Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Canadian Shield shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Canadian Shield offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Canadian Shield at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Canadian Shield? Wrong! If the Canadian Shield is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Canadian Shield then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Canadian Shield? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Canadian Shield and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Canadian Shield wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Canadian Shield then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Canadian Shield site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Canadian Shield, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Canadian Shield, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
The
Canadian Shield — also called the
Precambrian Shield,
Laurentian Shield,
Laurentian Plateau, or
Bouclier Canadien (French) — is a large shield (geology) covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American craton. It has a deep, common, joined bedrock region in eastern and central
Canada and stretches North from the
Great Lakes to the
Arctic Ocean, covering half the country. It also includes most of
Greenland and extends into the United States geology as the Adirondack Mountains and the Northern Highland. The Canadian Shield is U-shape, but almost circular, which gives it an appearance of a warrior's shield or a giant horseshoe, and is a subsection of the Laurentia craton signifying the area of greatest glacial impact (scraping down to bare rock) creating the thin soils.
The Canadian Shield was the first part of North America to be permanently elevated above sea level and has remained almost wholly untouched by successive encroachments of the sea upon the continent. It is the earth's greatest area of exposed Archaean rock. The
Metamorphic rock Rock (geology) are mostly from the Precambrian Era (geology) (between 4.5 billion and 540 million years ago), and have been repeatedly uplifted and eroded. Today it consists largely of an area of low relief (1,000–2,000 ft/300–600 m above sea level) with a few
monadnocks and low mountain ranges (including the
Torngat Mountains and
Laurentian Mountains) probably eroded from the plateau during the Cenozoic era. During the Pleistocene epoch, continental ice sheets depressed the land surface (see Hudson Bay), scooped out thousands of lake basins, and carried away much of the region's soil.
Hydrography drainage is generally poor, the effects of
glaciation being one of the reasons. The Canadian shield is covered by boreal forests in the south, while
tundra prevails in the northern regions. Population is scarce, and industrial development is minimal Canadian Shield - Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2005, however the region has a large water-power potential and is a source of
ore and
timber. Many mammals such as
caribou,
wolverines,
weasels, mink, otters, grizzly bear and American black bears are also present in this area National Geographic - Northern Canadian Shield taiga.
Regional extent
When the
Greenland section is included, the Shield is approximately circular bounded on the northeast by the northeast edge of Greenland, with Hudson Bay in the middle. It covers much of Greenland, Labrador, most of
Quebec north of the Saint Lawrence River, much of
Ontario including northern sections of the southern peninsula between the
Great Lakes, the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York, the northernmost part of Lower Michigan and all of Upper Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and northeastern
Minnesota, the central/northern portions of
Manitoba away from Hudson Bay and the
Great Plains, northern Saskatchewan, a small portion of northeastern
Alberta, Alberta Heritage - Alberta Online Encyclopedia - The Canadian Shield Region of Alberta and the mainland northern Canadian territories to the east of a line extended north from the Saskatchewan/Alberta border (Northwest Territories and Nunavut) Encyclopædia Britannica - Canadian Shield. In total it covers approximately 8 million square kilometers. It covers even more area and stretches to the Western Cordillera in the west and Appalachians in the east but the formations are still underground.
The underlying rock structure does include Hudson Bay and the submerged area between North America and Greenland.
The Canadian shield is so large the climate varies across it. In the southern parts the climate is seasonal; the average temperature in the winter is -18 degrees Celsius, and in the summer it is 25 degrees Celsius. The growing season of about 120 days coincides with summer daylight averaging about 15 hours, while winter daylight averages about 8.5 hours. In the northern parts it is very cold. The average temperatures range from 15 degrees Celsius in the summer to -35 degrees Celsius in winter. The growing season is only 60 days. Winter daylight hours are about 5.5 hours, and in the summer the daylight hours are about 18.5 hours. The lowlands of the Canadian shield have soggy soil suitable for planting trees, but it contains many marshes and bogs. The rest of the region has coarse soil that doesn't hold moisture very well and is frozen all year round. Forests are less dense in the north.
Geology
or
Laurentia.Such a large area of exposed old rock is unusual. The current
geomorphology of the Shield is one of very thin soil lying on top of the
bedrock, with many bare outcrops. This arrangement was caused by severe
glacier during the last ice age, which covered the Shield and scraped the rock clean. The multitude of rivers and lakes in the entire region is caused by the
drainage basins of the area being so young and in a state of sorting themselves out with the added effect of post-glacial rebound. The Shield was originally an area of very large
mountains that were about 12,000 m in height and much volcanic activity, but over the millennia the area was eroded to its current
topography appearance of relatively low relief. It contains some of the most ancient volcanoes on earth. It has over 150 volcanic belts (now deformed and eroded down to nearly flat plains) that range from 600 to 1200 million years old. Each belt probably grew by the coalescence of accumulations erupted from numerous vents, making the tally of volcanoes in the hundreds. Many of Canada's major ore deposits are associated with Precambrian volcanoes. The Sturgeon Lake Caldera in Kenora District, Ontario is one of the world's best preserved
Neoarchean caldera complexes, which is some 2.7 billion years old. Caldera Volcanoes Retrieved on 2007-07-20 The Canadian Shield also contains the Mackenzie dyke swarm, which is the largest dike (geology) known on
Earth. Supressing Varying Directional Trends Retrieved on
2007-07-28Mountains have deep roots and float on the denser Mantle (geology) much like an iceberg at sea. As mountains erode, their roots rise and are eroded in turn. The rocks that now form the surface of the Shield were once far below the earth's surface. The high pressures and temperatures at those depths provided ideal conditions for Mineralization (geology).
