The Sydenham River is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...
in
Chatham-Kent
Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 104,316)[Lambton County
Lambton County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the north by Lake Huron, which is drained by the St. Clair River, the county's western border and part of the Canada-United States border. To the south is Lake Saint Cl ...]
and
Middlesex County in southwestern
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 ...
, Canada, flowing southwest from its source west of
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, Ontario and emptying into
Lake Saint Clair
Lake St. Clair (french: Lac Sainte-Claire) is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast da ...
.
[ The length of the river is and it drains a ]watershed
Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to:
Hydrology
* Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
* Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
of approximately . The river flows through the towns of Strathroy and Wallaceburg. It was named after Lord Sydenham
Charles Poulett Thomson, 1st Baron Sydenham, (13 September 1799 – 19 September 1841) was a British businessman, politician, diplomat and the first Governor General of the united Province of Canada. , governor of Canada from 1839 to 1841.
Unusual concretion
A concretion is a hard, compact mass of matter formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular ...
s, composed of calcite
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scra ...
, can be found near this river. These are known as "kettles" because they resemble the bottom of a large kettle
A kettle, sometimes called a tea kettle or teakettle, is a type of pot specialized for boiling water, commonly with a ''lid'', ''spout'', and ''handle'', or a small electric kitchen appliance of similar shape that functions in a self-contained ...
.
The river has been identified as a key biodiversity area.[
]
Fish species
Because this river flows through a large agricultural area, its waters collect silt and fertilizer runoff. In spite of this, the river provides habitat for 80 fish species and 34 species of freshwater mussel
Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, whic ...
s; these include:
;Nine mussel species considered as "endangered" nationally
* Mudpuppy mussel (''Simpsonaias ambigua'')
* Northern riffleshell (''Epioblasma torulosa rangiana'')
* Rayed bean (''Villosa fabalis'')
* Wavy-rayed lampmussel (''Lampsilis fasciola'')
* Snuffbox (''Epioblasma triquetra'')
* Round pigtoe (''Pleurobema sintoxia'')
* Kidneyshell (''Ptychobranchus fasciolaris'')
* Round hickorynut (''Obovaria subrotunda'')
* Rainbow mussel (''Villosa iris'')
;Two fish species and one turtle subspecies considered to be "threatened"
* Spotted gar (''Lepisosteus oculatus'')
* Eastern sand darter (''Ammocrypta pellucida'')
* Eastern spiny softshell turtle (''Trionyx spiniferus spiniferus'')
The Northern madtom (''Noturus stigmosus''), once found in the river, is considered to be "likely extirpated".[
]
See also
*List of Ontario rivers
This is the list of rivers which are in and flow through Ontario. The watershed list includes tributaries as well.
Dee River, flows between Three Mile Lake and Lake Rosseau.
List of rivers arranged by watershed Hudson Bay
Atlantic Ocean
...
References
External links
Sydenham River WatershedSydenham River Recovery TeamSaint Clair Conservation Region
{{coord, 42.58683, N, 82.22460, W, display=title
Lake St. Clair
Rivers of Chatham-Kent
Rivers of Lambton County
Rivers of Middlesex County, Ontario
Tributaries of Lake Erie