Natural Systems

A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other

Earthquakes are common along the boundaries

Mid-ocean ridges occur along the boundaries, a new ocean floor is created as the Earth’s tectonic plates spread apart

Two plates sliding past each other horizontally creates a transform plate boundary

A well known transform plate boundary is the San Andreas Fault, which is responsible for many of California’s earthquakes

When two plates come together, it is known as a convergent boundary

Colliding plates can cause the edges of one or both plates to buckle up into mountain ranges

Comprised mainly of mountains separated by plateaus and valleys

Popular tourist destinations include Banff and Jasper National Park and Vancouver

We use minerals to build skyscrapers, cars, electronic devices and fossil fuels to power our day to day lives

Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, accounted for over three-quarters of Canada's total value of mineral production in 2019

Provide wood for construction, furniture, paper and building homes

Forestry is the industry that uses trees- Forestry is the science managing, using, and repairing forests

A volcanic eruption is one of the most powerful forces on Earth

Earth’s mountains are entirely or almost entirely the result of volcanic activity. These include volcanic islands like the Hawai’ian hotspot volcanoes

Some diffrent kinds of volcanoes are composite, shield, cinder cones and lava domes

Erosion is defined as the set of natural processes that loosen and transport weathered or unweathered solid material

An example is when Wind carries small pieces of rock away from the side of a mountain

Frozen water (ice) expands and breaks rocks apart

A glacier's weight, combined with its gradual movement, can drastically reshape the landscape over hundreds or even thousands of years

Glacier National Park is an example of this, it has mountains that began forming from ice erosion over 130 million years ago

Examples of the rock are sandstone, limestone, and shale

Sedimentary rock often contains fossils of plants and animals millions of years old

Igneous rock is formed when magma cools and makes crystals

Examples of the rock are granite, basalt,and obsidian

Metamorphic Rock is formed when rocky material experiences intense heat and pressure in the crust of the earth

Examples of the rock are gneiss, marble, and schist

It is known as the age of the dinosaurs because dinosaurs were so widespread and dominant, nothing was overtaking them

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

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

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

Early mammals in the Cenozoic Era were quite large, beavers were as long as 7 feet

Tornadoes are spinning columns of high winds spiralling around a centre of low atmospheric pressure

The deadliest tornado ever recorded was in Bangladesh in 1989, more than 20 villages were destroyed and around 1,300 people were killed

Are large uncontrolled infernos that are not limited to a particular continent or environment

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

Other natural disasters can be caused by earthquakes and these can be equally, and sometimes more, destructive like landslides and avalanches

Generally before and after a large earthquake there will be smaller earthquakes