Regions of Alberta - The Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield landscape exists in a remote northeastern corner of Alberta in the Kazan Upland and Athabasca Plain sub-regions of the Canadian Shield. The Canadian Shield region comprises only 3 percent of Alberta's lands.
Some of the oldest rock on earth is exposed here, great outcroppings of Precambrian granite scoured clean by the Ice Age glaciers that retreated 10,000 years ago. The underlying bedrock largely determines the vegetation diversity of this landscape by creating dry, soil-poor highlands interspersed with wet hollows and sparse open forests. There are a lot of rocks, lakes and spruce trees in this region. There are also low, rocky hills, forests, long, sandy beaches and swampy areas.
West of Fort Chipewyan, a delta has been formed by three rivers – the Athabasca, Peace and Birch. These rivers settled out and collected over the years. Vegetation varies depending on how much soil is in the area. Forests of spruce trees and jack pine can be found along the rocky shoreline of the lake. In marshy areas, black spruce and tamarack trees grow. Berry bushes grow where it is wet and there is less soil, including Labrador tea (see picture), Blueberry, Saskatoon, Bear berry, Bog cranberry and Raspberry.
This far northern region is one of Alberta's harshest and most spectacular landscapes where peregrine falcons and golden eagles nest on granite cliffs. In winter, Arctic animals like the barren ground caribou, Arctic fox and willow ptarmigan occasionally find their way south into this area of our province.
The climate of the Canadian shield region can be characterized by Short, dry summers. Rain most often falls between the months of July and October, and there is lots of snow in the winter. The winters are long and brutally cold dipping as low as -40 degrees celsius. Because of its latitude, it only gets dark in the summer from about midnight to 4am. But, in the winter, the region only has a few hours of sunlight per day.
This region is known for spectacular displays of Northern lights. Most people in this region of Alberta still hunt and trap their food. A major industry in this region is Fishing on Lake Athabasca: the fish is exported to many areas of North America.
It is difficult to get from one place to another - Many people travel by boat in summer. There are ice roads for trucks and snowmobiles in the winter. Because of the lack of roads, most food is delivered by airplane into this region. Sources: BlackGold School District Alberta Heritage Alberta Parks Rocky Mountain Region |