Schmon River

The Schmon River has its source in Lac au Vent and Lac aux Mouches. It flows south for almost 90 kilometres (56 mi) to Lake Walker.[1] Its mouth is at an elevation of 117 metres (384 ft).[2] For most of its length it flows through the Port-Cartier–Sept-Îles Wildlife Reserve.[1] The lower section meanders through the proposed Lake Walker National Park.[3] The Schmon river flows through land that is mostly covered in coniferous forests.[4]

The river was called Rivière aux Rochers Nord-Ouest until 1975, when it was renamed in honor of Arthur A. Schmon (1895–1964) of Newark, New Jersey, a leading figure in the paper industry.[1] The river flows through Lake Schmon close to its source.[5]

The Schmon River is one of the main tributaries of Lake Walker. Its watershed covers 928.2 square kilometres (358.4 sq mi), and rises over 79 kilometres (49 mi) upstream from the lake. Originally the valley was V-shaped, but the glacial tongues that occupied it several times during the Quaternary transformed it into a well-defined trough.[6] Along its length the Schmon river valley shows a series of glacial barriers and accumulation basins. For example, the valley broadens out to the south of the Saint-Joseph Creek to more than double its width lower down.[7]

In the last 20 kilometres (12 mi) of its length the river has several areas of past of present meanders. The glacial meltwater transported and deposited glaciofluvial sediments in this valley. These sediments were taken up, eroded and then transported downstream by deltaic and fluvial processes. The land on either side of the river has high terraces above the river, below which are progressively lower alluvial terraces.[7]

The region is in the Köppen climate classification's boreal climate zone.[8] A map of the Ecological regions of Quebec shows the river rising and flowing south through the eastern spruce/moss domain of the boreal zone.[9] The average annual temperature is −1 °C (30 °F). The warmest month is July, with the average temperature of 14 °C (57 °F), and the coldest is February with an average of −16 °C (3 °F).[10]