Vancouver’s Landscape Portfolio Project
Introduction
Looking at Vancouver’s landscape, in particular, the land surface of this area is has formed through the action of diverse natural processes operating over the vast expanse of geological time. Several photographs of the Vancouver metropolitan area indicate natural processes that are slowly modifying the land surface and that impose essential constraints on land use (Briney, 2019). For my Landscape Portfolio, I decided to focus on Vancouver, Canada. Since the project focus on Vancouver, I have gotten to explore the area and have seen many different landscapes. I also have realized how Vancouver has grown as a city with many intriguing landmarks. Being the third-largest city in Canada, Vancouver has an estimated population of 2,581,079 million based on 2020 census calculations and continues to grow daily (World Population Review, 2020). Since Vancouver is such a fast-growing and diversely populous city, the structures within the town portray these effects. The themes I am going to cover in my portfolio include nature of Vancouver, as well as the physical features of this area such as coast mountains, Stanley Park, Cascade Mountains, Mt. Baker, the Chief, the shorelines, and Fraser River.
Nature
Nature, in this case, is considered as the surface form of the earth and also termed as the physiography. The Vancouver region is known for three main physiographic areas. One of them is the more extensive valleys that entail thick deposits of sediments and host significant lakes, rivers, and arms of the sea such as the Howe Sound. In addition to this, the region has mountains such as the Coast and Cascade Mountains that are made of peaks, rugged bedrock ridges, as well as intervening steep-walled valleys (Lynch, 2019). The other remaining two physiographic areas are found in the Fraser Valley; also known as the gently rolling uplands, that range from about 15 meters to 250 meters above sea level (Lynch, 2019). These appearing landforms are underlain by thick ice age sediments, also known as Pleistocene. It should be noted that much of the glacial origin in this region contain flat lowlands along the Fraser River and its tributaries are underlain by modern sediments known as Holocene, which are estimated to be less than 10,000 years old.
Besides, the three primary surface forms of the earth or the physiographic elements of the Vancouver region are visible in the picture provided. This picture was taken near the south end of the Port Mann Bridge (CGEN, 2020). It presents the floodplain of the Fraser River, in the foreground, is a lowland area. In the middle distance, beyond the bridge is a rolling, ice age upland on which Coquitlam is located. In the far distance are the southernmost peaks of the Coast Mountains, part of the mountain physiographic area.
Physical Features
Coast Mountains
The Coat Mountains are known to rise out of the Fraser Valley and extend northward along the coast to Alaska. These mountains are near Vancouver, and they are mainly made of metamorphic, as well as granitic rocks that are close to 100 million years in existence. More so, the area has younger sandstones, which are about 35 to 85 million years old, overlie these rocks and form many of the hills in Vancouver and Burnaby (CGEN, 2020). Geographically, the southern Coast Mountains were formed by compression, uplift, and heating that resulted from under sliding or subduction of the Pacific Ocean crust beneath North America.
The present form of these mountains, however, owes much to erosion. For instance, the deep u-shaped valleys, such as the Capilano and Seymour, were carved rivers and modified by glaciers. Besides, these valleys are comprised of thick fills of modern sediments and ice age (CGEN, 2020). On the other hand, the mountain slopes and peaks have a thin, discontinuous veneer of sediment. More to this, the hills that are about 1500 meter below elevation appear to be smoothed and rounded because they are being overridden by the Cordilleran ice sheet which covered nearly all the south-coastal British Columbia as recently as 15,000 years ago (CGEN, 2020). The nature of these mountains indicates that the highest peaks projected through this ice sheet and they are more jagged.
The picture above entails the bedrock slopes of the Coast Mountains that rise sharply above North Vancouver, which is built on an upland underlain mainly by ice age gravel and sand. The picture is a view from Stanley Park.
In the picture above, is a view of Burnaby Mountain from the east from the Lions Gate Bridge. This mountain is formed of layers of resistant conglomerate and sandstone tilted about 10 degrees to the south. The tilted layering is responsible for the striking asymmetry of the mountain.
