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Lac Saint-Jean

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Lac Saint-Jean ( Canadian French: [lak sẽ ʒã] ) is a large, relatively shallow lake in south-central Quebec , Canada, in the Laurentian Highlands . It is situated 206 km (128 mi) north of the Saint Lawrence River , into which it drains via the Saguenay River . It covers an area of 1,053 km (407 sq mi), and is 63.1 m (207 ft) at its deepest point. Its name in the Innu language is Piekuakamu .

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55-742: The lake is fed by dozens of small rivers, including the Ashuapmushuan , the Mistassini , the Peribonka , the Des Aulnaies , the Métabetchouane , and the Ouiatchouane . The towns on its shores include Alma , Dolbeau-Mistassini , Roberval , Normandin , and Saint-Félicien . Three Regional County Municipalities lie on its shores: Lac-Saint-Jean-Est , Le Domaine-du-Roy , and Maria-Chapdelaine . The lake

110-547: A dozen waterfalls, of which the most impressive are the Chaudière Falls. From the mouth of Ashuapmushuan Lake , the course of the Ashuapmushuan river flows over 130.6 km (81.2 mi), with a drop of 268 m (879 ft), according to the following segments: Upper course of the Ashuapmushuan river (segment of 45.2 km (28.1 mi); difference in height of 59 m (194 ft)) Intermediate course of

165-573: A few kilometers downstream from Saint-Félicien, near Saint-Prime . The river finally flows into Lac Saint-Jean a few kilometers downstream from Saint-Félicien, near Saint-Prime . From the mouth of the Ashuapmushuan river, the current crosses Lac Saint-Jean east on 41.1 km (25.5 mi) (its full length), follows the course of the Saguenay River via the Petite Décharge on 172.3 km (107.1 mi) east to Tadoussac where it merges with

220-503: A median flow of 75 cubic metres per second (2,600 cu ft/s) and a minimum of 54 cubic metres per second (1,900 cu ft/s) to a maximum of 120 cubic metres per second (4,200 cu ft/s). The Ashuapmushuan River forms the northern boundary of the Ashuapmushuan Wildlife Reserve for most of its length. As a wild undeveloped river, and accessible from Quebec Route 167 close to Lake Ashuapmushuan , it

275-602: A trading post on the eastern shore of Lake Ashuapmushuan that remained almost continuously in operation until the middle of the 19th century. It successively came under control of the Traite de Tadoussac (French period), King's Posts (English period), the North West Company (1802), and the Hudson's Bay Company (1821). During this period, the river became a major link in the fur trade route from Tadoussac to Hudson Bay since its source

330-524: Is 1,344,200 square kilometres (518,998.5 sq mi), of which 839,200 km (324,016.9 sq mi) is in Canada and 505,000 km (194,981.6 sq mi) is in the United States. The basin covers parts of Ontario and Quebec in Canada, parts of Minnesota , Wisconsin , Illinois , Indiana , Ohio , Pennsylvania , New York , Vermont , and nearly the entirety of the state of Michigan in

385-529: Is 181 kilometres (112 mi) long but its source is 266 kilometres (165 mi) from its mouth. Typical median summer flow is between 200 and 300 cubic metres per second (7,100 and 10,600 cu ft/s), whereas during spring run-off, the median flow is 1,050 cubic metres per second (37,000 cu ft/s), but the river could swell anywhere from 400 to 2,400 cubic metres per second (14,000 to 85,000 cu ft/s). Lowest flow conditions occur in March with

440-626: Is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean . Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence , traversing Ontario and Quebec in Canada and New York in the United States. A section of the river demarcates the Canada–U.S. border . As the primary drainage outflow of

495-527: Is a popular destination for canoe camping . A new 276.6-square-kilometre (106.8 sq mi) aquatic reserve is being considered that would protect 126 kilometres (78 mi) of the Ashuapmushuan River, including its floodplain and valley slopes. The reserve prohibits logging, mining, and hydro-electric development, while protecting critical landlocked salmon habitats, biodiversity, and sites of archaeological interest. The name Ashuapmushuan, which

550-531: Is a river in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of the Canadian provinces of Quebec . It starts at the outlet of Lake Ashuapmushuan , and flows first in a north-easterly direction for about 30 kilometres (19 mi) whereafter it continues south-east to Saint-Félicien . There it drains into Lac Saint-Jean of which it is the third largest tributary after the Peribonka and Mistassini Rivers . The river

