Geography of Quebec

The Quebec occupies a dominant position in the east of the North-American continent . Of a surface of 1667441 km ², it is roughly of the same size of the Iran, the 18th country more extended to the world, three times larger than the France metropolitan, or five times larger than the Japan, which occupies 12% of its total surface area. Not less than one half-million Lake S.

Geology

Quebec has a basement rich in minerals. Rocks Précambrien born from the Canadian Bouclier form more than 90% of the territory. This immense plate form almost the totality of the Québécois territory in the north of the River the St. Lawrence, except for a thin band of territory at the northern end, the low-grounds of the Arctic which girdle the Hudson Bay.

Half of the dozen geological provinces of the Canadian Shield are represented in Québécois geology. There is initially the province of the Superior , whose dating makes go up its creation with the higher Archéen (from 2,5 to 2,85 billion years). This area of a surface of 2000000 km ², including 600000 km ² in Quebec, is re-elected for its layers of Cuivre, of Nickel, Fer and of Argent along Faille S or of discordances, Michel Hocq and Pierre Verpaelst write, in a Monographie devoted to the Québécois geology published by the government of Quebec in 1994.

The youngest province Precambrian, known as of Grenville - name of a municipality of the Laurentides, in the south-west of Quebec -, came to be added to the core of the North-American Craton there is a billion years. Grenville crosses Quebec of the North-East to south-west and continues until the south-east of the the United States. This area, which extends on 600000 km ² in Quebec, is recognized for its industrial mineral, iron-titanium layers like the Silice, the Graphite, the Silicate S of Alumine and its stones of size, of which the Granite. One finds sedimentary rocks Paléozoïque S in the south of the river, which form an arc of circle finishing with imposing the peninsula gaspésienne, and constitute a link of the the Appalachian Mountains, which extends on more than 2500 km, of Newfoundland to the Alabama.

The Appalachian Mountains were formed during three orogenetic phases - orogeneses taconienne , acadian and alléghanienne -, over one period of approximately 200 million years, of the Cambrien to the Dévonien. They result from the fracturing from supercontinent Gondwana, along a great zone of fracture or Rift which gave rise to the Océan Iapetus, at the end of the Protérozoïque. In the east the mounts Knack-Shocks occupy the major part of Gaspésie; its culminating point is the Mont Jacques-Cartier (1268 m). In the south, the Gosford mount, located close to the American border, rises to 1192 m, the platform of the St. Lawrence, whose lowlands were made of Sédiment S brought as recently as at the end of the Glaciation Wisconsin ienne, there is less than 20000 years. It extends from Gatineau to Malbaie and until the Logan fault, in a trajectory in arc which goes from the Lac Champlain to the Île in Coudres, while passing by Saint-Hyacinthe and Quebec.

This narrow strip of land - which saw being born and growing the News-France, with - form a Plaine favourable with the Agriculture. A series of Hill S of origin plutonic, the Collines montérégiennes made their appearance with the Crétacé. Aligned on a East-West axis going from Oka to Mégantic, these hills are the result of Intrusion S of magma S S.

Hydrography

The rivers of Quebec probably constitute one of its more important richnesses and are a fundamental characteristic of the Paysage S Québécois. It counts 430 basins major slopes - including 100 of a surface higher than 4000 km ² -, which concern four hydrographic great systems: the St. Lawrence, the James bay, Hudson Bay and the bay of Ungava, and one of 15 more important in the world by its length and extent of its catchment area.

It takes its source in the Big lakes, leads to a vast estuary, the Golfe of the St. Lawrence, for finally throwing itself in the Atlantique. 1,200 km length since the Lake Ontario to the Island of Anticosti, it is one of the greatest inland waterways of the world and the river main axe of the continent of North America.

The river narrows initially with Quebec then navigation is made difficult by the Rapides of Lachine. The construction of the Channel Lachine at the 19th century, then that of the Sea route of the St. Lawrence between 1952 and 1959 made it possible to allow cities like Duluth (Minnesota) and Thunder Bay (Ontario) to have one access to the ocean Atlantique.

Of west in is, its principal Affluent S Québécois are the rivers of Outaouais, Richelieu, Saint-Maurice, Chaudière, Saint-François, and Manicouagan. The Lake Midsummer's Day, from a surface of 1041 km ², twice that of the Île of Montreal feeds the Saguenay, which is thrown in the St. Lawrence with Tadoussac.

With the North-of-Quebec, the basins of the Large River, River Rupert and Grande river of the Whale are particularly known for their potential Hydroélectrique and gigantic the tank S created during the construction of the two phases of the Projet of the Bay-James. The Lake Mistassini and the Lake with Water Claire, both plus natural big lakes of Quebec, feed the Arctic Ocean.

Climate

Four Saison S very contrasted follow one another Quebec, including one Printemps soft and short and a Automne fresh and coloured. The most marked seasons remain the be and the Hiver. The summers are hot and often very wet S. the winters is Froid S, rather long and Neige ux, and very wet them too. These seasons are very contrasted, the temperatures being able to sometimes reach the 35 [[degree Celsius °C]] in summer, and to go down sometimes under the bar from the -40 °C in winter.

The period of snowing up lasts one approximately four months (in the south, with Montreal) in six months (in north, with Radisson). The quantity of snow fallen for this period with Seven-Islands (412 cm), Quebec (312 cm) or in Montreal (217.5 cm) is nevertheless higher than that of a Scandinavian city like Helsinki, which is located at the 60e parallèleMoscow, or Oslo -->.

In general, it is the wind which cools the temperatures more and causes sometimes powder mill (very fine snow carried by the wind). The cities of the peninsula gaspésienne as well as the coastal towns of the Coast-North benefit from the moderating effect of the ocean on the extreme temperatures and enjoy one winter a little softer and a fresher summer.

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