Nicolet River
The Nicolet River (French: Rivière Nicolet) is a river in Quebec, Canada. It is a tributary of the Saint Lawrence River on its southern shore and flows into Lake Saint Pierre. It is named in honor of the pioneer Jean Nicolet.
Nicolet River | |
---|---|
![]() Nicolet River in Kingsey Falls | |
![]() ![]() | |
Native name | Rivière Nicolet |
Location | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Quebec |
Region | Centre-du-Québec |
MRC | Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Lake Nicolet |
• location | Saints-Martyrs-Canadiens |
• coordinates | 45°49′19″N 71°35′33″W |
• elevation | 350 metres (1,150 ft) |
Mouth | Lake Saint Pierre |
• location | Nicolet |
• coordinates | 46°15′09″N 72°39′09″W --> |
• elevation | 5 metres (16 ft) |
Length | 137 km (85 mi) |
Basin size | 3,380 km2 (1,310 sq mi) |
Basin features | |
Progression | St. Lawrence River |
River system | Saint Lawrence River |
Tributaries | |
• left | (upstream) chenal de la Ferme, cours d'eau André-Roy, Nicolet Southwest River, cours d'eau Roland-Pinard; ruisseaux: Maurice-Vincent, Houle, du Onzième, Martin, rivière des Rosiers, ruisseau Gosselin, ruisseau Noir, cours d'eau Nolin, ruisseau Morin, ruisseau Turgeon, décharge du lac à la Truite. |
• right | (upstream) ruisseaux: Bellerose, Yves-Proulx, de la Concession du Petit-Saint-Esprit, Siméon-Provencher, Horion, J.-B.-Provencher, Maurice-Turmel, Alfred-Lemire, Grondin-Comeau, Douglas, Camirand, Lepitre, Saint-Onge, Dubuc, Bulstrode River; ruisseaux: l'Abbé, Faucher, Taillon, Gosselin River; ruisseaux: Roux, des Roux, Brooks River, Dumont River, cours d'eau Lafontaine, cours d'eau Hamel; ruisseau des Aulnes, ruisseau de la Fromagerie, ruisseau Moras, ruisseau Girard, rivière des Vases, ruisseau Couture, ruisseau de l'Aunière. |
It has several tributaries including the River Bulstrode and the Nicolet River Southwest. Its watershed is mainly in the Centre-du-Québec region although the Southwest Nicolet rises in Estrie. The city of Nicolet is near its mouth on the lake Saint-Pierre which is crossed to the northwest by the St. Lawrence River.
Geography
Hydrology
![](../I/Rivi%C3%A8re_Nicolet_Sud-Ouest.jpg.webp)
The Nicolet River begins its course from 137 kilometres (85 mi) at an altitude of approximately 350 metres (1,150 ft) in lake Nicolet, at Saints-Martyrs-Canadiens.[1] It then flows in a northwesterly direction to Nicolet where it flows into lac Saint-Pierre.[1]
Its watershed has an area of 3,380 kilometres (2,100.23 mi).[1] Its modulus is 79 cubic metres per second (2,800 cu ft/s).[2] Its main tributaries are, from upstream to downstream, the rivers des Vases, des Pins, des Rosiers, Bulstrode and Nicolet Southwest.[2] The latter, which joins the Nicolet at 5 kilometres (3.1 mi), drains half of the basin.[1] The basin includes 40 lakes,[2] the most important of which are lake Nicolet (401 hectares (990 acres)), les Trois Lacs (Les Sources) (225 hectares (560 acres)) and the Beaudet reservoir (88 hectares (220 acres)).[1]
Geology
![](../I/Rivi%C3%A8re_Nicolet_Sainte-Monique.JPG.webp)
The part upstream of Saint-Léonard-d'Aston is part of the Appalaches. The subsoil is composed of sedimentary rocks folded and metamorphosed (shale, slate and sandstone), volcanic rocks (basalt) and ultramafic rocks (Serpentine and asbestos).[3] As for the section downstream from Saint-Léonard-d'Aston, it is composed of sedimentary rocks (schist, dolomite, limestone, sandstone) in horizontal strata of the St. Lawrence Lowlands.[3]
The unconsolidated deposits of the Quaternary of the St. Lawrence Lowlands are composed of clay, sand and gravel from the retreat of the Champlain Sea and peatlands.[3] The Appalachian sector is composed of tills from the retreat of the glaciers and fluvioglacial deposits composed of sand and gravel.[3]
Population
The basin was inhabited by 96665 inhabitants in 2003.[4] The territory is included in 37 municipalities. The main towns in the basin are Victoriaville (39799 inhabitants), Nicolet (7963 inhabitants) and Asbestos (6627 inhabitants).[4]
Toponymy
![](../I/Suzor-Cote_-_Riviere_Nicolet_Arthabaska.jpg.webp)
The river was initially baptized Rivière Du Pont by Samuel de Champlain in 1609 to honor his friend François Gravé, sieur du Pont.[5] It also bore the name of Gast river, in honor of Pierre Dugua de Mons (general of New France) and Monet River, in honor of Pierre Monet, sieur de Moras.[5] As for its current name, it owes it to the explorer Jean Nicolet.[5] They also bore the name of the first lords of Nicolet, namely Laubia and Cressé.[5] The Abenakis call it Pithiganitekw, which means 'river of the entrance', due to the fact that it flows near the outlet of lake Saint-Pierre.[5]
The toponym "rivière Nicolet" was made official on December 5, 1968 at the Commission de toponymie du Québec.[6]
See also
Further reading
Carline Ghazal, Sonia Dumoulin and Marie-Christine Lussier, "Portrait de l'environnement du bassin versant de la rivière Nicolet", Corporation de gestion des rivières des Bois-Francs, 2006, 173 p. (ISBN 978-2-9809436-0-7) Read online (in French)
References
- (Ghazal, Dumoulin & Lussier 2006, p. 20)
- "COPERNIC - Its watershed". Corporation pour la promotion de l’environnement de la rivière Nicolet (Corporation for the Promotion of the Environment of the Nicolet River). Retrieved 2011-03-03.
- (Ghazal, Dumoulin & Lussier 2006, p. 24)
- (Ghazal, Dumoulin & Lussier 2006, pp. 74–77)
- Government of Quebec. [htt://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/ToposWeb/fiche.aspx?no_seq=44055 "Rivière Nicolet"]. Commission de toponymy. Bank of place names in Quebec. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
- Commission de toponymie du Québec - Place name bank - Toponym: "Rivière Nicolet".