Lake Timiskaming or Lake Temiskaming (french: Lac Témiscamingue) is a large freshwater

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

on the provincial boundary between

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and

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, which forms part of the Ottawa River, is in length and covers an area of almost . Its water level ranges between and above

sea-level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised ...

, with a mean annual average of . The lake is in places up to deep. There are several islands on the lake, notably Mann and du Collège Islands. The name is from the

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

''Temikami'' or ''Temikaming'', meaning "deep body of water with rapid winds” There are 30 species of fish in Lake Timiskaming, the best known are

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a p ...

, sturgeon,

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

, smallmouth bass, bullhead, carp,

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota'') is the only gadiform (cod-like) freshwater fish. It is also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, and eelpout. The species is closel ...

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...

, and whitefish. The lake was shaped during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

when

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

s carved into the rock. It is also the remnants of a huge basin called

Lake Ojibway Lake Ojibway was a prehistoric lake in what is now northern Ontario and Quebec in Canada. Ojibway was the last of the great proglacial lakes of the last ice age. Comparable in size to Lake Agassiz (to which it was likely linked), and north of the ...

, which existed about 9,500 years ago. Between 1976 and 1981 the DuPagne Classic fishing tourney took place at Wells Rock (David's tobogganing hill). For the trading post and some history see Fort Témiscamingue.

Timiskaming Graben

Lake Timiskaming is located within an ancient major

rift valley A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear d ...

that extends several hundred miles to the north-east called the Timiskaming Graben. It is the northern extension of the

Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben The Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben (also known as the Ottawa Graben) is a geological structure that coincides with a wide topographic depression extending from near Montréal through Ottawa. It is part of the Saint Lawrence rift system that also inclu ...

, which is part of the Saint Lawrence rift system. There have been recent

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

s along the rift valley, the most recent being in 2000. There are numerous faults in the area and has produced

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

s such as

Devil's Rock Devil's Rock (also known as Devils Rock; Anishinaabe: Mani-doo Aja-bikong or Manidoo Wabikong) is a granite escarpment located south of Temiskaming Shores, Ontario, Canada. The cliffs rise above Lake Timiskaming and extend nearly as far underw ...

, just south of Haileybury and is dated to be 2.2 billion years old. There are known kimberlite pipes within the rift valley that are considered to be

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

iferous.

References

External links

*
Description on Notre-Dame-du-Nord municipal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timiskaming Lakes of Abitibi-Témiscamingue Lakes of Timiskaming District Lakes of Nipissing District Valleys of Ontario Valleys of Quebec Borders of Ontario Borders of Quebec

Timiskaming Graben

See also

References

External links