The report and accompanying map describe and interpret the terrain conditions across 48,000 km2 of the coast and hinterland of Hudson Bay. The surface mapping of materials was combined with a study of river exposures in order to reconstruct the preglacial and glacial evolution of the landscape, and postglacial changes in permafrost, climate, and sea level. The geological interpretation was used to locate anomalously high concentrations of minerals of economic value, including gold and uranium, assess aggregate sources, identify areas of sensitive permafrost terrain, and to predict future environmental change.

This critical book focuses on the geomorphological landscapes of eastern Canada and provides a companion volume to “Landscapes and Landforms of Western Canada” (2017). There are a number of unique characteristics of eastern Canada’s landscapes, notably its magnificent coastlines, the extraordinary variety and extent of wetlands, the huge Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin, the high incidence of meteorite craters, the spectacular Niagara Falls, urban karst in Montreal and Ottawa, youthful, glaciated karst in Ontario, Newfoundland, Quebec and Nova Scotia, the ubiquitous permafrost terrain of Nunavut, Labrador and northern Quebec and the magnificent arctic fjords and glaciers. Looking at coastlines, the tidal extremes of the Bay of Fundy are world renowned; the structural complexity of the island of Newfoundland is less well known, but produces an astounding variety of coastlines in close succession; the arctic fjordlands of Baffin and Ellesmere islands and the extravagant raised beaches of Hudson Bay bear comparison with the classic fjords of Norway and the Baltic Sea raised beaches. As for wetlands, there are distinctive Arctic, Subarctic, Boreal, Eastern Temperate and Atlantic wetlands, and their extent is second only to those of Russia. In the Hudson and James Bay regions, between 75-100% of the terrestrial surface is comprised of wetlands. One of North America’s largest river basins, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin, has its source in Minnesota, straddles the USA-Canada border and debouches into Quebec as the St. Lawrence River and evolves through its estuary into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a journey of almost 5,000 km. As far as meteorite craters are concerned, 10% of the world’s total are located in eastern Canada, including some of the largest and most complex landforms. They are preserved preferentially in the ancient Shield terrain of Quebec. Finally, the three million km2 of permafrost controlled relief in eastern Canada serves as a reminder of the vulnerability of eastern Canada’s landscapes to climate change. Effects of warming are expressed through thawing of the permafrost, disruption of transportation corridors and urban construction problems, ever-present geomorphic hazards.

The Hudson Bay Lowland is the Earth's largest more or less continuous temperate wetland landscape. This book documents 816 native and 95 non-native vascular plants in the context of the distinct geological history and ecology of the area. It includes text and annotated checklist that are complemented by distribution maps and colour illustrations.

This report presents the first comprehensive summaries of Quaternary geology and landscape evolution for the Melville Peninsula, glaciated by the Wisconsin Laurentide Ice. After an introduction on the bedrock geology and physiography of the study area, sections of the report describe the area's surficial materials and landforms, including till, glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine deposits and landforms, marine deposits and landforms; dispersal trains and ice dynamics; glaciation and ice flow in the study area; deglaciation of the various parts of the peninsula; glacial and postglacial sea-level changes, and their interpretation; the regional context of glaciation and sea-level change; the economic and environmental geology of Quaternary materials such as permafrost and patterned ground forms; postglacial faulting and neotectonics; and till geochemistry, with reference to drift prospecting models.