The rivière au Tonnerre (''English: Thunder River'') is a watercourse that runs through the municipality of
Rivière-au-Tonnerre, Quebec
Rivière-au-Tonnerre is a municipality in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec in Canada.
In addition to Riviere-au-Tonnerre itself, the communities within the municipality include Rivière-Pigou, Rivière-aux-Graines, and Sheldrake, ...
in the
Minganie Regional County Municipality
Minganie is a regional county municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It includes Anticosti Island. Its seat is Havre-Saint-Pierre.
It has an area of according to Quebec's ''Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et ...
(RCM), 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 ...
administrative region, 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 ...
, in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
The course of the river crosses the township of Margane, then constitutes the boundary between the townships of Margane and Touzel until the confluence of the river with the North shore of the
Gulf of Saint Lawrence
, image = Baie de la Tour.jpg
, alt =
, caption = Gulf of St. Lawrence from Anticosti National Park, Quebec
, image_bathymetry = Golfe Saint-Laurent Depths fr.svg
, alt_bathymetry = Bathymetry ...
.
Location
The river flows south for from a mountainous area west of
Lake Magpie.
It has many rapids in its headwaters.
The Chute au Tonnerre (Thunder Falls) is upstream from the mouth.
The mouth of the river is located in the municipality of
Rivière-au-Tonnerre in the Minganie Regional County Municipality.
The widening at the mouth, which is halfway between Sept-Îles and Havre-Saint-Pierre, forms a natural harbor for small craft that is accessed from the sea through a narrow channel.
The community of Rivière-au-Tonnerre is on both sides of the river mouth, which is crossed by
Quebec Route 138
Route 138 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Quebec, following the entire north shore of the Saint Lawrence River past Montreal to the temporary eastern terminus in Kegashka on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The western terminus is in ...
.
The southern portion of the "Tonnerre River" hydrographic slope is served by Route 138 along the north shore of the
Gulf of Saint Lawrence
, image = Baie de la Tour.jpg
, alt =
, caption = Gulf of St. Lawrence from Anticosti National Park, Quebec
, image_bathymetry = Golfe Saint-Laurent Depths fr.svg
, alt_bathymetry = Bathymetry ...
. The R0902 forest road (going north-west) serves the western part of this slope.
The surface of the "Thunder River" is usually frozen from early November to the end of April, however, safe ice circulation is generally from late November to mid-April.
Description
The ''Dictionnaire des rivières et lacs de la province de Québec'' (1914) describes the river as,
Name
The
Innu call the river ''U`suk `Sipo'', meaning
red-breasted merganser
The red-breasted merganser (''Mergus serrator'') is a diving duck, one of the sawbills. The genus name is a Latin word used by Pliny and other Roman authors to refer to an unspecified waterbird, and ''serrator'' is a sawyer from Latin ''serra' ...
(''Mergus serrator''), a common bird species on the North Shore.
This is spelled "Ouchigouchipi" in the maps by
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin
Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703 – 21 March 1772) was a French hydrographer, geographer, and member of the French intellectual group called the philosophes.
Bellin was born in Paris. He was hydrographer of France's hydrographic office, member of t ...
(1744) and
Robert de Vaugondy (1755).
In his 1776 map Captain Carver writes the name as "Ouchigoush-ipi".
The spelling "Uhukuhîpu" has also been used by anthropologists.
The name "Thunder R." appears on the 1853 map by Bouchette fils, and as "R. au Tonnere" on the maps by Taché (1870 and 1880).
Basin
The river basin covers .
It lies between the basins of the
Sheldrake to the west and the
Jupitagon to the east.
Part of the basin is in the unorganized territory of
Lac-Jérôme and part in the municipality of Rivière-au-Tonnerre.
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 basin is in sub-regions 6j-S, 6j-T and 6m-T of the east spruce/moss subdomain.
See also
*
Rivière-au-Tonnerre, Quebec
Rivière-au-Tonnerre is a municipality in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec in Canada.
In addition to Riviere-au-Tonnerre itself, the communities within the municipality include Rivière-Pigou, Rivière-aux-Graines, and Sheldrake, ...
,
*
Minganie Regional County Municipality
Minganie is a regional county municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It includes Anticosti Island. Its seat is Havre-Saint-Pierre.
It has an area of according to Quebec's ''Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et ...
(RCM)
*
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 ...
, administrative region
*
List of rivers of Quebec
This is a list of rivers of Quebec. Quebec has about:
*one million lakes of which 62279 have a toponymic designation (a name), plus 218 artificial lakes;
*15228 watercourses with an official toponymic designation, including 12094 streams and 3134 ...
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
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{{authority control
Rivers of Côte-Nord
Minganie Regional County Municipality
Tonnerre