How the Western Cordillera Was Formed

The Western Cordillera was created by the North American and Pacific Plates colliding, which caused folding, faulting, and volcanic activity.

The Western Cordillera has three sections. They are: 

-Eastern Mountains

     The Eastern Mountains are made up of two mountain ranges. These two mountain ranges are the Rocky Mountains and the Columbia Mountains. 

     These mountain ranges are separated by a long valley called 'The Rocky Mountain Trench', which was created by erosion along a zone of faults. 

     The Rockies (Rocky Mountains) are the youngest mountains in Canada (See 'physical features of the western cordillera' for a picture of the Rockies). They are also made up of mainly sedimentary rock, and were created by faulting and folding. 

     The Columbia Mountains are made up of mainly sedimentary rock and some metamorphic rock that is beneath the surface in layers. These mountains are not as tall as the Rockies because they are older and erosion has started to happen. They are also made by faulting and folding, just like the Rocky Mountains.

-Interior Plateaus

     The Interior Plateaus were made by volcanic activity and are made of igneous and sedimentary rock. They contain very valuable metals like zinc, copper, and even gold. Also, the Interior Plateaus are in the center/middle of the Western Cordillera.

-Coast Mountains

     The Coast Mountains were created from the Pacific Plate going underneath the North American Plate, and the pressure from this happening caused magma to rise into the Earth's crust. When it cooled, it then formed the Coast Mountains. The Coast Mountains are made of metamorphic and igneous rock.

     The Coast Mountains have a deep trough running through the middle, just like the Eastern Mountains,  splitting them into two ranges. These two ranges are the Island Mountain Range, which is on offshore islands; and the Coast Mountain Range, which is on the mainland.

     The Pacific Ocean fills the trough that divides the Island and Coast mountain ranges.

     

Major Cities

Major cities in the Western Cordillera are the cities that are the most populated. They are Vancouver, Victoria, and Whistler. The diagram under 'location' shows where these cities are located.

Population

The Western Cordillera is  lightly populated because there are so many mountains. As stated before under location, most people live in British Columbia by Vancouver (See diagram under location). There are about 10 milion people living in the Western Cordillera

Phisical Features of the Western Cordillera

 

Physical features of the Western Cordillera is a fancy way of saying what the Western Cordillera looks like. Because it is the youngest landform region (erosion has not yet happened because of it being young), the Western Cordillera has many lakes, forests, oceans (obviouslly the Pacific Ocean) and some very big mountain ranges. Many  of the mountain ranges are popular, such as the Rocky Mountains. Below is a picture I took when I was flying over the Rockies. I was almost forty thousand feet in the air, and I could still see them clearly.

Another mountain is Mount Washington. It is very famous for snowboarding and it's original wildlife. There are cougars, bears, moose, deer, wolves, and much more.

 

The picture above is of Mount Washington. This is one of the more nature like sections of the mountain. Below is me in front an eight hundred year old tree. 

 

The Western Cordillera is nature, mainly mountains. This is because when the North American and Pacific Plates colided, they pushed upward, forming mountains.

 



Age

The Western Cordillera is the youngest of Canada's Landform Regions. It is around sixty-five million years old. The Western Cordillera started forming in the Mesozoic Era and ended in the Cenozoic Era.

Location

The Western Cordillera runs along the West side of Western Canada. It covers all of British Columbia and Yukon, and parts of Alberta and Northwest Territories. Most of the people who live in the Western Cordillera live in British Columbia,  near/in Vancouver, Victoria, Tofino and Whistler. The circled section on the map below shows the general area of these locations.

Western Cordillera- What is it?

The Western Cordillera is one of Canada's seven landform regions (Arctic Lowlands-Hudson Bay Lowlands, Appalachians, Canadian Shield, Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands, Innuitian Mountains, Interior Plains, Western Cordillera). Underneath is a picture of all the landform regions of Canada
Green-Canadian Shield
Pale Yellow-Interior Plains
Blue-Western Cordillera
Pink-Appalachians
Yellow-Arctic Lowlands-Hudson Bay Lowlands
Orange-Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands
Puplre-Innuitian Mountains