The North American craton is the bedrock forming the heart of the North American continent and the Canadian Shield is the largest exposed part of the craton's bedrock.
The Canadian Shield is part of an ancient continent called
Arctica, which was formed about 2.5 billion years ago, during the
Neoarchean era. It was split into Greenland, Laurentia, Scotland, Siberia, East Antarctica and is now roughly situated in the
Arctic around the current North Pole.
Mining and economics
The Shield is one of the world's richest areas in terms of mineral
ores. It is filled with substantial deposits of nickel, gold, silver, and copper. Throughout the Shield there are many mining towns extracting these minerals. The largest, and one of the best known, is Greater Sudbury,
Ontario. Sudbury is an exception to the normal process of forming minerals in the Shield since there is significant evidence that the Sudbury Basin is an ancient
meteorite impact crater.
The Shield, particularly the portion in the
Northwest Territories, has recently been the site of several major
diamond discoveries. The kimberlite pipes in which the diamonds are found are closely associated with cratons, which provide the deep lithosphere
Mantle (geology) required to stabilize diamond as a mineral. The kimberlite eruptions then bring the diamonds from over 150 km depth to the surface. Currently the
Ekati Diamond Mine and
Diavik Diamond Mine mines are actively mining kimberlite diamonds.
The Shield is also covered by vast
boreal forests that support an important logging industry.
References
See also
The
Canadian Shield — also called the
Precambrian Shield,
Laurentian Shield,
Laurentian Plateau, or
Bouclier Canadien (French) — is a large shield (geology) covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the
North American craton. It has a deep, common, joined
bedrock region in eastern and central Canada and stretches North from the
Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean, covering half the country. It also includes most of
Greenland and extends into the
United States geology as the
Adirondack Mountains and the Northern Highland. The Canadian Shield is U-shape, but almost circular, which gives it an appearance of a warrior's shield or a giant horseshoe, and is a subsection of the
Laurentia craton signifying the area of greatest glacial impact (scraping down to bare rock) creating the thin soils.
The Canadian Shield was the first part of North America to be permanently elevated above sea level and has remained almost wholly untouched by successive encroachments of the sea upon the continent. It is the earth's greatest area of exposed Archaean rock. The Metamorphic rock
Rock (geology) are mostly from the
Precambrian Era (geology) (between 4.5 billion and 540 million years ago), and have been repeatedly uplifted and eroded. Today it consists largely of an area of low relief (1,000–2,000 ft/300–600 m above sea level) with a few monadnocks and low mountain ranges (including the
Torngat Mountains and
Laurentian Mountains) probably eroded from the plateau during the Cenozoic era. During the
Pleistocene epoch, continental ice sheets depressed the land surface (see Hudson Bay), scooped out thousands of lake basins, and carried away much of the region's soil.
Hydrography drainage is generally poor, the effects of
glaciation being one of the reasons. The Canadian shield is covered by boreal forests in the south, while
tundra prevails in the northern regions. Population is scarce, and industrial development is minimal Canadian Shield - Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2005, however the region has a large water-power potential and is a source of
ore and
timber. Many mammals such as
caribou,
wolverines, weasels, mink, otters, grizzly bear and American black bears are also present in this area National Geographic - Northern Canadian Shield taiga.
Regional extent
When the
Greenland section is included, the Shield is approximately circular bounded on the northeast by the northeast edge of Greenland, with
Hudson Bay in the middle. It covers much of Greenland, Labrador, most of
Quebec north of the Saint Lawrence River, much of
Ontario including northern sections of the southern peninsula between the
Great Lakes, the
Adirondack Mountains of northern New York, the northernmost part of Lower Michigan and all of Upper Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and northeastern Minnesota, the central/northern portions of Manitoba away from Hudson Bay and the Great Plains, northern Saskatchewan, a small portion of northeastern
Alberta, Alberta Heritage - Alberta Online Encyclopedia - The Canadian Shield Region of Alberta and the mainland northern Canadian territories to the east of a line extended north from the Saskatchewan/Alberta border (
Northwest Territories and
Nunavut) Encyclopædia Britannica - Canadian Shield. In total it covers approximately 8 million square kilometers. It covers even more area and stretches to the Western Cordillera in the west and Appalachians in the east but the formations are still underground.
The underlying rock structure does include Hudson Bay and the submerged area between North America and Greenland.
