| Lake Simcoe | |
|---|---|
 Satellite view of Lake Simcoe andLake Couchiching directly north of it | |
  Lake Simcoe | |
| Location | Ontario |
| Coordinates | 44°25′25″N79°22′16″W / 44.42361°N 79.37111°W /44.42361; -79.37111[1] |
| Type | Freshwater |
| Etymology | Named for Captain John Simcoe,RN |
| Primary inflows | Holland River,Talbot River |
| Primary outflows | Severn River |
| Catchment area | 2,840 km2 (1,100 sq mi)[2] |
| Basin countries | Canada |
| Max. length | 30 km (19 mi)[3] |
| Max. width | 25 km (16 mi)[3] |
| Surface area | 722 km2 (279 sq mi)[4] |
| Average depth | 15 m (49 ft)[5] |
| Max. depth | 41 m (135 ft)[3] |
| Water volume | 11.6 km3 (2.8 cu mi)[2] |
| Shore length1 | 240 kilometres (150 mi)[5] |
| Surface elevation | 219 m (719 ft)[6] |
| Islands | Georgina Island,Thorah Island,Strawberry Island,Snake Island,Fox Island,Helmers Island,Grape Island |
| Settlements | Orillia,Barrie |
| References | [citation needed] |
| 1 Shore length isnot a well-defined measure. | |
Lake Simcoe is a lake in southernOntario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly within the province, afterLake Nipigon,Lac Seul, andLake Nipissing.[7] At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century, the lake was calledOuentironk ("Beautiful Water") by the native Wendat/Ouendat (Huron) people. It was also known asLake Taronto until it was renamed byJohn Graves Simcoe, the firstlieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, in memory of his father, Captain John Simcoe of the Royal Navy. InAnishinaabemowin, the historical language of the First Nations living around this lake, namely Anishinaabek ofRama andGeorgina Island First Nations, the lake is calledZhooniyaang-zaaga'igan, meaning "Silver Lake".[8]
Lake Simcoe's name was given byJohn Graves Simcoe in 1793 in memory of his father, Captain John Simcoe. Captain Simcoe was born on 28 November 1710, inStaindrop, inCounty Durham, northeast England, and served as an officer in theRoyal Navy, dying of pneumonia aboard his ship,HMSPembroke, on 15 May 1759.[9]
Historically, at the time of the first European contact in the 17th century, the lake was calledOuentironk ("Beautiful Water") by theWyandot (Huron) natives; The Wyandot name for the lake was rendered asWentaron in European sources up until the 20th century.[10][11]A 1675 map byPierre Raffeix referred to the lake with the French termLac Taronto[12] and a 1687 map byLahontan called itLake Taronto, while the nameTarontos Lac appeared on a 1678 map ofNew France by cartographerJean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin.[13] The term Taranto refers to anIroquoian expression meaning gateway or pass. Taronto had originally referred to The Narrows, a channel of water through which Lake Simcoe discharges intoLake Couchiching. (Natural Resources Canada gives a related translation: "it originated as the Mohawk phrase tkaronto, which means "where there are trees standing in the water". According to several Mohawk speakers and aboriginal language expert John Steckley.[clarification needed] Mohawks used the phrase to describe The Narrows, where Hurons and other natives drove stakes into the water to create fish weirs. Since then, many subsequent mapmakers adopted this name for it, thoughcartographerVincenzo Coronelli is thought to have introduced the more commonly used spelling ofToronto in a map he created in 1695.[14]
The name 'Toronto' found its way to the current city through its use in the name for theToronto Carrying-Place Trail (or Toronto Passage), aportage running betweenLake Ontario andGeorgian Bay, that passed through Lake Toronto, which in turn was used as the name for an early French fort located at the foot of the Toronto Passage, on Lake Ontario. TheSevern River, its outlet stream, was once called 'Rivière de Toronto' which flows into Georgian Bay's Severn Sound, then called the 'Baie de Toronto'.
Later French traders referred to it asLac aux Claies, meaning "Lake of Grids (or Trellises)" in reference to the Huronfishing weirs in the lake. It was known by this name until the beginnings of Upper Canada, when it was renamed to Lake Simcoe.[15]
.jpg)
The lake is bordered bySimcoe County,Durham Region, andYork Region. The city ofBarrie is located onKempenfelt Bay, andOrillia is located at the entrance toLake Couchiching. The watershed draining into the lake contains a population of roughly half a million people, including the northern portion of theGreater Toronto Area (GTA).
