, rivers have formed terraces, alluvial fans, floodplains and deltas (see RIVER LANDFORM). Valley sides have been modified by rockfalls, debris flows, LANDSLIDES, soil creep and snow AVALANCHES. Periglacial landforms are present above treeline. In the south, permafrost exists beneath only the highest, windswept ridge crests, but northward it becomes lower and, in the central and northern Yukon, occurs at all elevations.

Volcanic activity has occurred sporadically at scattered locations in the western and interior systems up to the present. Some eruptions occurred during glaciation. The youngest lava flows and cinder cones are only a few hundred years old; these eruptions are described in Indian legends.

The Cordillera encompasses a great variety of climates because of its great latitudinal extent, its location between the Pacific Ocean and the continental interior, and its rugged terrain. Several significant effects of climate are visible in the natural landscape. Heavy rain and snow on the Coast Mountains give rise to luxuriant forests and maintain extensive snowfields and glaciers at relatively low elevations.

The altitudinal treeline and the snowline rise eastward as snowfall decreases, and descend northward as temperature declines. Differences in climate caused by elevation in any particular area are reflected by altitudinal vegetation zones. The highest of these is the alpine tundra. In the semiarid valleys of the Interior system, the lowest vegetation zone is grassland.

The Cordillera as a whole is distinguished by its mountainous and irregular topography, and its great variety of climates, soils and vegetation. Many aspects of its physiography, including steep slopes, natural hazards and severe climate, restrict land use by humans. Other features, such as FORESTS, grasslands, lakes and rivers, and varied scenery, are natural RESOURCES.

See also KARST LANDFORM.

Author: J.M. RYDER

Rocky Mountains, Near Golden
The Rockies extend 1200 km from the American borders of BC and Alberta to the Liard River Basin (Corel Professional Photos).

Tundra
Tombstone Mountains, Yukon Territory (photo by Tim Fitzharris).

Interior Plains
The Interior Plains area of Canada encompasses the region between the Canadian SHIELD and the western CORDILLERA and includes the western Arctic islands. It is distinguished by vast expanses (1.8 million km², or 18% of Canada's land surface) of flat-lying sedimentary bedrock which, over much of the region, consists of poorly consolidated shales, siltstones and sandstones. Bedrock relief plays a role in large-scale physiographic features, but small-scale features are largely the result of Quaternary (1.65 million to 10 000 years ago) glaciation.

The regional topography is partly determined by flat-lying limestones and shales of marine origin that underly the entire region. Younger, non-marine sediments, largely sands and gravels representing deposits from rivers flowing eastward from the newly developing mountains to the west, covered these marine sediments in the western part of the region. Erosion of the less resistant of these non-marine sediments, in association with uneven uplift that continued with mountain building to the west, has resulted in the carving of the western part of the region into a series of isolated uplands.

In addition to these erosional remnants, the relatively uniform slope of the southern portion of the region is broken into 3 levels by the Manitoba Escarpment and the Missouri Coteau. The Manitoba Plain lies below the Manitoba Escarpment at elevations under 400 m. It is the lowest and flattest of the 3 prairie steps. The underlying Paleozoic rocks (544-250 million years old) are covered by a mantle of glacial drift, overlain in most areas by glacial lake silts and clays.

The Saskatchewan Plain, the dip slope of the Manitoba Escarpment, is covered by glacial deposits that almost completely obliterate the largely marine shales of the Cretaceous age (144.2-65 million years ago), which form the bedrock. Hummocky moraines and till plains dominate, with lesser amounts of large, flat areas of former glacial lakes. This plain, which is lower and smoother than the plains to the west, has surface elevations that range from 460 to 790 m, reaching 915 m in hillier areas.

West of the Missouri Coteau is a gradual slope upwards to the Rocky Mountains, representing a thickening of non-marine sediments of Cretaceous age. This third step begins with the Eastern Alberta Plains, only slightly higher than the Saskatchewan Plain, and extends to the Western Alberta Plains, where elevations reach 1100 m. Except for the CYPRESS HILLS, which are isolated, the Southern Alberta Uplands form a buffer between the plains and the mountains, with elevations approaching 1650 m. It has a bolder, more varied relief, reflecting the close proximity of the erosion-resistant Tertiary (65-1.65 million years ago) bedrock surface in many areas. More striking are the BADLANDS, formed from the severe dissection of soft underlying rocks in the more arid region.

The Northern Alberta Uplands, north of Lesser Slave Lake, are a series of disconnected plateaus rising 250-700 m from the surrounding Northern Alberta Lowlands to summits that vary from 760 to 1050 m. The valleys of the PEACE, ATHABASCA and Hay rivers are the most striking features in the lowlands. Glacial lake deposits and till plains, which are largely peat-covered, are widespread in the lowlands, whereas a mantle of glacial till covers most of the plateau areas.

