The Rivière de la Somme is a

watercourse A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams are ...

flowing in the municipalities of

Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier () is a municipality in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada, located in the Jacques-Cartier River valley. It is home to the Canadian Forces Base Valcartier since World War I. History In 1647, Robert Giffar ...

and Shannon, in the

La Jacques-Cartier Regional County Municipality La Jacques-Cartier is a regional county municipality in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. The seat is in Shannon. It is named after the Jacques-Cartier River which runs through it and takes its source in its upper country. Subdiv ...

, in the administrative region of

Capitale-Nationale Capitale-Nationale (; en, National Capital region) is one of the 17 List of Quebec regions, administrative regions of Quebec. It is anchored by the provincial capital, Quebec City, and is largely coextensive with that city's Communauté métropol ...

, 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. Located in a forest environment, this river is part of the territory of the Duchesnay tourist resort. Forestry has been the dominant economic activity in this sector since XVIIIth. In XIXth the recreational-tourist activities were highlighted. The river is generally frozen from November to April; however, the period of safe circulation on the ice is usually from mid-December to the end of March. The water level of the river varies with the seasons and the precipitation.

Geography

The "Somme river" originates from Lac Noir (about 166 m in diameter; altitude: 479 m) in the municipality of

. This lake flows from the southeast, in a discharge flowing south over 312 m, to Lake Martin (length of about 400 m; altitude: 347 m), which is surrounded by a marshy area at the 'west and north. Its 0.65 km discharge flows south to Lake Grande Ligne (417 m long; altitude: 295 m) which the current crosses for 188 m.Atlas of Canada - Department of Natural Resources Canada - Rivière de la Somme - River data calculated from the dynamic application
/ref> The discharge of the latter flows over 1.1 km in swampy area, first 0.65 km to the west, then southwest to the discharge (0.65 km long) of Lake Biferno (located in Saint-Raymond-de-Portneuf), coming from the west. Then the river flows 4.2 km south in Shannon; then east, to a stream from the north, from

. The river continues south for 1.9 km in Shannon crossing a marshy area, until the outlet of the lakes: "à la voile", "étang long", Try, "on the Island" and Ravenna. Then the river continues south for 0.73 km to its mouth (altitude: 167 m) which flows into the Rivière aux Pins; this mouth is located 1.6 km north of the summit of

Mont Sorrel The Battle of Mont Sorrel (''Battle of Mount Sorrel'', ''Battle of Hill 62'') was a local operation in World War I by three divisions of the British Second Army and three divisions of the German 4th Army in the Ypres Salient, near Ypres, Bel ...

. This last river flows into lac Saint-Joseph.

Toponymy

This Quebec toponym originates from the river Somme which flows in the North-West of France in region

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost Regions of France, region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its Prefectu ...

. This French river crosses the two departments of

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Somme. This river gives its name to the department of Somme. The Quebec toponym "rivière de la Somme" is linked to the Quebec toponym

which evokes a mountain near

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

, in Belgium, where is occurred in the salient of Ypres a battle of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

between three divisions of the 2e British Army and three divisions of the IVth German Army, from June 2 to June 14, 1916. The toponym "Rivière de la Somme" was formalized on January 22, 1974, at the Place Names Bank of 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 ...

.Commission de toponymie du Québec - Bank of Place Names - Toponym: "Rivière de la Somme"
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somme, Rivière de la Rivers of Capitale-Nationale

Geography

Toponymy

See also

References