Landscapes and Landforms of Western Canada

Geological timescales and large spatial landscape units of Canada are introduced. The tectonic framework of western Canada is sketched with specific attention to the north– northwest to south–southeast orientation of western Canadian mountain landscapes and the east–west grain of much of the western arctic islands. Structural, physiographic, and geomorphological landscape units of western Canada are defined, and the distinctive landscape impact of volcanic and carbonate lithologies is discussed. A descriptive account of each of the geomorphological landscape units of western Canada provides a general background for the individual case studies reported in Chaps. 4–28.