605-669: Is home to the Thousand Islands . Today, the St. Lawrence River begins at the outflow of Lake Ontario and flows adjacent to Gananoque , Brockville , Morristown , Ogdensburg , Massena , Cornwall , Montreal , Trois-Rivières , and Quebec City before draining into the Gulf of St. Lawrence , often given as the largest estuary in the world. The estuary begins at the eastern tip of Île d'Orléans , just downstream from Quebec City. The river becomes tidal around Quebec City. The St. Lawrence River runs 3,058 kilometres (1,900  mi ) from

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660-491: Is just east of Lake Mistassini on the Rupert River . The vestiges of the post are considered some of the most valuable and best preserved relics from the era. After the fur trade, the Ashuapmushuan River was used by logging companies to drive logs downstream. The Ashuapmushuan River and its tributaries provide spawning grounds and habitats for landlocked salmon ( Salmo salar ouananiche ). Newly hatched salmon remain in

715-575: Is that country's sixth oldest surviving European place-name. The earliest regular Europeans in the area were the Basques , who came to the St Lawrence Gulf and River in pursuit of whales from the early 16th century. The Basque whalers and fishermen traded with indigenous Americans and set up settlements, leaving vestiges all over the coast of eastern Canada and deep into the St. Lawrence River. Basque commercial and fishing activity reached its peak before

770-554: Is the major mafic intrusion present in the area. These rocks comprise the Grenville Province of southern Quebec. It consists of fragments of island arcs and continental crust accreted to the south-eastern edge of Precambrian North American, Laurentia . Lac Saint-Jean lies within a elongated rift valley that is known as the Lac Saint-Jean Lowlands . These lowlands are an elongated flat-bottomed basin formed by

825-513: Is the second longest river in Canada. Lake Champlain and the Ottawa , Richelieu , Saint-Maurice , Saint-François , Chaudière and Saguenay rivers drain into the St. Lawrence. The St. Lawrence River is in a seismically active zone where fault reactivation is believed to occur along late Proterozoic to early Paleozoic normal faults related to the opening of the Iapetus Ocean . The faults in

880-667: The Armada Invencible ' s disaster (1588), when the Basque whaling fleet was confiscated by King Philip II of Spain . Initially, the whaling galleons from Labourd were not affected by the Spanish defeat. Until the early 17th century, the French used the name Rivière du Canada to designate the St. Lawrence upstream to Montreal and the Ottawa River after Montreal. The St. Lawrence River served as

935-692: The Estuary of Saint Lawrence . Municipal territories crossed by the river Starting from the upstream ( Ashuapmushuan Lake ), the course of the Ashuapmushuan river descends, crossing the following municipal territories: From the confluence of the Du Chef River and the Saint-Félicien limit, the course of the Ashuapmushuan river turns out to be the limit between the Maria-Chapdelaine Regional County Municipality (side north of

990-618: The Great Lakes Basin , the St. Lawrence has the second-highest discharge of any river in North America (after the Mississippi River ) and the 16th-highest in the world. The estuary of St. Lawrence is often cited by scientists as the largest in the world. Significant natural landmarks of the river and estuary include the 1,864 river islands of the Thousand Islands , the endangered whales of Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park , and

1045-700: The Gulf of St. Lawrence : Flowing through and adjacent to numerous Indigenous homelands, the river was a primary thoroughfare for many peoples. Beginning in Dawnland at the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the river borders Mi'kma'ki in the South (what is today known as the Canadian Maritimes ), and Nitassinan in the North, the national territory of the Innu people . On the south shore beyond

1100-501: The Hudson River . The Accommodation with ten passengers made her maiden voyage from Montreal to Quebec City in 66 hours, for 30 of which she was at anchor. She had a keel of 75 feet, and a length overall of 85 feet. The cost of a ticket was eight dollars upstream, and nine dollars down. She had berths that year for twenty passengers. Within a decade, daily service was available in the hotly-contested Montreal-Quebec route. Because of

1155-872: The Mi'kmaw district of Gespe'gewa'ki , the river passes Wolastokuk (the Maliseet homeland), Pαnawαhpskewahki (the Penobscot homeland), and Ndakinna (the Abenaki homeland). Continuing, the river passes through the former country of the St. Lawrence Iroquois and then three of the six homelands of the Haudenosaunee : the Mohawk or Kanienʼkehá꞉ka , the Oneida or Onyota'a:ka , and the Onondaga or Onöñda’gaga’ . In

