Interior Plains
The Interior Plains are located in throughout Canada, in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The Interior Plains were formed when soils near rivers and lakes from the Canadian Shield were deposited and Sedimentary rock were formed horizontally from these deposits, resulting in large areas of flat land, river valleys, and rolling hills. This landform region was formed from the Precambrian Era to the Cenozoic Era and contains igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock. There are a vast majority of waterways throughout the Interior Plains, which include Lake Winnipeg, Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake, and Lake Manitoba. The Interior Plains consists of deep fertile soil due to the waterways and all of the precipitation. In the southern part of this region, no trees exist as there is only grass and herbs. In the more northern part of the Interior Plains there is a belt of coniferous trees such as spruce and fir trees, which is called the boreal forest. The main type of vegetation in the region is grasslands that has June grass, bluestem grass, and porcupine grass. The farther north, the colder the climate, which alters the type of vegetation. One capital city in this landform region is Edmonton and a major city is Calgary. Economic activities that take place in the Interior Plains include agriculture and mining. Farming is extremely important and crops such as wheat, oats, barley, flax, canola, mustard, corn, and potatoes are grown. Farmers also raise cattle like pigs, poultry etc. The livestock and crops produced in this area feed many Canadians every day as well as other people across the world. The products that are mined in this region are oil, natural gas, coal, zinc, uranium , and gold, which are made into other products that are used in our everyday lives. An environmental issue that is very serious in this landform region has resulted from the mining that occurs. Mining causes deforestation, which leads to habitat loss, water pollution, impacting wildlife, and is a huge health hazard to the employees involved with the mining.