Lake Bermen (french: Lac Bermen, formerly known as ''Lac Allemand'') is a lake in the province of

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. The lake is on ancient rocks of the

Superior Province The Superior Craton is a stable fault block, crustal block covering Quebec, Ontario, and southeast Manitoba in Canada, and northern Minnesota in the United States. It is the biggest craton among those formed during the Archean period. A craton is ...

where gold mineralization has been found. It is named after

Claude de Bermen de la Martinière Claude de Bermen de la Martinière (30 May 1636 – 14 April 1719) was born in France and came to New France in 1662. Through marriage, he became the owner of a large seigneury and held a number of important positions throughout his time in Cana ...

(1636–1719), a senior official in

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

Location

The Lake Bermen region ( NTS 23F) is in the centre of the province of Quebec near the border with

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

. It is northwest of the town of

Fermont Fermont () is a town in northeastern Quebec, Canada, near the Quebec-Labrador border about from Labrador City on Route 389, which connects to the Trans-Labrador Highway (Newfoundland and Labrador Route 500). It is the seat of the Regional Cou ...

and south of the

Caniapiscau Reservoir The Caniapiscau Reservoir () is a reservoir on the upper Caniapiscau River in the Côte-Nord administrative region of the Canadian province of Quebec. It is the largest body of water in Quebec and the second largest reservoir in Canada. The C ...

. The region is accessible by float plane from Fermont or by helicopter from

Wabush Wabush is a small town in the western tip of Labrador, bordering Quebec, known for transportation and iron ore operations. Economy Wabush is the twin community of Labrador City. At its peak population in the late 1970s, the region had a population ...

airport in Labrador. There are less than two inhabitants per . Lake Bermen is in the unorganized territory of

Caniapiscau Caniapiscau () is a vast unorganized territory in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada, part of Caniapiscau Regional County Municipality. The territory is home to the huge Caniapiscau Reservoir, the largest body of water in Quebec. The res ...

in the

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 ...

region of Quebec.

Hydrography

Lake Bermen is long and wide, and has an area of . It is in a swampy area about southeast of Caniapiscau Reservoir. The lake is fed by several bodies of water further south, and drains to the north via lakes Rossignol and Guillemot to the

Caniapiscau River The Caniapiscau River (french: rivière Caniapiscau) is a tributary of the Koksoak River in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. In Cree the name of the river means ''rocky point''. Starting from Lac Sevestre ( south-west from Fermont) on the Canadian Shie ...

Climate

The lake is in the

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

zone. Average annual precipitation is , of which falls in the spring and summer. Mean annual temperature is , and ranges from in winter to in summer. There are on average 94 days without freezing each year, between June 10 and September 14.

Geology

The Lake Bermen area contains

Archean The Archean Eon ( , also spelled Archaean or Archæan) is the second of four geologic eons of Earth's history, representing the time from . The Archean was preceded by the Hadean Eon and followed by the Proterozoic. The Earth Earth ...

rocks of the southeastern end of the

. The region contains metamorphic rocks of

granulite Granulites are a class of high-grade metamorphic rocks of the granulite facies that have experienced high-temperature and moderate-pressure metamorphism. They are medium to coarse–grained and mainly composed of feldspars sometimes associated w ...

facies In geology, a facies ( , ; same pronunciation and spelling in the plural) is a body of rock with specified characteristics, which can be any observable attribute of rocks (such as their overall appearance, composition, or condition of formatio ...

and

pluton In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

ic rocks, mostly belonging to the south and north domains of the Ashuanipi Complex, with some belonging to the Caniapiscau Domain. The north and south Ashuanipi are separated by east-west oriented faults. The Ashuanipi complex consists of

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

rocks (ca 2.71 Ga) with early intrusions (ca 2.69 Ga) of

tonalite Tonalite is an igneous, plutonic ( intrusive) rock, of felsic composition, with phaneritic (coarse-grained) texture. Feldspar is present as plagioclase (typically oligoclase or andesine) with alkali feldspar making up less than 10% of the total ...

and

gabbro Gabbro () is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is che ...

. The rocks were deformed and metamorphosed before emplacement of syntectonic diatexites (ca 2.66-2.68 Ga). The diatexites could be the product of fusion of the paragneisses of the Opinaca Subprovince and some of the tonalities and mafic gneisses of the La Grande Subprovince. Later intrusions of

felsic In geology, felsic is a modifier describing igneous rocks that are relatively rich in elements that form feldspar and quartz.Marshak, Stephen, 2009, ''Essentials of Geology,'' W. W. Norton & Company, 3rd ed. It is contrasted with mafic rocks, whi ...

granitoid A granitoid is a generic term for a diverse category of coarse-grained igneous rocks that consist predominantly of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar. Granitoids range from plagioclase-rich tonalites to alkali-rich syenites and from quartz ...

s (ca 2.63-2.64 Ga) cut the diatexites and their surrounding gneisses. The region has promise as a source of minerals, and several gold mineralizations have been found. The most interesting mineralizations are associated with interbedded iron formations with

metavolcanic Metavolcanic rock is volcanic rock that shows signs of having experienced metamorphism. In other words, the rock was originally produced by a volcano, either as lava or tephra. The rock was then subjected to high pressure, high temperature or both ...

and

metasedimentary In geology, metasedimentary rock is a type of metamorphic rock. Such a rock was first formed through the deposition and solidification of sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and er ...

units.

Name

Lake Bermen was renamed in 1945 after

(1636–1719), a noble from

Perche Perche () (French: ''le Perche'') is a former province of France, known historically for its forests and, for the past two centuries, for the Percheron draft horse breed. Until the French Revolution, Perche was bounded by four ancient territorie ...

, France and a relative of

Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, GE (16 January 16752 March 1755), was a French soldier, diplomat, and memoirist. He was born in Paris at the Hôtel Selvois, 6 rue Taranne (demolished in 1876 to make way for the Boulevard Saint-Germain). T ...

(1675–1755). Bermen came to

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

in 1662, and served as a seigneurial judge in Beauport and on

Île d'Orléans Île d'Orléans (; en, Island of Orleans) is an island located in the Saint Lawrence River about east of downtown Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was one of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, and a large percentage ...

. In 1678 he became a member of the

Sovereign Council of New France The Sovereign Council (french: Conseil souverain) was a governing body in New France. It served as both Supreme Court for the colony of New France, as well as a policy-making body, though this latter role diminished over time. The council, though ...

. He owned the seigneury of Lauzon for several years, and in 1692 acquired the neighboring seigneury of La Martinière. Bermen became Keeper of the Seals of the council in 1700, and Lieutenant General of the ''

Prévôt A ''prévôt'' () was a governmental position of varying importance in Ancien Régime France, typically referring to a civil officer, magistrate, head of cathedral or church, often anglicised as ''provost''. A unit of justice or court overseen by a ...

é'' of Québec in 1703. In 1710, despite opposition from the ''

intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

Jacques Raudot Jacques Raudot (1638 - 20 February 1728, Paris) was the co-Intendant of New France between 1705 and 1710 with his son Antoine-Denis Raudot. In 1709 Raudot issued an ordinance to clarify whether individuals could legally own slaves, in New Franc ...

, he became the first member of the Conseil Supérieur. In 1714 the ''intendant''

Michel Bégon de la Picardière Michel Bégon de la Picardière (21 March 1667 – 18 January 1747)R. M. Dipanda. Black Race, Who Are You?: Great Black Race Chronoholocaust Cataclysm'. Xlibris US; 28 January 2018. . p. 458–. was an early administrator in charge of the French ...

delegated his powers to him.

Notes

Sources

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