The Interior Plains continue northward to the Arctic Ocean, and even some of the Arctic islands are considered to be part of this region. Elevations generally decrease northward along the drainage of the MACKENZIE RIVER Valley, with a gentle rise eastward from the valley to the Precambrian Shield and a sharp rise, with several large plateaus, westward to the Rocky Mountains.

The Interior Plains are mostly characterized by grassland vegetation (prairie) under semiarid climatic conditions throughout the plains, but islands of mixed-wood forest prevail at high elevations on uplands in western Alberta. This grassland gives way to an aspen parkland to the north and east, under slightly cooler temperatures and higher precipitation. As this trend continues northward, a mixed-wood forest followed by a coniferous BOREAL FOREST predominates. Finally, at the northern extension of the Interior Plains, forest gives way to treeless TUNDRA and polar deserts.

Author: D.F. ACTON

Interior Plains
Interior Plains near Regina, Saskatchewan (photo by J.A. Kraulis/Masterfile).

Alberta Southern Prairies
The Pinhorn Grazing Reserve contains mixed grassland vegetation and spear grass. The Sweetgrass Hills in Montana are in the background (photo by Cleve Wershler, courtesy Cottonwood Consultants Ltd.).

Aspen Parkland
The terrain around Ramsey Lakes, Manitoba is typical of aspen parkland, depicting samphire along the rocky shore, fescue grassland and aspen woodland. The region is part of the largest remaining block of aspen parkland left in the world. Most of the original parkland has been converted to cropland (photo by Cleve Wershler, courtesy Cottonwood Consultants Ltd.).

Selkirk Mountains
Glacier National Park, Mount Sir Donald (photo by John Woods).

Hudson Bay Lowland
This land area of 320 000 km² (3.2% of Canada's land surface) is only 40% of a sedimentary basin in the middle of the Canadian Shield, the remaining 60% of which lies beneath HUDSON BAY and JAMES BAY. Apart from the Sutton Ridges in the northeast of the lowland, the bedrock terrain is completely masked by a mantle of glacial and marine sediments associated with the advance and retreat of ice during the last glaciation.

The inland edge of the lowland (about 180 m high) coincides approximately with the highest level of marine inundation which followed the disappearance of glacial ice from Hudson Bay about 7500 years ago. In the western part of the lowland, landform subdivisions tend to parallel the Shield edge and coast. Nearer the Shield are found streamlined hills of glacial till, which were formed beneath ice moving southwest from Hudson Bay towards Manitoba. These have not been totally masked by younger marine deposits and, thus, give the surface a corrugated appearance.

Closer to the coast, where the marine mantle is thicker, vast level plains of MUSKEG with thick peat accumulations and innumerable ponds are typical. These plains contrast with terrain in a wide zone (50-80 km) inland of the coast. There, scores of parallel, gravel beach ridges were thrown up by storm waves during the last 5000-6000 years, as sea level fell in response to rapid uplift of Earth's crust. Dry, forested, low ridges separated by boggy depressions characterize this zone.

At the coast the almost level offshore zone is exposed at low tide as marshy and muddy flats, often strewn with glacial boulders (see SWAMP, MARSH AND BOG). At present, sea level is still falling at approximately 60 cm per 100 years, continually exposing more of the offshore zone. In the eastern lowland, flooding by marine waters was immediately followed by a readvance of the ice sheet margin approximately along longitude 86-87° west. This caused the molding of the marine deposits into more prominent, streamlined hills.

Author: I.A. BROOKES

Canadian Shield Forest Lands
The Shield proper (area 4.8 million km²) covers 48% of Canada's land surface (including freshwater lakes and arctic islands). If the Arctic Shield is excluded, the Canadian Shield Forest Lands still remains the largest physiographic region in Canada, comprising 32% of the land surface. It is a vast, saucer-shaped region: the rim on its south, east and northeast sides like that of a soup plate; the centre a sedimentary rock basin, the southern fringe of which underlies the Hudson Bay Lowland.

The Shield is composed of crystalline Precambrian rocks formed during several phases of mountain building between 4 and 1 billion years ago. In the last billion years it has remained a relatively stable bulwark, unaffected by the PLATE TECTONIC movements which have impinged on it to form the mountainous fringe of Canada. The stability of the Shield has allowed denudation to level its surface, giving it characteristic level or undulating skylines.

The southeastern and eastern borders have been uplifted in the relatively recent geological past as a result of tectonic movements associated with the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. Glacial erosion had little effect, except along the eastern rim. Approximately half of the Shield is classified as upland. Extending from northwestern Québec through northern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and southern Nunavut to northwestern mainland Nunavut and the eastern Mackenzie districts, NWT, this terrain (200-500 m elevation) is upland only by virtue of its elevation above the Hudson Bay Lowland and the Interior Plains which border it. Bedrock relief of only 50-60 m has been smoothed by a thin mantle of glacial till and sediment deposited in glacial lakes.