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1210-603: The Saguenay Graben by the displacement of Grenville crystalline rocks . This basin is 250 km (160 mi) long and 50 km (31 mi) wide. This basin is bounded by normal faults running parallel to its length. It extends from just west of Lac Saint-Jean along the Saguenay River to the Saint Lawrence Valley where is it truncated by St. Lawrence rift system. Preserved within the down-faulted interior of

1265-670: The Thousand Islands chain near Alexandria Bay, New York and Kingston, Ontario ; the Hochelaga Archipelago , including the Island of Montreal and Île Jésus ( Laval ); the Lake St. Pierre Archipelago (classified a biosphere world reserve by the UNESCO in 2000) and the smaller Mingan Archipelago . Other islands include Île d'Orléans near Quebec City and Anticosti Island north of the Gaspé . It

1320-591: The 10th of August feast day for Saint Lawrence in 1535. Indigenous people use the following names: In winter, the St. Lawrence River begins producing ice in December, with the formation of ice cubes between Montreal and Quebec City . The prevailing winds and currents push this ice towards the estuary, and it reaches the east of Les Méchins at the end of December. Ice covers the entire Gulf of St. Lawrence in January and February. Ice helps navigation by preventing

1375-540: The 1940s, during World War II, Lac Saint-Jean, along with various other regions within Canada, such as the Saguenay , Saint Helen's Island and Hull, Quebec , had prisoner-of-war camps . Lac Saint-Jean's was numbered and remained unnamed just like most of Canada's other war prisons. The prisoners of war ( POWs ) were classified into categories including their nationality and civilian or military status. By 1942 this region had two camps with at least 50 POWs. Prisoners worked

1430-687: The Appalachian division at all. The source of the North River in the Mesabi Range in Minnesota (Seven Beaver Lake) is considered to be the source of the St. Lawrence River. Because it crosses so many lakes, the water system frequently changes its name. From source to mouth, the names are: The St. Lawrence River also passes through Lake Saint-Louis and Lake Saint-Pierre in Quebec. The St. Lawrence River and

1485-578: The Ashuapmushuan river (upstream of the Chef river) (segment of 42.8 km (26.6 mi); difference in height of 50 m (160 ft)) Intermediate course of the Ashuapmushuan river (upstream of the Chigoubiche river) (segment of 50 km (31 mi); drop in height of 91 m (299 ft)) Lower Ashuapmushuan River (segment of 37.6 km (23.4 mi); difference in height of 68 m (223 ft)) The river finally flows into Lac Saint-Jean

1540-577: The Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated, the Saguenay Graben was flooded by marine waters to form the Laflamme Sea. As the land rose in response to considerable Post-glacial rebound , the bottom of the Saguenay Graben was blanketed by the Saguenay River with deltaic and terrestrial fluvial sediments to form the modern day Lac Saint-Jean Lowlands. Ashuapmushuan River The Ashuapmushuan River

1595-407: The Saguenay Graben are two large eroded, isolated patches, known as outliers , of Paleozoic , Middle Ordovician , sedimentary rock composed of limestones and shales overlying Precambrian basement . The Lac-Saint-Jean outlier rests against the south wall of the graben south of Lac Saint-Jean and extends to the west of the lake. The Chicoutimi (Saguenay) outlier rests against the north wall of

1650-401: The Saguenay Graben being oriented more or less parallel to the glacial flow, became a preferred path for ice flow and resulted in deep excavation of the bedrock.The glaciers cut into the graben and widened it in some places as well as making it considerable deeper in others. At the time of retreat of the last ice sheet, the region had been depressed below contemporaneous sea level. As a result, as

1705-406: The St. Lawrence River includes: Large marine mammals travel in all the seas of the earth, the research and observations of these giants concern fishermen and shipping industry , exercise a fascination and a keen interest for laymen and, subjects of endless studies for scientists from Quebec, Canada and around the world. Thirteen species of cetaceans frequent the waters of the estuary and

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1760-622: The St. Lawrence to attack the city from the west, which they successfully did at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham . The river was used again by the British to defeat the French siege of Quebec under the Chevalier de Lévis in 1760. In 1809, the first steamboat to ply its trade on the St. Lawrence was built and operated by John Molson and associates, a scant two years after Fulton's steam-powered navigation of