The Canadian shield is so large the climate varies across it. In the southern parts the climate is seasonal; the average temperature in the winter is -18 degrees Celsius, and in the summer it is 25 degrees Celsius. The growing season of about 120 days coincides with summer daylight averaging about 15 hours, while winter daylight averages about 8.5 hours. In the northern parts it is very cold. The average temperatures range from 15 degrees Celsius in the summer to -35 degrees Celsius in winter. The growing season is only 60 days. Winter daylight hours are about 5.5 hours, and in the summer the daylight hours are about 18.5 hours. The lowlands of the Canadian shield have soggy soil suitable for planting trees, but it contains many marshes and bogs. The rest of the region has coarse soil that doesn't hold moisture very well and is frozen all year round. Forests are less dense in the north.
Geology
or
Laurentia.Such a large area of exposed old rock is unusual. The current geomorphology of the Shield is one of very thin soil lying on top of the bedrock, with many bare outcrops. This arrangement was caused by severe glacier during the last ice age, which covered the Shield and scraped the rock clean. The multitude of rivers and lakes in the entire region is caused by the drainage basins of the area being so young and in a state of sorting themselves out with the added effect of
post-glacial rebound. The Shield was originally an area of very large mountains that were about 12,000 m in height and much volcanic activity, but over the millennia the area was eroded to its current topography appearance of relatively low relief. It contains some of the most ancient volcanoes on earth. It has over 150 volcanic belts (now deformed and eroded down to nearly flat
plains) that range from 600 to 1200 million years old. Each belt probably grew by the coalescence of accumulations erupted from numerous vents, making the tally of volcanoes in the hundreds. Many of Canada's major ore deposits are associated with Precambrian volcanoes. The Sturgeon Lake Caldera in
Kenora District, Ontario is one of the world's best preserved
Neoarchean caldera complexes, which is some 2.7 billion years old. Caldera Volcanoes Retrieved on 2007-07-20 The Canadian Shield also contains the
Mackenzie dyke swarm, which is the largest
dike (geology) known on
Earth. Supressing Varying Directional Trends Retrieved on
2007-07-28Mountains have deep roots and float on the denser
Mantle (geology) much like an iceberg at sea. As mountains erode, their roots rise and are eroded in turn. The rocks that now form the surface of the Shield were once far below the earth's surface. The high pressures and temperatures at those depths provided ideal conditions for
Mineralization (geology).
The North American craton is the bedrock forming the heart of the North American continent and the Canadian Shield is the largest exposed part of the craton's bedrock.
The Canadian Shield is part of an ancient continent called
Arctica, which was formed about 2.5 billion years ago, during the Neoarchean era. It was split into Greenland, Laurentia, Scotland,
Siberia,
East Antarctica and is now roughly situated in the
Arctic around the current
North Pole.
Mining and economics
The Shield is one of the world's richest areas in terms of mineral ores. It is filled with substantial deposits of
nickel, gold, silver, and copper. Throughout the Shield there are many mining towns extracting these minerals. The largest, and one of the best known, is
Greater Sudbury, Ontario. Sudbury is an exception to the normal process of forming minerals in the Shield since there is significant evidence that the Sudbury Basin is an ancient
meteorite impact crater.
The Shield, particularly the portion in the Northwest Territories, has recently been the site of several major diamond discoveries. The
kimberlite pipes in which the diamonds are found are closely associated with cratons, which provide the deep lithosphere
Mantle (geology) required to stabilize diamond as a mineral. The kimberlite eruptions then bring the diamonds from over 150 km depth to the surface. Currently the Ekati Diamond Mine and
Diavik Diamond Mine mines are actively mining kimberlite diamonds.
The Shield is also covered by vast
boreal forests that support an important logging industry.
References
See also
The Canadian Shield
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Canadian Shield - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Canadian Shield — also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien (French) — is a large geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of ...
Shield
The Precambrian Shield is an extensive structural unit of the Earth's crust composed of exposed basement rocks formed during the Archean or Proterozoic eons which together comprise ...
Canadian Shield definition of Canadian Shield in the Free Online ...
Canadian Shield or Laurentian Plateau (lôrĕn`chən), U-shaped region of ancient rock, the nucleus of North America, stretching N from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean.
The Canadian Shield - Powered by vBulletin
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The Canadian Shield Region of Alberta
The Canadian Shield makes up nearly half of Canada's total area and is composed of Precambrian rocks - ancient, rounded rocks that form the nucleus of most of North America.
Canadian Shield - Ontario Sasquatch
Bigfoot/sasquatch report investigation group centered in Ontario. ... The Canadian Shield. The largest rock formation in Canada is the Canadian Shield.
Terrestrial Ecoregions -- Northern Canadian Shield taiga (NA0612)
South Knife Lake, Manitoba, Canada Photograph by Lynda Dredge/Used with permission of the Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada
CBC-TV - Geologic Journey
Geologic Journey: The Canadian Shield tells the story of the rocks that were present throughout the very beginnings of the Earth’s formation: the rocks of the immovable Canadian ...
Canadian Shield - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about Canadian ...
Area of Precambrian rocks in eastern and northern Canada. It is comprised of the hard crystalline remains of a heavily eroded mountain system, between 300 and 600 million years old ...
