Laurentian Upland

[2][3][4] The Laurentian Region, as recognized by Natural Resources Canada, is part of the plateau and dissected southern rim of the Canadian Shield in the province of Québec.

Viewed from the valleys of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers, the south-facing escarpments of the Shield give the appearance of mountains 500–800 meters high; looking across the plateau, the relief is more moderate and subdued.

[9] This upland, part of the Canadian Shield along with the Adirondacks, is a greatly deformed structure and is composed primarily of igneous and metamorphic crystalline rocks commonly associated with a rugged landscape.

[10] In this province, we find a part of those ancient mountains regions that were initiated by crustal deformation and then reduced by a long continued erosion to a peneplain of modern relief.

It left behind firm and rugged ledges in the low hills and swells of the ground and spread an irregular drift cover over the lower parts, whereby the drainage is generally disordered being deposited in lakes and swamps and elsewhere rushing down rocky rapids.