Mixedwood Plains

Containing the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands, this ecozone consists mostly of plains and rolling hills. There are occasional mountains, such as Mount Royal at 227 meters. Some parts to the north also incorporate the rocky appearance of the Canadian Shield as the southernmost tip of the Shield, Frontenac Axis, stretches into the mixedwood plains ecozone.

 

Rivers and lakes are dominant features of the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone, covering 42% of its total surface area. Surrounded by Canada’s Great Lakes, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, this ecozone is home to the world’s largest freshwater inland system, holding about 18% of the world’s accessible freshwater supply.

 

Along with flat limestone plains, escarpments, and deep glacial deposits, this ecozone is most known for the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine. Glacial activity in the past has also created many landforms, such as moraines, spillways, eskers, kames, kettles and drumlins.