The "Clay Belt" is a vast tract of fertile soil stretching between the Cochrane District in Ontario and Abitibi County in Quebec, covering around 29,000,000 acres (120,000 km2) in total. It is generally subdivided into the Great Clay Belt to the north running eastward from Kapuskasing, past Lake Abitibi and on to Amos, and the V-shaped Lesser Clay Belt to its south, running from Englehart down to the Wabi River to the northern tip of Lake Timiskaming, and along the eastern side of Timiskaming and back up to Rouyn-Noranda.
The area was first mapped by Dr. Robert Bell and his assistant Arthur Barlow in 1887, as part of a wider series of surveys in northern Ontario. In 1899, Barlow wrote a report on the geology and natural resources of the area, which suggested that the rich belt of clay that lay north of Lake Temiskaming was ideal for agricultural settlement. The area has a rich clay soil, in contrast to the low fertility of the muskeg and exposed bedrock shield surrounding it. Moreover, the combination of its general fertility, flat topography, high water table and relative accessibility to an extensive network of roads for logging and mining make it suitable for some types of farming. The following year, the Ontario government announced plans to develop the area by tapping its natural resources.
Formation of the Little Clay Belt
When the last ice age ended about 10,000 years ago, melting waters filled the immense hollows left by the receding glaciers. The lake coered much of northeastern Ontario and northwestern Quebec. When it finally split into two, the portion south of Timmins became Lake Barlow, named for the 19th-century mapmaker who surveyed the region. Although the lake remained static for centuries, it eventually spilled over the glacial moraine near the present-day site of North Bay, emptying itself except for the long narrow rift valley, becoming Lake Temiskaming. The receding waters laid down vast deposits of clay. One deposit, running east from Kapuskasing towards Quebec, became known as the Great Clay Belt. Another deposit to the south, extended from Englehart down to the Wabi River on the northern tip of Lake Temiskaming. The Clay Belt is the result of the draining of the Glacial Lake Ojibway around 8,200 BP, whose lakebed sediment forms the modern landform. The Clay Belt is surrounded by Canadian Shield, forming an island of "southern flatlands" in the midst of the hilly and rocky surroundings. Similar "glaciolacustrine deposits" dot the northern areas of Ontario, Quebec and Labrador. This region became known as the Little or Lesser Clay Belt.
Little Clay Belt and tourism
The scenic lookout along the bluffs on Highway 11 overlooks the fertile valley where, by the sheltered harbour at the head of the great lake, the future community of New Liskeard would be founded. Lake Temiskaming is really the widening of the Ottawa River, which originates east of Lake Temiskaming in the Province of Quebec. It is generally believed that the name, Temi-Kami, is derived from the Algonquin word for lake. The lake, in places approximately 720 feet deep, has been used for transportation purposes from early times.
Make sure you stop at the Little Clay Belt Homesteaders Museum.
To log a find for this Earth Cache, send me the answers to these three questions.
1. Evaluate the general topography seen at GZ as:
a) flat
b) gently rolling hills
c) steep embankments
2. Do the waterways in the Little Clay Belt area flow north to the Arctic Ocean or south to the Atlantic Ocean? Explain your answer.
3. How does the general topography and the permeability of the different types of clay help in the agriculture in the area?
4. Optional Photo Assignments: 1. Post a photo of one farm crop species OR Post a photo of a prominent landscape found within the Little Clay Belt OR Post a photo of farm machinery used by pioneers in the area.
NOTE: You may send answers by e-mail via the link to my profile at the top of the page, without posting them in your log ... otherwise, it could be deleted.