The town ofGeorgina lies along the entire south shore of Lake Simcoe and consists of smaller residential towns and communities, includingKeswick onCook's Bay,Sutton,Jackson's Point,Pefferlaw, andUdora.
The town ofInnisfil occupies the western shore south of Barrie and north of Bradford. Eastside Simcoe includes the towns of Beaverton, Brechin and Lagoon City.
Lake Couchiching was at one time thought of as a third bay of Simcoe, known as the Bristol Channel; however, the narrows between the two bodies of water separate them enough to consider this to be another lake. The narrows, known as "where trees stand in the water", an interpretation of the word 'Toronto', was an important fishing point for theFirst Nations peoples who lived in the area, and theMohawk termtoran-ten eventually gave its name toToronto by way of the portage route running south from that point, the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail. Radiocarbon dating of surviving stakes reveals that the weirs at The Narrows were in use more than 4,000 years ago. The meaning of "where trees stand in the water", is likely to have originated from Huron practice of driving stakes into the channel sediments to corral fish. Fresh-cut saplings placed in the water and sediments would have sprouted branches and leaves, persisting for some time, leading to a place "where trees stand in the water".
Lake Simcoe contains a large island, Georgina, which along with Snake Island and Fox Island forms thereserve of theChippewas of Georgina Island First Nation. The lake is dotted with several smaller islands, includingThorah Island (a cottage destination),Strawberry Island, Snake Island, Helmers Island and Fox Island.Pope John Paul II stayed on Strawberry Island for four days just beforeWorld Youth Day 2002 in Toronto.[16]
Before the completion of theTrent Severn Waterway, the water level on Lake Simcoe was quite low enabling residents to cross in wagons or walk in ankle deep water to the mainland.[17] However, when it was completed, the water table increased by several feet.Grape Island on the north end the lake is located off of Orillia. To the east of Grape Island isGoffatt Island, a small and private island located withinRamara.[18]
Georgina, Snake and Fox Islands are withinYork Region, Thorah is withinDurham Region, where as Strawberry Island and Helmers Island are privately owned but within the boundaries ofRamara inSimcoe County. Grape is withinOrillia and Goffatt is withinRamara with both owned privately by residents.
The lake is about 30 kilometres (19 mi) long, 25 kilometres (16 mi) wide and 722 square kilometres (279 sq mi) in area.[3] Lake Simcoe is a remnant of a much biggerprehistoric lake known asLake Algonquin. This lake's basin also includedLake Huron,Lake Michigan,Lake Superior,Lake Nipigon, andLake Nipissing. The melting of an ice dam at the close of thelast ice age greatly reduced water levels in the region, leaving the lakes of today.
The lake is located onPaleozoic limestone of the Ordovician period. However, due to deep deposits of glacial sediments, this bedrock only appears exposed along the lakeshore on Georgina Island. This rock, however, also appears along the shore of Lake Couchiching, where sediments are thinner. The outlet of the lake at the north end of Lake Couchiching is controlled by Precambrian bedrock which first makes its appearance about mid-way along this lake. As a result, the lake has persisted to the present, with the outlet-flow unable to cut down through the rock, and thereby draining the lake. This is unlike its one-time smaller sister-lake of 'Lake Minesing' to the west, being a remnant of Lake Algonquin, and, later the Nipissing stage of Lake Huron. This lake's outlet was founded on sediments located near Edenvale, which have largely been cut through, draining most of the lake. Today 'Lake Minesing' exists as the Minesing Swamp, but it re-establishes itself for a short period each spring when spring run-off floods the basin.
Isostatic rebound from the retreat of the last glaciers results in a steady rise of Lake Simcoe, particularly at its south end, and is further responsible for the deep organic sediments that have accumulated in its one-time shallow southern arm, known as the Holland Marsh. Here, organic deposits created by vegetation have largely kept pace with the steady rise in water level, and today supports extensive market gardening. All rivers, and most streams, flowing into the lake have wide, deep, navigable mouths as a consequence of the rising waters drowning the river channels.
2017 data for the year prior from theNOAA shows the lake has a yearly average surface temperature of 2.5 °C (36.5 °F).[19]
When a lake is healthy, cold-water fish such as lake trout, herring, and whitefish are abundant and active.[20] It is sometimes known as Canada'sice fishing capital.
