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The four corners is a quadripoint near 60° N 102° W where four Canadian provinces or territories meet. These are the provinces of
The four corners is a quadripoint near 60° N 102° W where four Canadian provinces or territories meet. These are the provinces of Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
and Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
and the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. It came into being with the creation of Nunavut on April 1, 1999.
Geography
The four corners area is located between Kasba Lake to the north and Hasbala Lake to the south. It is located by an area of marginaltaiga
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruc ...
forest, which happens to be the only place in Nunavut which is not Arctic tundra
In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...
or ice cap. It is hundreds of kilometres from any road or railway, but can be accessed from nearby Kasba Lake Airport/Water Aerodrome
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publi ...
as well as from Points North Landing
Points North Landing is a camp settlement in northeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is 355 kilometres north-east of La Ronge, on Highway 905 and has an airport and a water aerodrome, with almost daily flights provided by West Wind Aviation and ...
near Wollaston Lake
Wollaston Lake is a lake in north-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is northeast of Prince Albert. With a surface area of (excluding islands; if islands are included), it is the largest bifurcation lake in the world – that is, a lake th ...
.
During the winter of 1961–1962 (37 years prior the formation of Nunavut), a survey crew led by Lionel E. Boutiler installed 85 survey monuments along the northernmost section of the Saskatchewan–Manitoba border. The crew worked from south to north along the Second Meridian as defined in the system of Dominion Land Surveys. The final monument, designated 157, officially marked the intersection of the boundaries of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. Unlike the standard survey monuments along the provincial and territorial borders, Monument 157 is an aluminum obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
that stands about one metre tall. Photos can be seen in the original survey report. On the top of the monument is a cap that states "5 years imprisonment for removal".
The exact location of Monument 157 (measured with modern GPS technologies) is (NAD83
The North American Datum (NAD) is the horizontal datum now used to define the geodetic network in North America. A datum is a formal description of the shape of the Earth along with an "anchor" point for the coordinate system. In surveying, ...
). This places it roughly 421 metres west of 102° W and roughly 63 metres south of 60°N. Elevation is 347.9 metres.
The establishment of Nunavut in 1999 led to the creation of Canada's only quadripoint. In the legal definition of Nunavut, its border is specified as "Commencing at the intersection of 60° 00′ N latitude with 102° 00′ W longitude, being the intersection of the Manitoba, Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan borders". Since the intersection does not lie exactly at those coordinates, the laws left a legal ambiguity regarding the exact commencement point of the boundary.
In 2014 the Survey General Branch of Natural Resources Canada acknowledged there was a problem with the legal boundary definition; it decided that the boundary should commence at Monument 157.
Specifically it decided that the first leg of the boundary should be a 472 km geodesic line running from Monument 157 to the first turning point at 64°14′N 102°00′W(NAD27).
This decision confirmed that in the eyes of Natural Resources Canada, the two territories and two provinces do indeed meet at a quadripoint.
In September of 2014 the federal government paid for an official survey of the 472 km line. The survey crew, following instructions from the SGB installed 48 new Canada Lands survey monuments along the geodesic line. As of 2021, the ambiguous legislation has not been repealed or updated to acknowledge the existence of the surveyed boundary, but based on legal precedent from the Dominion Land Survey, the surveyed boundary legally prevails over the description of the boundary in the original legislation.
Gallery
See also
*Geography of Canada
Canada has a vast geography that occupies much of the continent of North America, sharing a land border with the contiguous United States to the south and the U.S. state of Alaska to the northwest. Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in th ...
* List of regions of Canada
The list of regions of Canada is a summary of geographical areas on a hierarchy that ranges from national (groups of provinces and territories) at the top to local regions and sub-regions of provinces at the bottom. Administrative regions that ran ...
* Four Corners Monument
The Four Corners Monument marks the quadripoint in the Southwestern United States where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. It is the only point in the United States shared by four states, leading to the area being na ...
, a surveyed quadripoint in the United States which also has a monument.
References
External links
{{Use mdy dates, date=May 2013 Geography of Canada Borders of Nunavut Borders of the Northwest Territories Borders of Saskatchewan Borders of Manitoba Quadripoints and higher