Interior Plains
How were they formed?
intro
We`re going to be talking about the Canadian Interior Plains. The sub topics were going to talk about are Geologic, Hydrologic, and Climitac parts of the Plains.
Geologic
The interior plains are apart of the Great Plains of North America. It stretches from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. The interior plains extend 2700km, and 1300km wide. When they were forming, the Plains were covered by low inland seas. After a time period, the sediments were compressed by the weight layers above into sedimentary rock. The rocks are several thousands of metres thick and took millions of years to form. They contain much of the gas and oil found in Sakcatchewan and Alberta today.
Hydrologic
The landscape of the interior plains have beenshaped by the forces of erosion(water).Like the rest of Canada the interior plains, were subjected to glaciation. Glaciation has not only affected the landscape but the land use as well. After a period of time the glaciers left deposits that produced a rounded, gently rolling landscape. When the the glaciers melted.the water formed a large lake over much of what is now southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The floor of this huge lake was covered by sediments that made it very flat, later the sea level rose causing most of the water to merge with the ocean. Small portions of the ancient lake remain today as lake Winnipig, lake winnipegosis, lake Manitoba, and Cedar lake.
Climatic
The Interior Plains has long, cold winters and short, hot summers. Winters in the Interior Plains are able to go as low as -30°C, and summers that reach above 30°C. The farther north you go, the colder it becomes, no matter the season. In addition, the Interior plains get less precipitation than most other regions in Canada. he precipitation in the interior plains is averaged between 300 mm and 500 mm (30 cm and 50 cm). The driest areas can st get an average of 271 days a year with no precipitation.