Clearwater Lakes

Clearwater Lakes
Lac Wiyâshâkimî
Clearwater Lakes as seen from a Space Shuttle (North is top right)
Clearwater Lakes Lac Wiyâshâkimî is located in Quebec
Clearwater Lakes Lac Wiyâshâkimî
Clearwater Lakes
Lac Wiyâshâkimî
LocationBaie-d'Hudson, Kativik, Quebec
Coordinates56°08′N 74°18′W / 56.133°N 74.300°W / 56.133; -74.300
TypeImpact crater lake
Primary outflowsClearwater River
Basin countriesCanada
Surface area1,383 km2 (534 sq mi) [1]
Max. depth178 m (584 ft) [2]
Surface elevation241 m (791 ft) [1]
Clearwater Lakes, 2013 image by NASA Earth Observatory

The Lac Wiyâshâkimî (the official name, in French, formerly Lac à l'Eau Claire, a calque of the lake's name, Wiyâšâkamî, in Northern East Cree, changed form of wâšâkamî or wâšekamî in more southerly Cree dialects),[citation needed] also called the Clearwater Lakes in English and Allait Qasigialingat by the Inuit,[3][a] are a pair of annular lakes and impact structures on the Canadian Shield in Quebec, Canada, near Hudson Bay.

The lakes are actually a single body of water with a sprinkling of islands forming a "dotted line" between the eastern and western parts. Its name in Cree is due to the clear water it holds. There are actually 25 lakes with names that mean "Clearwater Lake" in the province (26 if the Petit lac à l'Eau Claire—the Small Clearwater Lake—is included). Collectively, this body of water is the largest, northernmost and the second-largest natural lake in Quebec after Lake Mistassini.[2]

In 1896, the explorer and geologist Albert Peter Low, a member of the Geological Survey of Canada, provided a probable explanation for the lakes' descriptive Cree name by highlighting the extraordinary clarity and depth of their icy waters.[3]

  1. ^ a b Statistics Canada > summary tables > Principal lakes, elevation and area, by provinces and territories Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference pmp was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c "Lac à l'Eau Claire". Commission de Toponymie Québec (in French). Gouvernement du Québec. 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2023.


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