Geology | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    Physiographic Regions

    Canada may be divided into seven physiographic regions. The Canadian Shield is the largest and oldest of these regions. The other six physiographic regions are younger and form two concentric rings around the Canadian Shield. The outer, older ring contains the Western Cordillera, Canadian Arctic and Appalachian Region. The second, younger ring contains the Interior Plains, Hudson Bay Lowlands and the St. Lawrence Lowlands. These regions may be further sub-divided based on their structure, relief and the presence or absence of permafrost and forest cover (see Natural Regions). 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. Readers should also note that the abbreviation “masl” stands for “metres above sea level.”

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  • Article

    Plate Tectonics

    Plate tectonics is the theory proposing that Earth’s outer rocky shell is divided into seven major and several smaller rigid plates. Forces generated by heat losses from the planet’s interior constantly move the plates about. Plate movements, ongoing over millions of years (see Geological History), open and close ocean basins, generate volcanoes, raise mountains, facilitate accumulation of mineral and petroleum deposits, and influence evolution and climate change. Friction between plates prevents steady motion and stores energy that is released in sudden movements, causing earthquakes. This article is the full-length entry about plate tectonics. For a plain-language summary, please see Plate Tectonics (Plain-Language Summary).

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  • Article

    Plate Tectonics (Plain-Language Summary)

    Plate tectonics is the theory that rocky plates divide Earth’s surface. The plates move as Earth releases heat from its interior. The movement of plates creates volcanoes and mountains and causes earthquakes. This article is a plain-language summary of Plate Tectonics. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Plate Tectonics.

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  • Article

    Québec's Postglacial Seas

    Between about 100 000 and 12 000 years ago, the whole area of Québec as well as a major part of the northern hemisphere was covered with a thick layer of ice. In the late PLEISTOCENE era, just over 12 000 years ago, Québec underwent a gradual warming of the atmosphere.

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  • Article

    Rock slide

    A rock slide is a type of landslide occurring when a mass of rock moves quickly downslope.

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  • Article

    Scotian Shelf

    Scotian Shelf, a 700 km section of the Continental Shelf off Nova Scotia. Bounded by the Laurentian Channel on the NE, and Northeast Channel and the Gulf of Maine on the SW, it varies in width from 120 to 240 km; the average depth is 90 m.

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    Sedimentary Rock

     Only about 5% of the Earth's crust is composed of sedimentary rocks, but they cover 70-75% of the exposed surface and contain many economically important minerals, as well as coal and petroleum.

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    Spring

    A spring is a point of natural, concentrated groundwater discharge from soil or rock.

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  • Article

    Trilobite

    Trilobitesare an extinct marine arthropod of the Palaeozoic era (544-300 million years ago). Its closest modern relative is the horseshoe crab.

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  • Article

    Volcano

     A volcano is an opening in the crust of a planetary body through which liquid, gaseous or solid material is expelled; also the structure formed by eruption of this material.

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  • Article

    Weathering

    Fragmented rock materials formed by mechanical weathering are normally larger than clay particles. These materials constitute major sources of sediment for later erosion, transportation and deposition under the impetus of gravity, wind, water or ice.

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