Manicouagan Reservoir
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Manicouagan Reservoir | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Quebec |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Lake type | natural lake, annular lake, reservoir, impact crater lake |
| Primary outflows | Manicouagan River |
| Basin countries | Canada |
| Surface area | 1,942 km² |
| Surface elevation | 342 m to 359 m (Dates: 1980 to 2005) |
| Islands | René-Levasseur Island |
Manicouagan Reservoir (also Lake Manicouagan) is an annular lake in central Quebec, Canada. The lake covers an area of 1,942 km², and its eastern shore is accessible via Route 389. The island in the centre of the lake is known as René-Levasseur Island, and its highest point is Mount Babel. The lake and island are clearly seen from space and are sometimes called the "eye of Quebec." In 2007, the Manicouagan lake was astronaut Marc Garneau's nomination for the CBC's Seven Wonders of Canada competition.
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[edit] Manicouagan impact crater
Manicouagan Reservoir lies within the remnant of an ancient eroded impact crater (astrobleme). The crater was formed following the impact of a 5 kilometres (3 miles) diameter asteroid which excavated a crater originally about 100 km (62 mi) wide although erosion and deposition of sediments have since reduced the visible diameter to about 72 km (45 mi). It is the fifth largest impact crater known on earth[1]. Mount Babel is interpreted as the central peak of the crater.
Recent research has shown that impact melt within the crater has an age of 214 ± 1 Ma. As this is 12 ± 2 million years before the end of the Triassic, the crater cannot be the cause of the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event.
[edit] Hydroelectric project
The lake was enlarged by flooding from the massive Manicouagan or Manic (Manic 1, Manic 2...) series of hydroelectric projects undertaken by Hydro-Québec, the provincial electrical utility, during the 1960s. The complex of dams is also called the Manic-Outardes project because the rivers involved are the Manicouagan and the Outardes.
The Manicouagan lake acts as a giant hydraulic battery for Hydro-Québec. In the peak period of the winter cold, the lake surface is usually lower since the turbines are run all the time at peak load to meet the massive electrical heating needs of the province. The surface of the lake also experiences low levels in the extreme periods of heat in New England during the summer, since in that period Hydro-Québec sells electrical energy to the joint New England grid and individual utilities in the United States.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Hodych, J. P.; G. R. Dunning (1992). "Did the Manicougan impact trigger end-of-Triassic mass extinction?". Geology 20: pp. 51.54.