The eastern Shield is dominated by plateaus between Hudson Bay and the Gulf of St Lawrence. Elevations increase from 300 m near the coasts to 900 m in central Labrador-Nouveau Québec. Relief of 150-300 m is caused by incision of valleys into the higher terrain. At several places over the Shield, uplands and plateaus are broken by belts of hills. The relief of the hills increases because of differential erosion of linear geological structures formed in former mountain belts. Examples are the Labrador and Port Arthur hills.

The high, rugged terrain along the east and southeast rim of the Shield is classified as highland. In Baffin Island and northern Labrador it stands at 800-1500 m and possesses rolling plateau surfaces which are deeply dissected by glacial troughs, giving a fjordlike aspect to these coasts. Highlands north of the St Lawrence River stand at 500-900 m with isolated summits at 1000-1200 m in terrain which is more dissected, with few plateaus.

The 2 extensive shield zones, east and west of Hudson Bay, were the centres of ice sheet outflow during the last glaciation (from 75 000 to 6000 years ago). The central parts of these zones show unorganized terrain mantled with till and also pocked with irregular, shallow lake basins. Around these, glacial scouring of the bedrock is more obvious, with occasional ice-molded till hills and many eskers marking the courses of subglacial rivers, and large moraines marking pauses in retreat of the ice front across the Shield. The periphery of these 2 core areas is marked by more level terrain which was flooded by lakes and seas during ice retreat.

Author: I.A. BROOKES

Mixed Wood Forest
The mixed-wood forest is characteristic of the St Lawrence Lowland region (photo by Tim Fitzharris).

Boreal Shield
Saskatchewan is heavily dependent on river flows and precipitation for agricultural production (photo by Menno Fieguth).

St Lawrence Lowlands
The St Lawrence Lowlands (180 000 km², 1.8% of Canada's land surface) lie between the Shield to the north and the Appalachian Region to the east and southeast, and are broken into 3 subregions.

West St Lawrence Lowland
This subregion lies between the Shield and lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario. The West St Lawrence Lowland consists of a limestone plain (elevation 200-250 m) that is separated by a broad, shale lowland from a broader dolomite and limestone plateau west of Lake Ontario. This plateau is bounded by the NIAGARA ESCARPMENT. From the escarpment the plateau slopes gently southwest to lakes Huron and Erie (elevation 173 m). Glaciation has mantled this subregion with several layers of glacial till, the youngest forming extensive, undulating till plains, often enclosing rolling drumlin fields.

Prominent moraines on the western plateau and north of Lake Ontario mark temporary pauses in the retreat of glacial lobes, between 14 500 and 12 500 years ago. Level clay and sand plains, which were deposited in glacial lakes, fringe the present lakes.

Central St Lawrence Lowland
This subregion in southeastern Ontario and southern Québec has undulating topography, developed on sedimentary rocks that are largely masked by glacial and marine deposits. The 7 Monteregian Hills (eg, Mont Royal), which are aligned approximately west-east between the Shield west of Montréal and the Appalachians, stand at 200-500 m. They are the exhumed roots of volcanoes that formed as the Atlantic Ocean was forming about 120 million years ago.

Along the Shield and Appalachian fringes of the lowland, sandy terraces (elevation up to 200 m) were deposited in the CHAMPLAIN SEA, which flooded the newly deglaciated lowland approximately 13 000 years ago. These terraces have been eroded by postglacial streams to form more broken terrain. The low, gently hummocky, Drummondville moraine trends southwest from near Québec City to near the Vermont border.

East St Lawrence Lowland
This is a subregion that widens from the lower St Lawrence estuary into the Gulf of St Lawrence and narrows again to the northeast at the Strait of Belle Isle. There are small, isolated low plateaus and plains along the north shore of the Gulf of St Lawrence, such as ÎLES DE MINGAN; a coastal plain at less than 100 m in northwestern Newfoundland; and a larger, undulating plateau at 100-200 m with a central spine at 300 m on ÎLE D'ANTICOSTI. These fragments have a smooth terrain influenced by flat or gently dipping sedimentary bedrock. Surface conditions may be barren and dry, forested or boggy, depending on surface slope and the influence of coastal winds.

Author: I.A. BROOKES

Appalachian Region
The Appalachian Region (360 000 km², about 3.6% of Canada's land surface) lies between the St Lawrence Lowlands to the northwest and the Atlantic Continental Shelf to the east and southeast. Like other mountain regions, its terrain is a mosaic of uplands and lowlands, the characters, boundaries and shapes of which reflect the complexity of rocks and structures. These were inherited from tectonic movements between 480 and 280 million years ago. Since then, denudation has removed several kilometres of rock, revealing once deeply buried structures.