Stanley Park
This is the region where the rocks control the land formation. Stanley Park’s forested peninsula juts into Burrard inlet. Notably, the winter storm waves coming from the Strait of Georgia have eroded the western side of the park, exposing its bedrock foundation (CGEN, 2020). Ideally, the park’s geology can be clearly observed from the popular seawall walk. From this place, one can easily see the layered sandstones that underlie much of the park, as well as the volcanic rock forms the prominent cliffs at the prospect point and Siwash Rock.
The figure above tries to illustrate the rugged volcanic cliffs at the prospect point contrast with adjacent smooth sandstone slopes. The weak sandstones erode easily compared to the erosion-resistant volcanic rock. It should be noted that the peninsula of Stanley Park owes its present size to this resistant volcanic rocks and without them, it is believed that the storm waves might have long ago eroded the soft sandstone (CGEN, 2020). In addition, the cliffs of Prospect Point display fracture columns also known as columnar jointing, which are formed by contraction during rapid cooling of liquid rock to a solid. These cliffs reflect the resistance to erosion of hard volcanic rock and the rock obtains a fine-grained and dark-colored basalt texture (CGEN, 2020). The best example of this effect is the Siwash Rock a rock pillar along the seawall route. The rock is a remnant of a rocky point of resistant volcanic rock that was breached by wave erosion.
Cascade Mountains
The mountains lie in the southeastern part of Vancouver. They are comprised of volcanic rocks and metamorphosed sedimentary rocks. The more extensive valleys of these mountains are underlined with thick ice and modern sediments that collect due to the erosion, whereas the high peaks are volcanic and rugged (CGEN, 2020). The sedimentary rocks are formed due to weathering of underlying rocks by friction, and this exerts pressure to cause particles of the sediments which are deposited out of ice, the air of flowing water to carry them in suspension. Over time sediment built up and acted upon by pressure squeezing the sediment to form layered solids and also expelling out fluids that had initially been collected in between. The volcanic rocks are both intrusive and extrusive; these are created through the cooling and solidification of molten rock.
The intrusive rocks form as a result of molten rock cooling within the small pockets in the earth’s crust by preexisting rock and later fine-grained. In contrast, in the extrusive rock formation, molten rocks pour out to the surface due to tremendous pressure underneath and then cools. Besides, this flowing also causes steep slopes due to molten rock flowing slowly and also rapidly forming long thin flows (CGEN, 2020). Because the Cascade Mountains are above sea level, they experience snow, and this brings about rivers originating as a result of molten ice. For example, the Chilliwack river which carries sediments and gravel downslope due to erosion by flowing ice, landslides at the banks and also contributing to the formation of river bars on deposition at Vedder crossing.
Mt. Baker
Mt. Baker is also known as the fire mountain. Notably, the cone-like nature of this mountain makes it be the dominant landmark on Vancouver’s southern skyline. The slow uplift of the landforms the surrounding lower mountains in this area, but the Mt. Baker has been formed by a result of repeated eruptions of volcanic lava, as well as ash and this process is believed to have occurred over the last 40,000 years (CGEN, 2020). Ideally, the shape of a cone displayed by this mountain indicates that the pace of volcanic construction has exceeded erosion by streams and glaciers. It s believed that this mountain last erupted during the 1800s; implying that Mt. Baker is a product of outpourings of lava and volcanic ash. According to CGEN (2020), these past eruptions lies within the volcanic layers exposed at Sherman Crater near the summit of the mountain.
CGEN (2020), posits that the Sherman Crater is the site of small eruptions during the 1800s and discharges of volcanic gas during the 1970s. The author adds that even today, Mountain Baker is still steaming. On the other hand, because the mountain rises 3300 meters above Vancouver, it is believed that any case of the future eruption from this mountain can cause a potential hazard to the lower mainland area.
Besides, the summit of this mountain is covered by glaciers, implying that any future eruptions could result in rapid melting, mobilizing loose volcanic material into deadly mudflows (CGEN, 2020). These mudflows descend stream valleys at high speed and can cause devastation for tens of kilometres downstream.
