CANADA 



1097 



CANADA 



of the Red River, together with the rich 

 prairies west of Winnipeg. On this lowest level 

 is a series of lakes, including Manitoba, Winni- 

 peg, Winnipegosis and many smaller ones, 

 which empty by rapid rivers into Hudson Bay. 

 Lake Winnipeg and its vicinity were once cov- 

 ered by a glacial lake which covered an area 

 greater than all of the present Great Lakes 

 combined (see GLACIAL PERIOD). 



Overlooking this flat prairie region is the first 

 escarpment, which raises the average altitude 

 from 800 feet to 1,600 feet. This level, too, 

 has many lakes, whose surplus waters are car- 

 ried off by the Churchill, English, Dubawnt and 

 other rivers, northeast to Hudson Bay. The 

 southern part of this level is drained by the 

 Saskatchewan River, which rises at the foot 

 of the Rocky Mountains and carries waters 

 from all three levels into Lake Winnipeg and 

 thus into Hudson Bay. 



The second level rises gradually until it 

 reaches the Missouri Coteau, sometimes called 

 the Grand Coteau des Prairies, in Central Sas- 

 katchewan. This second escarpment represents 

 a rise to an average level of 3,000 feet, slowly 

 sloping upward to a maximum of 4,500 feet in 

 Southwestern Alberta. Throughout the plains 

 region there are few hills, and an elevation of 

 a few hundred feet is so unusual that it is 

 usually called a "mountain." A characteristic 

 of the region is the deep valleys which the 

 rivers have worn for themselves in the soft 

 rock. These are usually narrow and sometimes 

 reach a depth of 100 or 200 feet, so that they 

 are miniature canyons. 



The southern part of the plains is treeless, 

 except in the river beds. If the distance is not 

 too great the course of the rivers can be 

 followed by the narrow green band of trees 

 on the banks. There are numerous lakes on 

 the second and third levels, but in the southern 

 part the climate is so dry that many of them 

 are strongly alkaline and some of them dry 

 up entirely during the summer. The northern 

 part of the plains, north of the North Sas- 

 katchewan River, is separated from the Sas- 

 katchewan drainage system by a line of high- 

 lands which acts as a watershed. This northern 

 system includes the Athabaska and the Peace 

 rivers, together with all the other great rivers 

 and the lakes which are tributary to the Mac- 

 kenzie, the greatest river system in Canada. 

 The Saskatchewan and the Red River, though 

 smaller than the Mackenzie, are economically 

 more important. They were formerly the main 

 avenues of travel, and their valleys are now 



the centers of population and wealth in the 

 Canadian West. 



3. The Mountains. The third of the great 

 physical divisions is the mountain belt which 

 extends over practically the whole of British 

 Columbia, the Yukon and the western part of 

 Alberta. This does not mean that all of 

 British Columbia and the Yukon is mountain- 

 ous, for there are long stretches of flat or 

 rolling country which separate the ranges. The 

 entire region, however, is a part of the Cor- 

 dilleran belt which extends along the western 

 coast of both North and South America. While 

 its physical characteristics are somewhat con- 

 fused and complicated, its dominating features 

 are the Rocky Mountains and the Coast 

 Ranges. All the ranges run approximately 

 northwest in parallel lines, there being only a 

 few smaller cross-ranges. 



In these ranges there is an abundance of 

 magnificent scenery. The eastern slopes are 

 often gradual, but on the west the mountains 

 rise abruptly from green valleys to snow- 

 covered peaks. The perpetual snow and ice 

 on the summits of these peaks is due to their 

 high latitude rather than their altitude, for 

 only a few peaks rise over 10,000 or 11,000 

 feet. Among the loftiest of these are Robson, 

 Alberta, Assiniboine, Columbia, Murchison, 

 Fairweather, Vancouver and Logan. Mount 

 Logan, in the Yukon Territory, has an alti- 

 tude of 19,539 feet, the highest point in Canada. 

 For a detailed account of the physical geogra- 

 phy of the mountain region, see ALBERTA ; BRIT- 

 ISH COLUMBIA; YUKON TERRITORY. 



Climate. The climate of a country so vast 

 in extent as Canada cannot be briefly summa- 

 rized. Even in the limits of a single province 

 there are frequently astonishing variations, due 

 primarily to differences in latitude and alti- 

 tude, but also to the presence of large bodies 

 of water, sheltering mountain ranges and other 

 local conditions. Canada extends from latitude 

 42 N. almost to the North Pole, a distance 

 considerably more than one-fourth of the total 

 distance from the North to the South Pole. 

 Southern Ontario, the southernmost part of 

 the Dominion, is in the latitude of Rome, Con- 

 stantinople and Peking. Between the extremes 

 of polar cold and the mildness of the temper- 

 ate zone are many steps which can only be 

 indicated roughly. Taken as a whole, Canada 

 has bracing weather, both summer and winter, 

 with plenty of sunshine. The winters are 

 severe and are accompanied by a heavy fall 

 of snow. Spring is short, as is also summer, 