Shogomoc River
Shogomoc River, in the central highland region of New Brunswick (photo by J.A. Kraulis/Masterfile).

In western Newfoundland and northeastern New Brunswick summits stand at 600-800 m; elsewhere in the region, this highland belt is flanked by uplands at 300-600 m in Québec, northwestern New Brunswick southern and eastern Newfoundland, and southern Nova Scotia. Except in southern Nova Scotia, the uplands share with the highlands smoothly undulating skylines and deeply cut valleys.

In eastern New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, ÎLES DE LA MADELEINE, northern Nova Scotia and the triangular Newfoundland Central Lowland, weaker rocks have allowed the development of plains and lowlands. In Newfoundland and southern Nova Scotia, terrain strongly resembles that of the Shield, with extensive, glacially smoothed bedrock plains, patchily covered with bouldery till and dotted with irregular lakes. In the rest of the region, even highland and mountain zones show only locally severe glacial erosion, particularly in valleys crossing the "grain" of the terrain. Glacial deposits are thicker there and, although mostly sandy and infertile, locally they may be good soil parent materials.

With deglaciation, between 14 000 and 10 000 years ago, crustal uplift was sufficiently great to exceed sea-level rise in the central and northern zones of the Appalachian Region, so that a coastal fringe exhibits raised marine terraces which often provide pockets of sandy, arable land. In the south, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, post-glacial sea-level rise has exceeded uplift along this submerging coast with rocky headlands, irregular bays and salt marshes. Sea level continues to rise at up to 30 cm per 100 years.

Author: I.A. BROOKES

Author Contributers to this article: I.A. BROOKES, OLAV SLAYMAKER, JOHN K. STAGER, J.M. RYDER, D.F. ACTON

Suggested Reading
J.B. Bird, The Natural Landscapes of Canada (1978, rev 1980); H.S. Bostock, "Physiographic Regions of Canada," Geological Survey of Canada Map 1245-A (1967); O. Slaymaker, "Physiography of Canada and Its Effects On Geomorphic Processes," Quaternary Geology of Canada and Greenland (1989); A.S. Trenhaile, The Geomorphology of Canada (1990).

Links to Other Sites
Ecozones and Ecoregions of Canada
Interactive website with maps and detailed descriptions about Canada's ecozones and ecoregions. Developed by Environment Canada.

Canadian Landscapes Photo Collection
Comprehensive photographic collection depicting Canadian landscapes and landforms. Includes brief geological descriptions. Some pdf files. From Natural Resources Canada.

Journeys & Transformations: British Columbia Landscapes
Explore the fascinating natural and human history of British Columbia through this multimedia website from the Royal British Columbia Museum.

The Canadian Council for Geographic Education
An organization dedicated to promoting geographic literacy. Check out the extensive online teaching resources and interesting profiles of professionals working in various geographic disciplines.

GeoConnections
The GeoConnections Discovery Portal is your gateway to millions of geospatial data products. Browse metadata records or search by subject, coverage or product type to find, evaluate, visualize and access the geospatial data you need.

Geoscape Canada
An extensive information source about the geological history, human settlement patterns, earth and water resources, and natural hazards found in locations across the country. Click on the red symbols on the interactive map of Canada to explore aerial landscapes, maps, photos, colourful online posters, and more. A Geoscape Canada website from Natural Resources Canada.

Surficial Materials of Canada
A detailed digital map of Canada’s geology, landforms, and hydrography. Caution: some features require complex downloading procedures. From Natural Resources Canada.

Soil Landscapes of Canada
This site features photographs of typical soil landscapes found in various regions of Canada. From Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Atlas of Alberta Railways
Climb aboard the "Atlas of Alberta Railways" website for a fascinating multimedia tour of Alberta history. This site will take you to a great collection of fascinating maps, old newspaper articles, scenic photographs, charts, graphs, and much more. From the University of Alberta Press.

A Journey to a New Land
The purpose of this website is to examine and explore the issues around the first arrival of humans in the Americas. The activities are designed to present students with opportunities to learn more about archaeological methods and the human past. From the SFU Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and the Virtual Museum of Canada.

Nova Scotia's Natural History
An online guide to the natural history of various regions in Nova Scotia. From the website for the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History.

Glossary: Terrain Classification
Glossary of technical terms related to terrain features in the landscape. A Government of British Columbia website.

Glossary: Grassland Conservation
Glossary of ecological terms related to grassland conservation. From the website for the Grasslands Conservation Council of BC.

The Canadian Atlas Online
An extensive online resource about Canadian geography. Also provides related lesson plans. From the website for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

Tallgrass Prairie
A guide to prairie grassland conservation and management. From the Environment Canada website.