Discover How Natural Processes Shape the World Around You

Natural processes are the powerful forces of nature that slowly and sometimes quickly change the shape of the land around you. You can see these changes in mountains, river valleys, beaches, and prairies across Canada. Learning about natural processes connects to what you already know about Geographic Features and how the land looks different from place to place.

Three of the most important natural processes are weathering, erosion, and deposition. These three work together to break down rocks, move material, and build up new landforms over time.

Weathering: Weathering is when rocks are slowly broken apart into smaller pieces by wind, water, ice, or temperature changes. Imagine a big rock cracking apart over many years that is weathering happening.

Erosion: Erosion is when broken pieces of rock or soil are picked up and carried away by wind, water, or ice. When a river carries mud downstream, that is erosion at work.

Deposition: Deposition happens when moving water or wind slows down and drops the material it was carrying. When a river slows down and drops sand on a flat plain, that is deposition.

Landslide: A landslide is when a large amount of rock and soil slides quickly down a steep slope. Landslides can be triggered by heavy rain or earthquakes, especially in places like British Columbia.

Wind Erosion: Wind erosion is when strong winds pick up loose, dry soil or sand and carry it away. On the Saskatchewan Prairies, wind erosion can remove valuable topsoil from farmland.

Dust Storm: A dust storm is a thick, dark cloud of soil and dust blown by very strong winds. During the Dirty Thirties in the 1930s, massive dust storms buried farms across the Canadian Prairies because drought dried out the soil and left it loose and unprotected.

Sand Dune: A sand dune is a hill of sand built up by wind deposition. You can find large sand dunes at the Great Sand Hills near Sceptre in southwest Saskatchewan.

Barchan Dune: A barchan dune is a crescent-shaped sand hill formed when wind blows consistently from one direction, depositing sand in a curved shape.

Coulee: A coulee is a narrow valley with steep sides carved by flowing water over thousands of years. Coulees are common across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and they provide shelter for wildlife and plants.

River Meander: A river meander is a wide, looping bend in a river. On flat land like the Manitoba lowlands, rivers slowly erode their outer banks and develop these curving shapes over time.

River Delta: A river delta is a fan-shaped landform built up when a river slows down and drops its sediment where it enters a larger lake or ocean. The Saskatchewan River delta at Lake Winnipeg is a real prairie example.

Sediment: Sediment is the sand, silt, and soil particles that water or wind picks up and carries from one place to another.

Floodplain: A floodplain is the flat land beside a river that gets covered with water and sediment when the river overflows its banks, especially in spring when snow melts.

Windbreak: A windbreak is a row of trees planted to slow down wind and protect farmland from wind erosion. Windbreaks are used on Manitoba farms to stop topsoil from blowing away.

Earthquake: An earthquake is a sudden shaking of the ground caused by tectonic plates moving against each other. Earthquakes happen more often on Canada's west coast than anywhere else in the country.

Tectonic Plates: Tectonic plates are giant pieces of Earth's outer layer that slowly move and push against each other. When plates collide or slide past each other, they cause earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Cascadia Subduction Zone: The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a fault where the Juan de Fuca Plate slides under the North American Plate, causing frequent earthquakes along Canada's west coast near Vancouver Island.

Tsunami: A tsunami is a series of very large ocean waves caused by an underwater earthquake that suddenly shifts the ocean floor. Tsunami waves can travel across entire oceans and flood far inland when they reach shore.

Seafloor Displacement: Seafloor displacement is when an earthquake causes a section of the ocean floor to suddenly rise or drop, pushing a huge amount of water upward to start a tsunami.

Lava: Lava is melted rock that flows out of a volcano onto Earth's surface. As lava cools, it hardens into new rock and can build up land over time.

Avalanche: An avalanche is when a massive amount of snow rushes rapidly down a steep mountain slope. In the St. Elias Mountains of Yukon, earthquakes can trigger avalanches on snowy slopes.

On the Canadian Prairies, wind is one of the most powerful forces shaping the land. Strong winds pick up loose, dry topsoil in a process called wind erosion. When wind slows down, it drops the sand and soil, building up landforms like sand dunes through deposition. You can see this at the Great Sand Hills in Saskatchewan.

Rivers also shape the prairies. The South Saskatchewan River and other prairie rivers erode their banks, carry sediment downstream, and deposit it in new places. This is how coulees, river valleys, and river deltas form. The Qu'Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan and the Oldman River Valley near Lethbridge, Alberta, are great examples of river erosion at work. When rivers flood in spring from melting snow, they deposit rich, fertile silt on floodplains great for farming. You can connect these ideas to what you know about Types of Landforms: Mountains, Valleys, and Plains and Types of Water Bodies: Oceans, Lakes, and Rivers.

Canada's west coast is one of the most earthquake-prone regions in the country. This is because tectonic plates meet along the Cascadia Subduction Zone near Vancouver Island. When pressure between plates releases suddenly, powerful earthquakes shake the ground. In 2012, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck near Haida Gwaii one of the largest in Canadian history.

Underwater earthquakes can cause tsunamis. When the seafloor suddenly shifts, it pushes water upward, sending giant waves toward shore. If you ever feel strong shaking near the ocean and see the water pull far back from the beach, you should move quickly to higher ground. Indigenous peoples along the BC coast, including the Haida and Nuu-chah-nulth, preserved this life-saving knowledge through oral traditions for thousands of years.

Ocean waves also constantly reshape the BC coastline through erosion and deposition, carving sea caves, arches, and sea stacks in rocky cliffs. Mount Meager in BC is a potentially active volcano that scientists monitor carefully. In the St. Elias Mountains of Yukon, earthquakes can even trigger avalanches on steep, snow-covered slopes. These processes connect to your study of Changing Landscapes.

You can look at maps of Canada and identify where wind erosion, river erosion, and earthquake activity are most common. Think about how the Great Sand Hills, the Qu'Appelle Valley, and the BC coastline each show a different natural process at work. You can also explore how Human Effects on Nature interact with natural processes for example, how removing prairie grass makes wind erosion worse.

Consider how Indigenous knowledge about tsunamis and earthquakes has helped communities stay safe for thousands of years. This connects to your understanding of Communities and Their Environments and Parks and Conservation.

Before exploring natural processes, you learned about the types of landforms and water bodies that exist across Canada. Your study of Types of Landforms: Mountains, Valleys, and Plains and Types of Water Bodies: Oceans, Lakes, and Rivers gives you the foundation to understand how these features were shaped by natural forces. You also learned about Climate and Geography Impact and Weather and Life, which connect to how wind, rain, and temperature drive natural processes.

Your knowledge of Regional Biodiversity: Plants and Animals Across Diverse Ecosystems helps you understand why coulees and other landforms are important habitats. You also explored Environmental Consequences of Economic Activities, which connects to how farming practices can make wind erosion worse or better.

Natural processes connect to many other topics you will explore. After learning about natural processes, you will be ready to study Ecosystems and Earth's Features, which build directly on what you learn here. You will also explore Human Effects on the landscape, Major Landforms and Water Bodies: Mountains, Rivers, and Oceans, and Natural Resource Types and Distribution Patterns.

You will also connect natural processes to World Climates and Oceans and Waters, as well as Geographic Areas. Related topics like Regional Characteristics, Geographic Features, and Human Geography all help you see how natural processes shape the places where people live. You can also explore Community Environmental Effects, Resource Industries, Human-Animal Relations: Domestication, Hunting, and Fishing, Understanding Maps, and Using Geography Tools to deepen your understanding of how natural processes affect people and communities.