This article discusses the Hudson Bay Lowland, an area on Canada‘s eastern coast that is home to some of the world’s most important wetlands. UNESCO has identified the region as a World Heritage Site to protect these unique and rare habitats.
This lowland area, with a surface of 320,000 sq km of land, is 40% that of the Canadian Shield when combined. 60% of these lowlands are under the Hudson and James Bay areas. The bedrock terrain is covered in glacial and marine sediments and ice, which can be seen in the Sutton Ridges on the northeast side of these areas.
As a result of rising water levels, the edges of the lowland ran higher by approximately 180 meters. The process was linked with the disappearance of ice around Hudson Bay about 7,500 years ago. The landscape near the Shield is made of hills made of glacial debris, which comes from the flat lands near Hudson Bay. The hills show that this area is close to a large body of water and was formed by glaciers.
Closer to the coast, where the marine mantle is thicker, there are typically vast level plains of muskeg. These level plains of muskeg are contrasted with terrain in the inland zone 50-80 km away from the coast. There are beaches made of parallel sedimentary ridges that were formed by water currents during the last 5,000-6,000 years. This region is forested and characterized by depressions created for wet marshy areas.
The coast reveals the nearshore zone at low tide as marshy and muddy flats, often littered with boulders. But since the sea level is currently falling at about 90 cm per 100 years, there is more of an offshore zone exposed.
The coastal areas flooded again, and the ice sheet slowed down after retreating. These coastal areas, such as south of Cape Young, were then molded by pressure from the glacier into hills like you would see in coastal regions.
The Google Maps of the Hudson Bay Lowland
Hudson Bay Lowland, a wetland area of Canada that covers about 320,000 square km (123,553 square miles) on the southern shores of Hudson Bay and James Bay, is surrounded by the Canadian Shield. It falls mainly in Ontario and Manitoba, with a small extension into Quebec.
Some small First Nations communities are on the southern shore of Hudson Bay Lowlands, including Moose Factory, Moosonee, Attawapiskat, and Fort Severn. Moosonee, Ontario, and Attawapiskat, Ontario are two major cities in the Hudson Bay Lowlands. Mining is the leading economy for these cities. Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, is a major city in the Arctic Lowlands that relies on mining.