1+Boreal+Shield

= **__Canada's Eco- zones : Boreal Shield__** =



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Looking at Canada alone, it has twenty Eco zones consisting of 15 terrestrial and 5 marine units. One of them includes the Boreal Shield. The Boreal shield is the largest eco zone in Canada! (Hence why we chose it). From this web page, you will find that the Boreal Shield exists in the Canadian Shield and much more information about the Boreal Shield. This webpage will help you know the relationship between the features of the rock cycle, physical landscape, climate, weather, soil and vegetation and how Canada uses this for economic benefit. Also includes some particular information about the truism and why it might be an attraction to some people. The categories are: ======

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Just like most Eco zones in Canada, the Boreal Shield also has a land form region it exists in. This is known as the Canadian Shield. The Canadian Shield was formed in the Precambrian era and contains, still, the world’s oldest rocks which are about 3.96 Billion years old. The shield was formed in Precambrian times 500 million years ago during a lengthy period when two tectonic plates __converged__, causing the surface rock to be forced down into the interior of the earth, melt, rise back to the surface and slowly cool also violent spasms in the Earth’s crust warped, folded and faulted the Shield. The rocks are igneous and metamorphic and contain large areas of granite. Most of the Canadian Shield consists of the rounded hills that are roots of the ancient hills. The ground is relatively flat unlike other regions such as Western Cordillera; Moving on to some of Boreal Shields physical features, the Boreal Shield covers three major cities in Ontario because of its largeness: St. Johns, Thunder Bay, and Sudbury and is known as Canada’s largest Eco zone. The eastern part of Boreal Shield includes large and extensive forests; these forests help large cities stability. The most common landforms are plains and low hills found mostly in the west. These flat hills are also excellent for farming and agriculture. ======

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Being in the Boreal Sheild is like being in the landform of the Storehouse of Canada’s metallic minerals, the Boreal Shield’s igneous and metamorphic rocks contain large amounts of valuable minerals such as lead, gold, nickel, copper, zinc, and other important materials. Diamond deposits have also been recently found where ancient volcanoes used to exist. Although the Boreal Shield is a rich source for important materials, you will not find fossil fuels, as the life forms that produce them did not exist at the time the whole of the Canadian shield was created. ======

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The natural vegetation in the Boreal Shield mainly consists of trees such as Spruce, hemlock, cedar and other coniferous trees as well as trees from mixed forest so it also consists of a few deciduous trees like the maple, oak, beech and elm trees. ======



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The boreal Shield has short, moist summers and long, cold and dry winters; boreal forests have an approximate growing season of 130 days. The Boreal Shield has wet-climate soils. These soils are unsustainable for agriculture though since coniferous trees don’t drop many needles and leaching occurs, the humus layer under them becomes very shallow. The needles the trees DO drop, however, transfers its acid into the topsoil. This combination of lack of humus and a high acidity plus the leaching effect of water is very insufficient to grow crops in. ======

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Spending a winter in the Boreal Shields is very long, cold, and, depressing. This means the summers are the exact opposite, warm and short. The average temperature in the winter is about -15C whereas, the summer temperature is are 17C. Regions that are bordering the Great Lakes and Atlantic Ocean tend to be warmer in the winters and colder in the summers; this is because the regions are placed near water. As for precipitation in Boreal Shields, it could precipitate up to 1000mm in the east and about 400mm in the west. The type of precipitation that is associated with this eco zone, I would say, that is convectional because the surface rises rapidly as this happens, the air rises and cools forming dense air, and resulting with precipitation. Convectional Precipitation occurs mainly in Ontario, and Boreal Shields cover most of Ontario. ======

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Even though Boreal Shield is just an eco-zone, it is known for its tourism. Big tourism attractions and activities are; sport fishing, canoeing, wildlife viewing and eco-tourism. About 3% of the Eco zone itself, is a protected park area, some of the most popular are “Lac La Ronge” and Clearwater River provincial parks. ======

Here is a clip that further explains truism in the boreal shields and what the attractions are:
media type="youtube" key="3drKsdGwaKs" height="315" width="420"

__Tourism effecting economy:__

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Tourism is able to affect the economy by what jobs people do. The number one job in the Boreal Shields includes mining and forestry. That is followed by fishing and agriculture. The paper industry is effected by the manufacturing industry. ======

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When we look at Boreal Shields, we can relate that the Boreal Shields is made up of at least 80% boreal forests. Fanatical wise, there are about 600,000 jobs incorporated with tree’s so when or if the population of trees dies out, there will be thousands of jobs lost causing the boreal forests to be gone. Another way the boreal trees could be affected is that, Boreal Shields is filled with 84% trees. Most trees are prone to forest fires. This will cause the trees to greatly decrease. There are also types of insects or bugs that harm trees and weaken them. This can make them fall down and affect the amount of trees. ======

__Trivia!__

 * 1) Is Boreal Shield the largest Eco-zone in Canada?
 * 2) How much of the Boreal Shield is made up of forests?
 * 3) What can affect trees in the Boreal Shields?
 * 4) What Landform Region is Boreal Shields mostly in?

__Answers__

 * 1) Yes, it is the largest Eco zone in Canada.
 * 2) 80% of the Boreal Shields is made up of Forests.
 * 3) Insects or bugs that weaken trees, people cutting trees down and forest fires.
 * 4) Canadian Shield


 * __Sources/ Links/ bibliography__**
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- "Landforms." Infographic. The Boreal Shield of Canada. Rameez Sewani. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2005. Web. 27 Oct 2011. . - "Canadian Shield, Precambrian Shield or Laurentian Plateau." Infographic. John Cletheroe's USA and Canada Holiday Hints. John Cletheroe. Norwich: N/A, 2007. Web. 27 Oct 2011. . - "Landforms and Climates of the Boreal Shield Ecozone." Infographic. Ecological Framework of Canada. First N/A. N/A: Environment Canada, N/A. Web. 27 Oct 2011. . - "Boreal Shield Information." Infographic. Angelfire. N/A N/A. N/A: Licos Inc, N/A. Web. 27 Oct 2011. . - "Implications of Climate Warming for Boreal ShieldLakes: a review and synthesis- Environmental Reviews." Infographic. Ecological Applications. SE Arnott, N Yan, W Keller, and K NichollsLast. DC: ESA, N/A. Web. 27 Oct 2011. . - "The Canadian Atlas Online-Boreal Shield." Infographic. The Canadian Atlas Online. N/A N/A. Ottawa: Canadian Geographic, N/A. Web. 27 Oct 2011. . - N/A, Dir. The Boreal Shield. Dir. TheGeoproject. youtube, 2007. Film. . - N/A,, Dir. The Boreal Shield school Project. Dir. sahiti321. Youtube, 2010. Film. .

By: Sannya Khawaja, and Virginia Crease