The Western Cordillera region, a prominent area known for its beautiful landscapes and popular tourist destinations such as Banff and Jasper National Park, is characterized by its mountainous terrain interspersed with plateaus and valleys.
Generally before and after a large earthquake there will be smaller earthquakes
Other natural disasters can be caused by earthquakes and these can be equally, and sometimes more, destructive like landslides and avalanches
The clash of 2 tectonic plates can cause violent earthquakes, they are more common in some parts of the world like California, because the state sits on top of the meeting point or fault of two plates
Forest Fires
Wildfires that burn near communities can become dangerous and even deadly if they grow out of control. For example, in 2018 when a Camp Fire in Butte County, California almost destroyed the entire town, 86 people died
Help keep ecosystems healthy and can kill insects and diseases that harm trees
Are large uncontrolled infernos that are not limited to a particular continent or environment
Tornados
Tornadoes form when warm, humid air collides with cold, dry air. The warm air rises through the colder air, causing an updraft and When it touches the ground, it becomes a tornado
The deadliest tornado ever recorded was in Bangladesh in 1989, more than 20 villages were destroyed and around 1,300 people were killed
Tornadoes are spinning columns of high winds spiralling around a centre of low atmospheric pressure
Eras
Cenozoic
Early mammals in the Cenozoic Era were quite large, beavers were as long as 7 feet
It is referred to as the Age of Mammals because many mammals began to rule the earth following the extinction of dinosaurs
The Cenozoic Era is the last major division in time, beginning 65.5 million years ago and continuing until today
Paleozoic
In the Silurian Period plants started evolving, but they most likely did not have leaves or vascular tissue that allows them to absorb water and nutrients
The 45 million year Ordovician Period is marked in the fossil record for having massive amounts of marine invertebrates. One of the most well known was the trilobite
Spanned from about 544 million years ago to 245 million years ago
Mesozoic
In the Mesozoic era, all of the world’s continents were joined together, known as the supercontinent Pangaea. It completely broke apart at the end of the Mesozoic era
It is known as the age of the dinosaurs because dinosaurs were so widespread and dominant, nothing was overtaking them
The Mesozoic era began 248 million years ago and ended 65 million years ago
Rock Cycle
Metamorphic
Examples of the rock are gneiss, marble, and schist
Through the metamorphic process, both igneous rocks and sedimentary rocks can change into metamorphic rocks
Metamorphic Rock is formed when rocky material experiences intense heat and pressure in the crust of the earth
Igneous
Examples of the rock are granite, basalt,and obsidian
About 95% part of earth’s crust is made up of igneous rock
Igneous rock is formed when magma cools and makes crystals
Sedimentary
Sedimentary rock often contains fossils of plants and animals millions of years old
Examples of the rock are sandstone, limestone, and shale
Sedimentary rocks form near the earth's surface at relatively low temperatures and with pressure from things like erosion by water, ice or wind
Forces
Ice
Glacier National Park is an example of this, it has mountains that began forming from ice erosion over 130 million years ago
A glacier's weight, combined with its gradual movement, can drastically reshape the landscape over hundreds or even thousands of years
Frozen water (ice) expands and breaks rocks apart
Wind
An example is when Wind carries small pieces of rock away from the side of a mountain
Erosion is defined as the set of natural processes that loosen and transport weathered or unweathered solid material
Wind erosion is referred to as eolian erosion
Volcanoes
Some diffrent kinds of volcanoes are composite, shield, cinder cones and lava domes
Earth’s mountains are entirely or almost entirely the result of volcanic activity. These include volcanic islands like the Hawai’ian hotspot volcanoes
A volcanic eruption is one of the most powerful forces on Earth
Regions & Resorces
Trees
Trees remove pollution from the atmosphere, So it is very important that we are able to replenish the earth's forests
Forestry is the industry that uses trees- Forestry is the science managing, using, and repairing forests
Provide wood for construction, furniture, paper and building homes
Minerals
Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, accounted for over three-quarters of Canada's total value of mineral production in 2019
Minerals are non–renewable natural resources and Sustainable mineral development is used to ensure mineral use is kept to a minimum amount without having a negative impact on economic growth
We use minerals to build skyscrapers, cars, electronic devices and fossil fuels to power our day to day lives
Western Cordillera
Popular tourist destinations include Banff and Jasper National Park and Vancouver
The area is lightly populated most people live in urban areas as well as farming or mining towns
Comprised mainly of mountains separated by plateaus and valleys
Plate Tectonics
Convergent
At convergent plate boundaries, oceanic crust is often forced down into the mantle where it begins to melt
Colliding plates can cause the edges of one or both plates to buckle up into mountain ranges
When two plates come together, it is known as a convergent boundary
Transform
A well known transform plate boundary is the San Andreas Fault, which is responsible for many of California’s earthquakes
Crust is cracked and broken at transform boundaries, unlike convergent and divergent boundaries it does not create or destroy the earth's surface
Two plates sliding past each other horizontally creates a transform plate boundary
Divergent
Mid-ocean ridges occur along the boundaries, a new ocean floor is created as the Earth’s tectonic plates spread apart
Earthquakes are common along the boundaries
A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other
