Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands, or simply St. Lawrence Lowlands, is a

The St. Lawrence Lowlands is one of the most densely populated, prosperous and productive regions in

The southwest region of the Lowlands which is in southern Ontario and northern New York and Vermont is divided by the Niagara Escarpment, which extends northeast from the Niagara River to the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island.^[5][1][6] Most of the area which is east of the Niagara Escarpment—from Lake Ontario north to Georgian Bay—has low relief. The characteristic of this area, which was "entirely covered by glaciers during parts of the Pleistocene", are "lakes, poorly drained depressions, morainic hills, drumlins, eskers, outwash plains, and other glacial features." Soils in this area include "peat, muck, marl, clay, silt, sand, and gravel"^{[7][Notes 1][6]} This subregion includes the Bruce Peninsula to the northwest and the Niagara Peninsula, which is the warmest and most intensely cultivated part of the ecozone.^[8]: 68

Central Lowland

The Central Lowland stretches between the

East Lowland

The East Lowland includes

The landforms of the Great Lake – St. Lawrence Lowlands, with its rolling hills and slopes, were carved by glacial streams. Two of the most prominent geological features include the Niagara Escarpment and the Frontenac Axis.^[5] The Niagara Escarpment bifurcates the region from Niagara Falls to the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula, then extends to Manitoulin Island. The Frontenac Axis, is an exposure of Canadian shield rocks that extends south to the St. Lawrence River near Kingston, creating the Thousand Islands.

Geology

Peninsular Ontario lowlands are separated from the lowlands of the lower St. Lawrence at the Thousand Islands by the

Due to the presence of a deep fault line, this water eventually siphoned into the ocean. Thus, the primary defining historic feature of the lowlands is the presence of deep soils within the watershed and estuary of the St. Lawrence River. This feature occurs in more than one distinct Peninsular Ontario south and west of and the surrounding area, including the lower Ottawa Valley and St. Lawrence below the Thousand Islands, as far as Quebec City. A narrow ribbon of land along both shores of the lower St Lawrence Estuary, hemmed in on the north shore by the Canadian Shield and on the south which faces into the flow of the river, has accreted alluvial soils from the Great Lakes basin.

Glacial legacy

Huge glacial seas such as Lake Agassiz, and the Champlain Sea (in the east), and vast, continent-wide 2 kilometres thick ice sheets contributed to the formation of the region.^[10] The present form of Great Lakes–St. Lawrence basin developed about 7,000 years ago.^[9] It began to emerge from glacial sheets about 14,000 years ago.^[9]

Ecozones and regions

The extent of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands physiographic region, as defined by

Because of its "rich fertile soils", relatively mild climate, and extensive waterways, the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone, is one of the "most productive ecozones in Canada".[8]^{: 65–8 [12][3]} The ecozone extends along the St. Lawrence shoreline to Quebec City. It represents the "most populous and prosperous terrestrial ecozone".^{[8]: 65–8 [13]} and is home to nearly half of Canada's population, including its two largest cities, Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec.^[14][15]

The

The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence hydrographic system—with a surface area of 1.6 million km2—is the third largest in North America and one of the largest in the world.[16] Three aquifers of the St. Maurice Delta Complex in the Central St. Lawrence Lowlands provide drinking water for Trois-Rivières and most of the other municipalities in the region.^[17]

The premiers of the provinces of Quebec and Ontario and eight Great Lakes governors from Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin signed the Great Lakes–Saint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement on December 13, 2005, which came into force in 2015. It is a good faith agreement detailing the management and use of the Great Lakes Basin's water supply.^[18] It was signed on December 13, 2005.^[19] It succeeds and builds on the Great Lakes Charter signed in 1985 and its Annex signed in 2001.^[19]

Economy

Even though the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands is the smallest landform region in Canada, Southern Ontario and Quebec have a dense population and are home to about 50 percent of the population of Canada.

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region of Canada provides drinking water to over 8.5 million Canadians.[20] The region holds "largest freshwater system in the world" representing over 80 per cent of freshwater in North America.^[20] In 2014, the economy of the Lowlands was valued at about $CDN 5.8 trillion.^[20] About 50 percent of Canada's industrial capacity is in this region.^[20] With the abundance of water and fertile soil, the Lowlands account for about 25 percent of "Canada's agricultural capacity."^[20] With its dense population and an economy valued at about $CDN 5.8 trillion in 2014, industries in the Lowlands provide about 50 million jobs.^[20][23]

There is

Major cities in the Lowlands include "Quebec City, Toronto, Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Saint-Hyacinthe, Cornwall, Brockville, Ottawa/Gatineau, and Pembroke."^[3]

First Nations

For thousands of years,

• Bostock, H.S. (2014), ""A" Series Map 1254A",
  doi:10.4095/293408 This 2014 updated map shows the boundaries of the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands physiographic region as defined by the Geological Survey of Canada
  .
• Eyles, Nick; Miall, Andrew (2007). Canada Rocks: The Geologic Journey. Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside. p. 512.
  ISBN 978-1-55041-860-6
  .
• Bone, R. M. (2003). The regional geography of Canada. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press.
• Douglas, R.J.W. (Scientific Editor). 1972. Geology and Economic Minerals of Canada. Geological Survey of Canada.
• Franzi, David A; Rayburn, John A; Yansa, Catherine H; Knuepfer, Peter L K. "Late glacial water bodies in the Champlain and St. Lawrence Lowlands and their Paleoclimatic implications": 25. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)