Lake Simcoe has been victim to significanteutrophication. Lake Simcoe has seen a dramatic decline in some fish species, along with an increase in algae blooms and aquatic weed growth.Phosphorus emissions from both urban and rural sources have upset the lake's ecosystem and fostered excessive aquatic plant growth, raising water temperatures, and decreasing oxygen levels, thereby rendering limited breeding grounds inhospitable.
Lake Simcoe has been victim tozebra mussel,purple loosestrife,black crappie,spiny water flea,round goby,rusty crayfish andEurasian milfoil invasions.[20][21][22][23]
The zebra mussel, which arrived in North American waters in 1985, originated in theBlack Sea andCaspian Sea area and is thought to have been brought to North America in the ballast of foreign freighters. Zebra mussels are particularly harmful to Lake Simcoe because they increase the clarity of the water allowing sunlight to penetrate to the bottom of the lake, where more algae and aquatic weeds can grow, accelerating the eutrophication process.[20]
TheRainbow Smelt are another introduced species and they were first observed in the early 1960s. They were believed to compete with nativeLake Whitefish and be somewhat responsible for a decline in their populations.[22]
Several initiatives, such as the Lake Simcoe Environmental Management Strategy (LSEMS), the Lake Simcoe Conservation Foundation, and theLake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, are making efforts to rectify some of the lake's environmental woes. A local activist group,The Ladies of the Lake, are using the $250,000 they raised from the sale of a nude picture calendar to rally government, business, the school system, and the local citizenry to rescue the lake. Several towns and communities on the lakeshore depend on Lake Simcoe for their drinking water.
The Region of York is currently finalizing plans for a sewage treatment plant to be constructed on the shores of Lake Simcoe[24] to be located on the Holland River in Cook's Bay. This plant's purpose is to support intensification of development in the Lake Simcoe watershed.
A number of southern Ontario rivers flow, generally north, into the lake, draining 2,581 km2 (997 sq mi) of land. From the east, theTalbot River, part of theTrent–Severn Waterway, is the most important river draining into Lake Simcoe, connecting the lake with theKawartha lakes system and Lake Ontario. From its connection to Lake Couchiching, the Severn River is the only drainage from the lake to Georgian Bay, part ofLake Huron (Simcoe itself is not one of theGreat Lakes). Thecanal locks of the Trent-Severn Waterway make this connectionnavigable.
.jpg)
A number of creeks and rivers flow into the lake:
The lake has little commercial activity, but sees many recreational uses. In the winter, it freezes over completely and hosts a number of ice fishing competitions, making it one of the most intensely fished lakes in Ontario. However, claims that it is one of the world's largest lakes that freeze over completely in winter are pure speculation, and, in fact, spurious; Canada alone has a large number of lakes of the same size or larger that do the same.
In the summer, fishing is still an attraction; however, there are also a number of poker runs, jet-skiing, and other boating events. The lake is surrounded with summer cottages leading to heavy recreational and boating use in summer.
There are a number of beaches which attract visitors from the greater Toronto area, as Lake Simcoe has a reputation for cleaner and warmer water than nearby Lake Ontario beaches. Many of the beaches are used for kite surfing as well. Willow Beach in Georgina on the south shore is one of the largest and most popular public beaches on Lake Simcoe.
There are seven yacht clubs (sailing) around the lake, which host a number of regattas, and an active sailing community exists on the lake.
The lake also forms part of theTrent–Severn Waterway system that links Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay/Lake Huron.
Lake Simcoe is also well known for its scuba diving. The shipJ. C. Morrison sank in 1857 and is a great dive site off Centennial Beach. There are also a number of other popular scuba diving entrance points popular among freshwater divers. Kempenfelt Bay is the most popular for scuba divers as it is the deepest. Visibility ranges from over 30 feet (9 m) to almost zero.
Ontario Provincial Police,South Simcoe Police Service,York Regional Police,Durham Regional Police, andBarrie Police have marine units that patrol on the waters of the lake.Georgina Island Police patrol on Georgina, Fox and Snake Islands with some capability to respond to marine needs off these islands.[25] As part of Orillia,Grape Island is policed by the OPP.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)can be determined by moving the mouse over the area of the lake
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
