Heritage Community Foundation Presents
Alberta Online Encyclopedia
Top Left of Navigation Bar The Canadian Shield Region Title
Species at Risk in AlbertaView our site layout to navigate to specific areasSearch our site for informationObtain help for navigating our sitePlease emails us your questions and comments!View our partners that helped us in this project

Back to Natural Regions map
The Boreal Forest Region
The Canadian Shield Region
The Foothills Region
The Grassland Region
The Parkland Region
The Rocky Mountain Region

Visit Alberta Source!
Visit the Heritage Community Foundation
Visit Canada's Digital Collections

The Athabasca Plain Subregion

Sandy BeachThe Athabasca Plain Subregion is characterized by generally low relief with elevations of 230-640 metres. Fluvial and Aeolian deposits predominate in the eastern part, till and glaciofluvial deposits in the west. Most deposits are sandy and derived from the Athabasca sandstone. Extensive stretches of sandy beach occur along Lake Athabasca, including a sand spit that juts three kilometres into the lake at Sand Point. Distinctive landscape features include large areas of kame and kettle, and active dunes. The kames, at over 60 metres in height, are among the largest in the world. A small but significant area of crag and tail occurs in the lee of resistant granite outcrops that protected the till during glacial movement.

The dune fields are mainly parabolic dunes with minor amounts of fish-hook, transverse and paleodunes. The active dune system is the largest in Alberta. The paleodunes are unique in Alberta and are aligned opposite to other dunes in the province. Also, linear ridges of similar size are not known from any other place in Alberta. Numerous lakes dot the landscape in this portion of the Subregion. Rivers are small and uncommon. Most streams are slow-moving and of the "muskeg" type.

Information provided by and printed with the permission of Alberta Community Development, Provincial Parks and Protected Areas.

Albertasource.ca | Contact Us | Partnerships
            For more on the natural history of Alberta, visit Peel’s Prairie Provinces.
Copyright © Heritage Community Foundation All Rights Reserved