It is likely, since the Cypress Hills sit between the preglacial ancestors of the South Saskatchewan and Milk River drainages, that the hills were spared the strongest erosional forces. > gd2md-html alert: undefined internal link (link text: 'Alberta'). The plateau on which Cypress Hills Provincial Park sits is the remnants of the plateau that once covered significant portions of southern The sea started to drain to the northeast with immense erosive power however, the Cypress Hills plateau along the eastern Alberta border was spared from significant erosion and is now the highest point between the Rockies and Labrador. Many layers of sediment accumulated during the Cretaceous however, significant erosion occurred as the Continental Divide was formed. Additionally, the influx of sediment created the raw materials for the clay pottery and pipe industries that exist today. The prehistoric sea that covered Alberta, and the subsequent transformation of organic materials, created the vast coal and natural gas deposits in Cypress County. The new sea covered the previous coastal wetlands, marshes, and peat bogs that were thriving about 100 million years ago. This created an influx of water and sediment and a sea formed across present day Alberta. The aspect of the collision that affects Cypress County is that as the plates were sliding under the continent, the western edge of North America dipped downward. Further events during the tectonic collision include the addition of most of the terranes that form modern British Columbia. During this time, mountains were built, the coast was extended west, and a sea covered the western side of Canada.Īs the Pacific plates subducted, the most notable events were the Sevier and Laramide orogenies, which are the mountain building events that created the Columbia, Coast, and Rocky Mountains. Much of Alberta’s current geology owes at least part of its formation to the collision between the tectonic plates underlying the Pacific Ocean and North America that occurred some 140 million years ago. Additionally, Onefour Heritage Rangelands Natural Area and Prairie Coulees Natural Area are located within the county. There are several protected areas in the county, the most notable of which is Cypress Hills Provincial Park, which has a montane ecology, uniquely separate from the Rocky Mountains. The South Saskatchewan and Milk Rivers run through the county and have eroded extensive coulees, resulting in a badlands terrain that surrounds each river. Other notable communities include Elkwater, near Cypress Hill Provincial Park, and Suffield, which is near a Canadian Forces Base.Ĭypress County’s mostly flat landscape is mainly dominated by shortgrass prairie and farmland.

Medicine Hat is the largest municipality in Cypress County, which is part of Alberta’s Census Division 1. It shares its eastern border with the province of Saskatchewan and its southern border with the state of Montana in the US.

Cypress County is a municipal district that’s located in the southeastern corner of Alberta, Canada.

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