The Facts, Background, and History
Geologic History: The Oak Ridges Moraine is Born!
The Oak Ridges Moraine is known as an interlobate moraine, which means it was formed between two ice sheets, the Simcoe and Ontario Ice Lobes. These ice sheets changed their shape and size many times by melting and re-freezing, depending on the climate. This is called advancing and retreating. The till (sand, gravel, etc.) which was sticking to these ice sheets, was deposited onto land. This happened about 12 000 years ago, in the Ice Age and the Cenezoic Era. For more information, please see the formation diagram on The Moraine Page
Political History
It all started when humans began to build on the Oak Ridges Moraine, without even knowing the importance of the land. In 1990, the Royal Commission on the Future of the Toronto Waterfront realized that the Oak Ridges Moraine was a very important piece of land. They started to raise awareness about how it helps filter our water.
By 1995, a group of scientists and residents were trying to get Premier Mike Harris to stop development on the Moraine, because they learned how valuable the land was. Sadly, Mike Harris didn't pay very much attention to them.
In 1999, a group of environmentalists attended a Richmond Hill Council meeting, to try to get the town to stop the Official Plan Amendment 200. This plan would allow more development on the Moraine. Unfortunitlely, the majority of the council voted to go ahead with the plan, and the houses were built.
Finally, in the year 2000, the town of Richmond Hill stopped about 16 000 new homes from being built on the Moraine! Of course, this made the builders very angry.
In 2001, Richmond Hill passed the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act. Basically, this act was made to try and protect the Moraine. the government put a six month developement freeze on the Moraine, and assured Richmond Hill that 440 hectares of especially sensitive land would be protected forever!
The Story Today: Developers were planning to build about 6600 houses, on 1250 acres of the Moraine. The Liberal Party promised they would stop all of these houses from being built, yet they have only stopped 900 of the homes. For more information, please visit The Politics Page
Where is it?
The Moraine is located in Canada, specifically in southern Ontario. It is within the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Lowlands, and stretches from the Niagara Escarpment to Rice Lake, or from the city of Niagara to the city of Bewdly. It covers the GTA and the regions of York, Peel, Duffern, Simcoe, and Northumberland.
As you can see, the Moraine is very long, narrow, and skinny.
How Large is it?
The Moraine is approximately 90 km. long and 13 km. wide. It covers 1250 square km. in area. About 33% of it is located in York Region. Right in the center of the Moraine is where you will find the town of Richmond Hill.
What's in it?
 It is made up of materials such as sand, soil, and gravel. These materials were deposited by glaciers when the Moraine was being formed. There are a variety of landforms, ranging from forests to wetlands. For more information, please see the landform images on The Moraine Page. You can also find about 65 rivers and streams in the Moraine.
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