Borderlands / Appalachian Region

The Appalachian Region extends from southern Quebec and Gaspésie to encompass New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and the island of Newfoundland. It is divided into a large number of physiographic units, the physiography being dominated by a well-developed peneplain that is generally highest in the northwest and slopes gently southeastward to the ocean.

On the island of Newfoundland, the Appalachian Region comprises three highlands that form a group called the Newfoundland Highlands. They are rugged with steep slopes and elevations vary from 180 to 820 metres. On the east side, the Atlantic Uplands of Newfoundland lie between 180 and 300 metres in elevation, and the Newfoundland Central Lowland extends from sea level up to 150 metres. Its surface is gently rolling and generally underlain by glacial sediments.

Nova Scotia is divided into three highland areas, three uplands and several small lowlands. The Nova Scotia Highlands include the Cobequid Mountains in the west, the Antigonish Highlands in the centre and the Cape Breton Highlands to the northeast. South of these highlands lay the Nova Scotia Uplands and the Annapolis Lowlands.

New Brunswick comprises three large units: the New Brunswick Highlands; the Chaleur Uplands, which cross the Quebec–New Brunswick border; and the Maritime Plain, which stretches around the coast of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia from the south shore of Chaleur Bay and includes Prince Edward Island and Îles-de-la-Madeleine.

In Quebec, the Chaleur Uplands are bounded on the north by the Notre-Dame Mountains, which extend from near Thetford Mines to Baie de Gaspé. In the Notre-Dame Mountains area, there are the Chic-Chocs Mountains which have the highest elevation at more than 1230 metres in the north. To the southwest, the summits are lower, like the areas of Mégantic Hills and Sutton Mountains, which merge with the Eastern Quebec Uplands. The Sutton Mountains are a continuation of the Green Mountains of Vermont; and the Mégantic Hills lie astride the Canada–United States boundary and are part of the larger White Mountains of the New England states.

The following photographs show examples of landscapes from the Appalachian Region.

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Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador

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Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

The other physiographic regions that form the Borderlands are:

• Innuitian Region
• Arctic Coastal Plain
• Arctic Lowlands
• Interior Plains
• Cordilleran Region
• St. Lawrence Lowlands