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The Cascapédia River is a river in the
Gaspé Peninsula The Gaspé Peninsula, also known as Gaspesia (; ), is a peninsula along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River that extends from the Matapedia Valley in Quebec, Canada, into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It is separated from New Brunswick ...
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 thirte ...
, Canada, which has its source at Lake Cascapedia, fed by streams of the
Chic-Choc Mountains The Chic-Choc Mountains, also spelled Shick Shocks, is a mountain range in the central region of the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec, Canada. It is a part of the Notre Dame Mountains, which is a continuation of the Appalachian Mountains. History Th ...
, and empties into Cascapedia Bay (''Baie de la Cascapédia''), a small bay of
Chaleur Bay frame, Satellite image of Chaleur Bay (NASA). Chaleur Bay is the large bay in the centre of the image; the Gaspé Peninsula is to the north and the Gulf of St. Lawrence is seen to the east.">Gulf_of_St._Lawrence.html" ;"title="Gaspé Peninsula ...
. The river is about long. At times, it is also called Grand Cascapédia River to differentiate it from the Little Cascapédia River which empties into the same bay just to the east. The Cascapedia is known for its
Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are ...
(''salmo salar'') fishing. With average catches of and a record catch of , caught in 1886, the river has long been recognized as one of Quebec's richest salmon rivers. Already back in 1835, surveyor Joseph Hamel noted the abundance of fish, including trout, salmon, carp, and whitefish. Several Governors General of Canada, including The Marquess of Lansdowne and Lord Stanley, had summer homes along this river. The river is accessible via Quebec Route 299 that follows the river's course for . Almost its entire course is protected in the Cascapedia River Wildlife Reserve (''réserve faunique de la Rivière-Cascapédia''), established in 1982. Its headwaters and Lake Cascapedia are within the Gaspésie National Park.


Etymology

Its name comes from the
Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the no ...
word ''gesgapegiag'', meaning "strong current" or "large river". It was first documented on a map by
Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin (1650-c.1712) was a French trader who was appointed in the early 1670s as the first cartographer in ''Nouvelle France'' (Canada) by the colony's governor. He was appointed in 1688 as royal hydrographer by Louis XIV. ...
in 1686 as ''Kichkabeguiak'', and appeared as ''Kaskabijack'' on a map of 1783. By 1863 Stanislas Drapeau used the current spelling.


Geography

The Cascapédia River is entirely undammed and wild, and no municipality is using it for its wastewater. Because its source is the Chic Choc Mountains that are largely made up of soluble
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
, its waters are rich in
carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate ...
s and low in
sulfate The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many ...
s and
chloride The chloride ion is the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. It is formed when the element chlorine (a halogen) gains an electron or when a compound such as hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water or other polar solvents. Chloride s ...
s, with a higher conductivity and
pH level In chemistry, pH (), historically denoting "potential of hydrogen" (or "power of hydrogen"), is a scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Acidic solutions (solutions with higher concentrations of ions) are me ...
than typical water of the
Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...
. The lack of agriculture and industry keep the river free from pollution. Its water is rated of the highest quality. The Cascapedia basin is also mostly undeveloped with less than under cultivation. Logging is more important: 8 percent of the basin area was harvested between 1988 and 1994.


Tributaries

The significant tributaries of the Cascapédia River are (in upstream order): * ''Ruisseau Blanc'' (White Creek) * ''Ruisseau de la Truite'' (Trout Creek) * Angers River ** ''Ruisseau Grand Nord'' (Large North Creek) ** Argument Creek * Josué Creek * Square Forks River * Berry Creek * ''Branche du Lac'' (Lake Branch) ** ''Ruisseau de l'Échouement'' (Stranding Creek) ** ''Ruisseau de Mineurs'' (Miners Creek) ** ''Ruisseau de l'Inlet'' (Inlet Creek) * Brandy Creek * Indian Creek * ''Ruisseau du Dix-Septième Mille'' (Seventeen Mile Creek) * ''Ruisseau aux Saumons'' (Salmon Creek)


See also

*
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 ...


References


External links


Cascapedia Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cascapedia River Rivers of Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Gaspé Peninsula