Talk:Columbia Icefield
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[edit] triple continental divide?
The following discussion is copied here from the talk pages of Leonard G. and RupertMillard.
Hiya. I don't know very much about geography, but I was wondering if the Columbia Icefield is actually atop a triple continental divide, as the continental divide article doesn't mention a watershed between the Hudson Bay and the Artic Ocean, I think because the Hudson Bay is really part of the Arctic Ocean. If you're sure, then I'll leave it, but I just wanted to double-check. Hope that's OK. RupertMillard (Talk) 20:17, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, this is a triple point, at least according to all the guides that I encountered through the region and the guidebooks. This is of course, dependant upon viewpoint. (Google Earth is especially informative in this respect.) Note that Hudson Bay has two oceanic connections - to the left, through the Gulf of Boothia and Prince Regent Inlet, thence left through Perry Sound and the Arctic Ocean, or to the right - through the Hudson Strait and the Labrador Sea to the Atlantic. Clearly, the latter is the far wider passage and would be considered the major path to the nearest ocean, the North Atlantic Ocean. There should be another triple point to the south along the Rocky Mountains, dividing Pacific, North Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico water flows. - Leonard G. 23:12, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
- I reordered the rivers and their destinations clockwise for clarity. The final copy:
- The Columbia River, Athabasca River, and the North Saskatchewan River, originate in the Columbia Icefield. As the icefield is atop a triple continental divide these waters flow ultimately west to the Pacific Ocean, north to the Arctic Ocean, and east to Hudson's Bay (and thence to the North Atlantic) respectively. Hudson's bay is in some major watershead divisions considered to be in the Arctic watershead, in which case this is arguably not a triple divide point.
- I think that's absolutely excellent. It reads well and pedants like me can't fault it. Thank you very much for your help. RupertMillard (Talk) 08:17, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
- The Columbia River, Athabasca River, and the North Saskatchewan River, originate in the Columbia Icefield. As the icefield is atop a triple continental divide these waters flow ultimately west to the Pacific Ocean, north to the Arctic Ocean, and east to Hudson's Bay (and thence to the North Atlantic) respectively. Hudson's bay is in some major watershead divisions considered to be in the Arctic watershead, in which case this is arguably not a triple divide point.
Just a sidenote to the original query: Hudson Bay is more or less part of the Atlantic via Frobisher and Davis Straits; its access to the Arctic Ocean is a lot less open and is more like a maze than a channel; in hard-definition terms it's an extension of the Atlantic; in real-world terms it's properly a "sea" like the Mediterranean, Black or Baltic. Still, in Glacier Park in Montana there's a triple divide between the Columbia, Hudson Bay (via the Oldman/Bow/S. Saskatchewan) and the Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic...there's another one in Wyoming involving the Colorado.Skookum1 19:05, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
