NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



203 



The Pas, INIan. Camp outfit necessary, 

 but may be obtained at any of the three 

 towns named. Indian guides are ad- 

 visable, Cree Indians being probably 

 preferable to Chipewj^an. (The Angli- 

 can or Catholic Missionaries are excel- 

 lent advisers with reference to the 

 selection of a guide.) — John Sniilh 

 Dexter. 



14. MANITOBA 



By a. B. Connell 

 i, general 



The province of Manitoba is the 

 easternmost of the three prairie prov- 

 inces of Canada. It extends from the 

 northern boundary of Minnesota and 

 North Dakota north to the fiOth parallel 

 of latitude a distance of 750 mi. The 

 west boundary follows the 102nd merid- 

 ian of longitude. The Ontario bound- 

 ary on the east runs northwards near 

 the 95th meridian for a distance of 275 

 mi. and then swings noi'theast to the 

 shore of Hudson Bay. The width of the 

 province in the south is approximately 



^00 mi. 



II. PHYSIOGRAPHY 



Manitoba is divided into four distinct 

 ph^'siographic regions. 



1. The Cretaceous plains, entering 

 the Province from the west, terminate 

 abruptly in an escarpment which ex- 

 tends fi'oni the Pembina Mountain upon 

 the International boundary northwest- 

 erly to the Porcupine Hills. The surface 

 of this region is rolling and the elevation 

 averages 1400 ft. above sea level. The 

 line of the escarpment is marked by a 

 series of drift-covered elevations rising 

 in places to 2500 ft. The most important 

 of these are the Duck and Riding j\Ioun- 

 tains. The Cretaceous plains occupy 

 the southwestern portion of the 

 Province. 



2. A relatively narrow structural plain 

 of undisturbed Paleozoic strata extends 

 eastwards from the line of the escarp- 

 ment to Lake \Yinnipeg. This plain 

 has an average elevation of 800 ft. above 

 sea level. It is upwards of 100 mi. in 



width east and west and extends from 

 the international boundary north 

 beyond the Saskatchewan river. The 

 Winnipeg system of lakes, the residue 

 of the glacial Lake Agassiz, occupies a 

 portion of this area. Soils are deep and 

 drainage in the northern part is poor. 



3. East and north of Lake Winnipeg 

 the Laurentian Peneplain stretches to 

 within 100 mi. of Hudson Bay. The 

 surface is rolling and the soils thin. 

 The rocks are of a disorganized crystal- 

 line character. The elevation is gener- 

 ally less than 1000 ft. especially in the 

 valleys of the Nelson and Churchill 

 rivers. The region is one of low relief, 

 disorganized drainage and innumerable 

 lakes. The general slope of the plains 

 from the Rocky Mountains to Hudson 

 Bay seems to be continuous across this 

 Laurentian section of Northern Mani- 

 toba. 



4. A level plain underlain by lime- 

 stone borders the shore of Hudson Bay 

 in the vicinity of York Factory. 



III. BIOTA 



The vegetation of the Province may 

 be separated into four climatic for- 

 mations. 



1. The Prairies 



The extreme southwestern portion of 

 the Province is characterized by a grass- 

 land formation composed of tall, deep- 

 rooted mesophytic grasses. Typical 

 flood plain forests of ash, Manitoba 

 maple, poplar and willow occur along 

 the stream courses. Alkali sloughs are 

 frequent. 



Antelope {Antilocapra amcricana) and 

 bison (Bison bison), once plentiful, 

 are now extinct. The region is well 

 developed agriculturally. 



2. The transition zone of grassland and 

 deciduous forest (poplar-savanna) 



This condition covers an area varying 

 in width from 50 to over 100 mi. It 

 extends eastwards from the prairie 

 country to the vicinity of South Junction 

 on the C. N. R. near the south boundary 



