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12 - Inter-basin water transfer in Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2009

Fereidoun Ghassemi  and
Ian White
Fereidoun Ghassemi
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Canberra
Ian White
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Canberra
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Summary

OVERVIEW OF GEOGRAPHY, POPULATION, LAND AND WATER

GEOGRAPHY

Canada covers an area of about 9 984 670 km2, consisting of 9 093 507 km2 of land and 891 163 km2 of freshwater lakes. It is the second largest country in the world after Russia and covers more than half of the North American continent. It extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and from the northern boundary of the United States to the Polar Regions. Canada is a federation of 10 provinces and three territories. Seven physiographic regions are distinguishable in Canada (Figure 12.1). These regions are (Bone, 2002):

  • Canadian Shield is the largest region and covers about half the total area of Canada. It forms an incomplete ring around Hudson Bay and consists of Precambrian volcanic rocks of 3500 million to 600 million years old. Originally, it was the site of high mountain ranges, which have since been eroded over geological time. It consists mainly of a rugged, rolling upland.

  • Cordillera is a complex region of mountains, plateaus, and valleys. It is a young geological structure, which was formed 40 to 80 million years ago. The Rocky Mountains are the best-known mountain ranges of Cordillera, which have elevations between 3000 m to 4000 m.

  • Interior Plains is a northward extension of the Great Plains of the United States. The oldest sedimentary rocks of the region were formed about 500 million years ago. Since then, other sedimentary layers have been deposited on top of them.

  • […]

Type
Chapter
Information
Inter-Basin Water Transfer
Case Studies from Australia, United States, Canada, China and India
 , pp. 261 - 294
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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