Lake Wanapitei

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Lake Wanapitei
Waanabidebiing (Ojibwe)
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Lake Wanapitei seen from the International Space Station on April 22, 2020.
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Lake Wanapitei
Location Sudbury, Ontario
Coordinates 46°45′N80°45′W / 46.750°N 80.750°W / 46.750; -80.750
Type Impact crater lake
Primary inflows Wanapitei River
Primary outflows Wanapitei River
Basin  countriesCanada
Max. length16.5 km (10.3 mi)
Max. width14 km (8.7 mi)
Surface area132.57 km2 (51.19 sq mi)
Max. depth142 m (466 ft)
Shore length1160.4 km (99.7 mi)
Surface elevation267 m (876 ft)
Settlements Boland's Bay, Skead, Wahnapitae First Nation
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Wanapitei (Ojibwe: Waanabidebiing) is an impact crater lake within the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and Wahnapitae First Nation. Adjacent to the nearby but unrelated Sudbury impact crater, it is one of the worlds largest lakes entirely located within the boundary of a single municipality.

Contents

The crater itself is 5.2 mi (8.4 km) in diameter, with an estimated age of 37.2 ± 1.2 million years, dating it to the Eocene period. [1] The Anishinaabemowin name for the lake, Waanabidebiing, means "place where the water is shaped like a tooth" and refers to the shape of the lake from above. [2]

Geography

Lake Wanapitei from above in 2008 Wanapitei Lake.jpg
Lake Wanapitei from above in 2008

The Lake Wanapitei impact, which created the crater lake, was estimated to have been formed 37.2 ± 1.2 million years ago during the Eocene period. [3] A 2003 study proposed that the crater itself is between three and four kilometres in diameter, while also proposing that it may have been formed by large scale faulting. [3] Another study in 2006 compared the crater to the Popigai, Chesapeake Bay, Mistastin and Haughton impact craters. [4]

The Wanapitei River flows through the lake, and the lake itself is located within the Lake Wanapitei Subwatershed of the Great Lakes Basin watershed. [2] The subwatershed includes 174.6 square kilometres (67.4 sq mi) of forests, 148.44 square kilometres (57.31 sq mi) of lakes, and 28.86 square kilometres (11.14 sq mi) of wetlands. [2] Within the subwatershed is the Wolf Lake Forest Reserve covering 40.99 square kilometres (15.83 sq mi) of old growth red pine forest. [5] The reserve contains trees estimated to be around 300 years old. [6]

Human history

Lake Wanapitei is part of the traditional territory of the Wahnapitae First Nation, a signatory to the Robinsion Huron Treat of 1850. [2] [7] The fur trade and later logging brought Europeans to the region, with the towns of Boland's Bay and Skead settled on its southern shore. [2] In the 1960s, six RCMP officers drowned in the lake during a training exercise. [8]

Recreation

Wanapitei Provincial Park, a non-operating natural environment park, is located on the northern shore of the lake. [5] The lake is a popular recreational area in the region, with activities including fishing, snowmobiling, and camping. [5] [9] [10] The lake has 370 permanent residents and 180 seasonal residents on its shores, including islands. [2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Wanapitei". Earth Impact Database . Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton . Retrieved 2009-08-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Lake Wanapitei Subwatershed" (PDF). Conservation Sudbury . 2024. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
  3. 1 2 L'Heureux, E.; Ugalde, H.; Milkereit, B.; Eyles, N.; Boyce, J.; Morris, W. (2003). Magnetic, Gravity and Seismic Constraints on the Nature of the Wanapitei Lake Impact Crater (PDF). University of Toronto. Department of Physics.
  4. ↑ Tagle, R.; Claeys, Ph.; Grieve, R.A.F.; Schmitt, R.T.; Erzinger, J. (2006). Evidence for a second L chondrite impact in the Late Eocene: Preliminary results from the Wanapitei crater, Canada (PDF). Natural Resources Canada . Retrieved 2025-10-05.
  5. 1 2 3 "Wanapitei Provincial Park Management Statement | ontario.ca". www.ontario.ca. Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. 2016-12-09. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  6. ↑ "New research: Wolf Lake ancient forest is endangered ecosystem". NewsRx Health & Science: 107. 2013-07-14.
  7. ↑ Macron, Jason (2024-10-04). "Then & Now: A brief history of local Indigenous communities". Sudbury.com. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
  8. ↑ Moodie, Jim (22 August 2014). "Sudbury Accent: Sandbanks bound on bottomless lake". Sudbury Star. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  9. ↑ "Lake Wanapitei". www.anglersatlas.com. Angler's Atlas. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  10. ↑ "Are you brave enough? Watch 'Jaws' while floating on Lake Wahnapitae". Sudbury.com. 2017-08-17. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
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