Looking at Canada's Interior Plains
Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., N.W.T., Manitoba, Yukon
Locations of the Region
The interior plain (red) is located mostly in Alberta and stretches across Saskatchewan, British Colombia, North West Territories, Manitoba, and a small part of Yukon. Interior plains usually have rolling hills and deep, wide river valleys.
Activities and Land Uses
Land uses- Plains have sedimentary rock that holds precious oil and mineral deposits. Also, this land is useful for farming because of the mineral filled soils. Mining is also done in the region for oil, coal, and potash.
Activities- By visiting this region, tourists can: experience hiking and exploring the area, enjoy the scenery, and do some photography shots of the sunset!
Rock types
Precambrian metamorphic and igneous rocks form the base of interior plains. Sedimentary rocky layers holding precious oil and mineral deposits.
Geologic Time
The Interior Plains in the Paleozoic era about 570 million years ago had shallow seas which continued into the Mesozoic era which is just about 66 million years ago.
Fun Facts: How the Region was Formed
Inland seas covered the region. As that was happening, eroded sediments from the Canadian Shield and Rocky Mountains were deposited into these seas over millions of years. Then these sediments were compressed into sedimentary rock slowly creating Interior Plains.