Lake Temagami - Geography

Geography

The lake is irregularly shaped with long north, northeast and southwest arms, shorter northwest and south arms and several smaller bays. The town of Temagami is located at the end of the northeast arm of the lake. It extends almost 50 km from north to south and about 35 km from east to west. There are approximately 1,259 islands, the largest of which is Temagami Island. The lake's outflow is the Temagami River which in turn flows into the Sturgeon River. A number of peninsulas are associated with the lake, such as the McLean, Cynthia and Joan peninsulas, as well as Sand Point, which separates the Northwest Arm from the rest of the lake.

The lands surrounding the lake are part of the Canadian Shield, one of the largest single exposure of Precambrian rocks in the world which were formed after the Earth's crust cooled. Part of Lake Temagami lies in the Temagami Magnetic Anomaly, an egg shaped geologic structure stretching from Lake Wanapitei in the west to Bear Island. It has striking similarities to the Sudbury Basin, which is one of the richest mining camps in the world. The hills in the Temagami area are remnants of the oldest mountain ranges in North America, that date back during the Precambrian era. These enormous mountains were taller than any that exist today. The uplifting was accomplished as enormous pressure caused the earth to buckle in a process called folding. Other processes, such as volcanic activity and geologic faulting in which the earth cracks open also contributed to the formation of these mountains. Over millions of years, these enormous mountains were gradually eroded to the land we know it today in Temagami.

The rocks that form Temagami to this day are igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. The area has good potential to host diamondiferous kimberlites and more diamond bearing kimberlites may continue to be discovered in the area. The Temagami area also contains some pillow lava about 2 billion years old, indicating that great submarine volcanoes existed during the early stages of the formation of the Earth's crust.

The northeast arm of Lake Temagami is underlain by a strong fault zone of sheared felsic to intermediate metavolcanic rocks that is approximately 1,200 m (3,900 ft) wide. This fault zone, known as the Northeast Arm Deformation Zone, and the associated metavolcanic rocks are associated with the Temagami greenstone belt, an Archean greenstone belt characterized by felsic-mafic volcanic rocks.

Lake Temagami and its surrounding lakes provide endless opportunities for canoe camping. There are over 2,000 km of interconnecting canoe routes.

The region contains some of the largest remaining stands of old growth red and white pine forests in Ontario.