1815-773: The United States). The Seaway (including the Welland Canal ) now permits ocean-going vessels to pass all the way to Lake Superior . During the Second World War , the Battle of the St. Lawrence involved submarine and anti-submarine actions throughout the lower St. Lawrence River and the entire Gulf of St. Lawrence , Strait of Belle Isle and Cabot Strait from May to October 1942, September 1943, and again in October and November 1944. During this time, German U-boats sank several merchant marine ships and three Canadian warships. In

1870-523: The United States. The average discharge below the Saguenay River is 16,800 cubic metres per second (590,000 cu ft/s). At Quebec City, it is 12,101 m /s (427,300 cu ft/s). The average discharge at the river's source, the outflow of Lake Ontario, is 7,410 m /s (262,000 cu ft/s). The St. Lawrence River includes Lake Saint Francis at Salaberry-de-Valleyfield , Lake Saint-Louis south of Montreal and Lake Saint Pierre east of Montreal. It encompasses four archipelagoes :

1925-593: The area are rift -related and comprise the Saint Lawrence rift system . According to the United States Geological Survey, the St. Lawrence Valley is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division, containing the Champlain section. However, in Canada, where most of the valley is, it is instead considered part of a distinct St. Lawrence Lowlands physiographic division, and not part of

1980-486: The deposition and the accumulation of Quaternary deposits ( sand , gravel , silt , and clay ), which can reach up to 180 m (590 ft) in thickness beneath the central lowlands. The Quaternary sediments include glacial , marine , glaciofluvial sediments and post-glacial alluvial and delta plain sediments. The area was covered by ice sheets several times throughout the Pleistocene . The valley formed by

2035-529: The early 17th century, the Huron-Wendat Nation migrated from their original country of Huronia to what is now known as Nionwentsïo centred around Wendake . Nionwentsïo occupies both the north and south shores of the river, overlapping with Nitassinan and the more western Wabanaki or Dawnland countries. Adjacent on the north shore is the Atikamekw territorial homeland of Nitaskinan and, upstream,

2090-536: The early 20th century. Industry was mainly forestry and agriculture. In the 20th century, pulp and paper mills and aluminum smelting rose to importance, encouraged by hydroelectric dams at Alma and on the Péribonka River. Lac Saint-Jean also has an important summer resort and sport-fishing industry. The area is featured in the classic French-language novel Maria Chapdelaine by Louis Hémon published in 1914 and subsequently translated into twenty languages. In

2145-521: The farthest headwater to the mouth and 1,197 km (743.8 mi) from the outflow of Lake Ontario. These numbers include the estuary; without the estuary, the length from Lake Ontario is c. 500 km (c. 300 mi). The farthest headwater is the North River in the Mesabi Range at Hibbing , Minnesota. Its drainage area, which includes the Great Lakes, the world's largest system of freshwater lakes,

2200-600: The formation of waves, and therefore spray, and prevents the icing of ships. With the draining of the Champlain Sea , due to a rebounding continent from the Last Glacial Maximum , the St. Lawrence River was formed. The Champlain Sea lasted from about 13,000 years ago to about 10,000 years ago and was continuously shrinking during that time, a process that continues today. The head of the St. Lawrence River, near Lake Ontario,

2255-415: The further reaches of Anishinaabewaki, specifically the homelands of the Algonquin and Mississauga Nations. The Norse explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the 11th century and were followed by fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century European mariners, such as John Cabot , and the brothers Gaspar and Miguel Corte-Real . The first European explorer known to have sailed up the St. Lawrence River itself

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2310-432: The graben and extends southward to a few kilometers from the Saguenay River north of Chicoutimi. These Middle Ordovician sedimentary rocks consist of sandstones , micritic limestones and highly fossiliferous , alternating beds of limestones and shales. These rocks have been preferentially eroded by repeated glaciations exhuming the Saguenay Graben. The Saguenay Graben that undelies Lac Saint-Jean Lowlands has controlled

2365-461: The inland ports of the Great Lakes Waterway . The river has been called a variety of names by local First Nations . Beginning in the 16th century, French explorers visited what is now Canada and gave the river names such as the Grand fleuve de Hochelaga and the Grande rivière du Canada , where fleuve and rivière are two French words ( fleuve being a river that flows into the sea). The river's present name has been used since 1604 when it

