This guidebook provides an in-depth exploration of the Canadian Shield, a vast area of ancient rock that covers nearly half of Canada and parts of the United States. It offers a comprehensive overview of the region's geography, geology,
The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Shield or the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton, the ancient geologic core of the North American continent. Glaciation has left the area with only a thin layer of soil, through which exposures of igneous bedrock, resulting from its long volcanic history, are frequently visible. As a deep, common, joined bedrock region in eastern and central Canada, it also is south into the northern reaches of the continental United States.