Nelson River, Canada
Published: July 2, 2007, 3:07 pm
Updated: July 2, 2007, 3:07 pm
This article has been reviewed by the following Topic Editor:
Langdon D. Clough General Description
The Nelson river travels 644 km northward from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson Bay. Its total drainage area covers over 800 000 sq. kilometers (km) and it discharges 110 cubic km annually. It provides an outlet for the great Saskatchewan river system from Lake Winnipeg, with the two systems together (including the Bow River) traveling 2600 km and draining 1.2 million sq. km of land.
The Nelson's upper reaches are largely made up of interconnecting lakes (such as Cross Lake and Sipiwesk Lake) connected by falls and rapids. This irregular upper section does not have a defined river valley. After Split Lake, the Nelson is joined by the Grass and Burntwood tributaries and flows northeast across a flat forested lowland to the Hudson Bay.
History
The first European to explore the Nelson was Sir Thomas Button in 1612. The river was of great importance to the Hudson Bay Trading Company as a transport route. The Company established Fort Nelson at the river mouth in 1682 and York Factory a few kilometers south in 1684. The fur canoes were the only European vessels traveling the river until the 19th century, at which point the supplies and wheat exports of the new prairie settlers led to the further development of the river as a transportation route. Today the mighty Nelson powers two large hydroelectric facilities, one at Kettle Rapids and the other at Grand Rapids.
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Citation
Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, Paul D. N. Hebert (Lead Author);Langdon D. Clough (Topic Editor) "Nelson River, Canada". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth July 2, 2007; Last revised Date July 2, 2007; Retrieved May 23, 2013 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Nelson_River,_Canada>
The Authors
The Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO) is an interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to improving the understanding of biodiversity at all scales, from the genetic to the macroecological. Based at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, BIO is host to more than 30 university faculty and their research groups representing a wide range of biological expertise. BIO also includes specialized support staff and unique research and outreach capabilities designed to foster both academi ... (Full Bio)
After receiving his Ph.D. in genetics at Cambridge University in 1972, Paul Hebert took up a Rutherford Fellowship at the University of Sydney. He returned to Canada in 1976, accepting a position at the University of Windsor where he was a professor in Biological Sciences and Director of the Great Lakes Institute. He moved to the University of Guelph in 1990 as Chair of the Department of Zoology. He has been a visiting professor at the Australian National University, the Czech Academy of Scienc ... (Full Bio)
General Description
The Nelson river travels 644 km northward from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson Bay. Its total drainage area covers over 800 000 sq. kilometers (km) and it discharges 110 cubic km annually. It provides an outlet for the great Saskatchewan river system from Lake Winnipeg, with the two systems together (including the Bow River) traveling 2600 km and draining 1.2 million sq. km of land.
The Nelson's upper reaches are largely made up of interconnecting lakes (such as Cross Lake and Sipiwesk Lake) connected by falls and rapids. This irregular upper section does not have a defined river valley. After Split Lake, the Nelson is joined by the Grass and Burntwood tributaries and flows northeast across a flat forested lowland to the Hudson Bay.
History
The first European to explore the Nelson was Sir Thomas Button in 1612. The river was of great importance to the Hudson Bay Trading Company as a transport route. The Company established Fort Nelson at the river mouth in 1682 and York Factory a few kilometers south in 1684. The fur canoes were the only European vessels traveling the river until the 19th century, at which point the supplies and wheat exports of the new prairie settlers led to the further development of the river as a transportation route. Today the mighty Nelson powers two large hydroelectric facilities, one at Kettle Rapids and the other at Grand Rapids.
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(Source: Biodiversity Institute of Ontario)
Nelson-Saskatchewan River System. (Source: Biodiversity Institute of Ontario)
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