2420-429: The land, including lumbering and assisting in the production of pulp and paper . The bedrock of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region consists largely of Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks. They are mostly composed of high-grade metamorphic rocks, amphibolite to granulite gneiss , that are intruded by anorthosite , mangerite , charnockite , and granite plutonic rocks. The Lac Saint-Jean anorthosite

2475-489: The largest tributaries of the Great Lakes . The St. Lawrence River tributaries are listed upstream from the mouth. The major tributaries of the inter-lake sections are also shown, as well as the major rivers that flow into the Great Lakes. Great Lakes tributaries are listed in alphabetical order. The list includes all tributaries with a drainage area of at least 1,000 square kilometres and an average flow of more than 10 cubic metres per second. tributary The diversity of

2530-410: The limestone monoliths of the Mingan Archipelago . Long a transportation route to Indigenous peoples , the St. Lawrence River has played a key role in the history of Canada and in the development of cities such as Montreal and Quebec City . The river remains an important shipping route as the backbone of the St. Lawrence Seaway , a lock and canal system that enables world marine traffic to access

2585-399: The main route for European exploration of the North American interior, first pioneered by French explorer Samuel de Champlain . Control of the river was crucial to British strategy to capture New France in the Seven Years' War . Having captured Louisbourg in 1758, the British sailed up to Quebec the following year thanks to charts drawn up by James Cook . British troops were ferried via

2640-563: The river for 2 to 4 years before migrating to Lake Saint-Jean where it remains for most of its adult life. Then, at age 4 to 8, it will return to the river to spawn. While the Ashuapmushuan River has significantly contributed to salmon production for the lake, the salmon population has seen a sharp decline in the 1990s. Despite conservation measures, its status remains of concern. [REDACTED] Media related to Rivière Ashuapmushuan at Wikimedia Commons St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River ( French : Fleuve Saint-Laurent )

2695-412: The river) and Le Domaine-du-Roy Regional County Municipality (south side). The Ashuapmushuan River Basin is home to several archaeological sites that show that indigenous people occupied the area for thousands of years. European explorers and missionaries came in the 17th century. For instance, Charles Albanel used the river for his voyage to Hudson Bay in 1672. In 1685, French fur traders set up

2750-407: The virtually impassable Lachine Rapids , the St. Lawrence was once continuously navigable only as far as Montreal. Opened in 1825, the Lachine Canal was the first to allow ships to pass the rapids. An extensive system of canals and locks, known as the St. Lawrence Seaway , was officially opened on 26 June 1959 by Elizabeth II (representing Canada) and President Dwight D. Eisenhower (representing

2805-415: Was Jacques Cartier . At that time, the land along the river described as "about two leagues, a mountain as tall as a heap of wheat" was inhabited by the St. Lawrence Iroquoians . During Cartier's second voyage in 1535, because Cartier arrived in the estuary on Saint Lawrence 's feast day 10 August, he named it the Gulf of Saint Lawrence . The St. Lawrence River is today partly within the U.S. and as such

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2860-445: Was called Lake Chomonchouane by Laure on his maps of 1731 and 1732. Therefore, Normandin renamed the river to Chomontchouane . In 1917, the Commission de géographie officially adopted the modernized spelling of Chamouchouane . The Ashuapmushuan basin is part of the Central Laurentians in the natural region of the Lake Manouane Depression. The river is enclosed in narrow valleys for a large part of its course, with powerful rapids and

2915-438: Was named Piekuakami by the Innu , the Indigenous people who occupied the area at the time of European arrival. It was given its French name after Jean de Quen , a Jesuit missionary who in 1647 was the first European to reach its shores. Industry on the lake was dominated by the fur trade until the 19th century. Colonization began in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region in the early 19th century and continued intensively until

2970-428: Was not officially adopted until 1982, is an Innu word meaning "place where one lies in wait for moose". The river was however first called Necouba by Louis Jolliet in 1679. This name was also used by Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin and Guillaume Delisle in 1686 and 1703 respectively. But in 1732 surveyor Normandin considered this an error, who referred to the Necoubeau as a tributary to Lake Ashuapmushuan that

3025-410: Was recorded on a map by Samuel de Champlain Champlain opted for the names Grande riviere de sainct Laurens and Fleuve sainct Laurens in his writings, supplanting the earlier names. In contemporary French, the name is rendered as the fleuve Saint-Laurent . The name Saint-Laurent (Saint Lawrence) was originally applied to the eponymous bay by Jacques Cartier upon his arrival into the region on

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