The Gravel River (french: Rivière Gravel) is a river in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, to the north of the lower

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

. It is a tributary of the

Aux Rochers River Aux Rochers River (french: Rivière aux Rochers; Rocky River), is a river in Sept-Rivières Regional County Municipality, Côte-Nord, Quebec, Canada. It drains an area of . It is a tributary of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence Description The Aux Roche ...

in the Lac-Walker territory of

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past Tadous ...

Location

The Gravel River is in Lac-Walker, Sept-Rivières in the

region of Quebec. The name of the river, ''Rivière Gravel'', was made official by the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (English: ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicize Québec's place names and their origins according ...

on 25 February 1976. For most of its length the river flows south through the

Port-Cartier–Sept-Îles Wildlife Reserve The Port-Cartier-Sept-Îles Wildlife Reserve (french: Réserve faunique de Port-Cartier - Sept-Îles) is a wildlife reserve in the province of Quebec, Canada. Conservation The reserve was created in 1965, covering of boreal forest near the towns ...

. A map of the proposed

Lake Walker National Park Lake Walker National Park (french: Parc national du Lac Walker) is a proposed national park in the province of Quebec, Canada, centered on the long Lake Walker. Location The proposed park is in a region of taiga in the center of the Port-Cart ...

shows the river entering the park near Lake Goéland and flowing south with a meandering course to the north end of Lake Walker, roughly parallel with the

Schmon River The Schmon River (french: Rivière Schmon) is a river in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It flows south into Lake Walker. Location The Schmon River has its source in Lac au Vent and Lac aux Mouches. It flows south for a ...

Course

The Gravel is one of the main tributaries of the

, the others being the MacDonald,

Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named after ...

and Schmon. It drains a basin of . During deglaciation the ice in the Schmon and Gravel river valleys was probably slow to melt, then poured their water into Lake Walker. The high waters of this period were the source of much of the material in the

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

s of the river, although other material comes from erosion of the valley slopes, banks and bed. Within the proposed park, the river's valley flows north northeast-south southwest for about before entering Lake Walker. It has a trough-shaped cross-section. The valley has an irregular profile along its length, with some glacial locks, or riegels. Upstream of the locks are glacial umbilicals filled with glaciofluvial sediments. In the Lake Ulysse-Morin sector the river is fed by a series of parallel tributaries down to the point where it meets the Petite Gravel River, after which the valley broadens out and the river flows quietly, with many meanders. This is an area of great natural beauty.

Environment

A map of the

Ecological regions of Quebec The Ecological regions of Quebec are regions with specific types of vegetation and climates as defined by the Quebec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks. Given the size of this huge province, there is wide variation from the temperate deciduou ...

shows the river rising and flowing south through the eastern spruce/moss domain of the boreal zone.

Lakes

Some of the lakes in the Gravel River basin are:

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT: Rivers of Côte-Nord Sept-Rivières Regional County Municipality