Laurentian Mountains

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Laurentian Mountains
Range
none The Laurentian Mountains in the Hautes-Gorges Quebec national park, Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada.
The Laurentian Mountains in the Hautes-Gorges Quebec national park, Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada.
Country Canada
Province Quebec
Highest point Mont Raoul Blanchard
 - elevation 3,825 ft (1,166 m)
Orogeny Grenville orogeny
Period Tonian

The Laurentian Mountains (French: Laurentides) are a mountain range in southern Quebec, Canada, north of the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River, rising to a highest point of 1166 metres (3,825 feet) at Mont Raoul Blanchard, north east of Quebec City in the Réserve Faunique des Laurentides. The Gatineau, L'Assomption, Lièvre, Montmorency, Nord and St. Maurice rivers are sourced from lakes in this mountain range.

As a part of the Canadian (Precambrian) Shield, the Laurentians are a part of the same geologic formation as the Adirondack Mountains in New York State, although the Adirondacks are sometimes mistakenly included with the Appalachian Mountains.

Note that although one of Quebec's official regions is called Laurentides, the mountain range runs through four other regions; Capitale-Nationale, Outaouais, Lanaudière, and Mauricie. The foothills of the Laurentian range extend into Northeastern Ontario, particularly towards Bonnechere, Ontario as the Laurentian Highlands, Madawaska Highlands, a range of hills near the Madawaska River and Opeongo Lake, and the Opeongo Hills (another range of high hills, near Round Lake) in Ontario near the town of Combermere.

The Laurentian Mountain range is one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. It contains rocks deposited during Cambrian time, 540 million years ago. [1]. Laurentian are the central part of the Grenville orogeny 1100-1000 mya (million years) ago.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica "[1]", Encyclopædia Britannica,© 2007. Retrieved on March 9, 2007


[edit] See also