The Chief
This physical feature is also known as the pillar of graphite. It is the great grey cliffs of Stawamus Chief Mountain, which is locally known as “the Chief.” Notably, these features are prominent landmarks in the Squamish area. Many rock climbers all over the world come and test their climbing abilities on these vertical granite walls. It should be noted that these granitic rocks are pools of ancient melted rock that crystallized to the rock below the earth’s surface (CGEN, 2020). It is the remarkable uplift of the land coupled with a continuous erosion that carried these rocks from the earth’s surface.
To add on that, the Chief rise to almost 650 meters above highway 99 at Squamish and its tremendous vertical faces result from glacial erosion along with fractures in the graphite as explained above. On the contrary, many climbing routes on these vertical walls follow fractures in the granite. Reports from CGEN (2020), assert that the element of granite favors most climbers because of its secure and reliable holds. Ideally, the rough surface of this granite result from variable weathering of its coarse minerals, and this offers an additional grip to climbers.
Shorelines
From the research made on Vancouver shorelines, I discovered that some of these shorelines are tidal marshes, some are human-made fill, and others are the bedrock. In addition to these shorelines, some a believed to be beaches of gravel and sand. According to CGEN (2020), these features may have developed from the coastal bluffs which extend in ice-age deposits. Notably, these deposits are vulnerable to wave erosion, as well as landslides. So, the sediment that erodes from the bluffs is carried by currents along the shore and deposited on beaches.
The picture below indicates an intertidal sandflat in Boundary Bay. It should be noted that much of this sand was eroded by waves from sea cliffs of ice age sediments at Point Roberts and then carried northward by currents into Boundary Bay.
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Colombia, Canada with its source from the Rocky Mountains located far in the northwest of Vancouver. It collects waters and sediments along its way to the mouth at Strait of Georgia in the locality of Vancouver international airport (CGEN, 2020). Along its way, numerous physical features are created and identified at different parts due to the variance in gradient. For instance, at Fraser canyon at Hope, Fraser River spreads out, reducing the flow speed and loses energy dropping its sediment load. The deposited coarse sand and gravel form numerous small islands in the river, and this is between Hope and Mission (CGEN, 2020). The river at Mission loses gradient and carries some sediments of sand, clay and slit, but continues to flow in a single channel west of Mission up to Fort Langley and associated with fewer islands.
The Fraser River in the east of Mission forms an oxbow lake from its meandering channel as the crescent-shaped channel gradually became plugged with sediments forming the present Hatzic Lake. Near Chilliwack, the river further forms islands of gravel and sand, which support only fast-growing deciduous trees as the islands shift and regularly flood (CGEN, 2020). At the mouth, the river forms a delta known as the Fraser delta at New West minister and splits into distributaries named the main arm and north arm. Here, there are highly industrialized developments most notably within reach of the river (CGEN, 2020). Accordingly, the main channel is deep to enable larger ships to access New Westminster, whereas the north arm easily, homes a lot of people on the banks because this area is slightly above mean sea-level.
Conclusion
To summarize, the portfolio project indicates that the land surface of this territory is has framed through the activity of different common procedures working over the immense breadth of geographical time. Looking at the provided illustrations of the Vancouver metropolitan region, it is demonstrated that regular procedures gradually alter the land surface. It is also highlighted that the current nature of Vancouver has several physiographic areas. Some of these landmarks are discussed in the project and among those incorporated in the portfolio include the nature of Vancouver, as well as physical features such as Coast Mountains, Stanley Park, Cascade Mountains, Mt. Baker, the Chief, the shorelines, and
References
Briney, A. (2019). Geography of Vancouver, British Columbia. ThoughtCo. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/geography-of-vancouver-british-columbia-1434393
CGEN. (2020). Vancouver Rocks.Canadian Geoscience Education Network. Retrieved from https://www.cgenarchive.org/vancouver-rocks.html
CGEN. (2020). Vancouver’s Landscape. Canadian Geoscience Education Network. Retrieved from https://www.cgenarchive.org/vancouver-landscape.html#
Google Maps. (2020). Vancouver British Columbia, Canada. Google.
Lynch, D. (2019). Top 10 Things Vancouver Is Famous For. Retrieved from https://www.tripsavvy.com/what-is-vancouver-famous-for-4049389
World Population Review. (2020). Vancouver Population, 2020. Retrieved from https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/vancouver-population/