Pusticamica Lake is a freshwater body of the southeastern portion of Eeyou Istchee James Bay (municipality), in Jamésie, in the administrative region of Nord-du-Québec, in the province of Quebec, in Canada.

Pusticamica Lake
Watershed of Nottaway River
Pusticamica Lake is located in Quebec
Pusticamica Lake
Pusticamica Lake
LocationEeyou Istchee James Bay (municipality)
Coordinates49°21′00″N 76°22′30″W / 49.35000°N 76.37500°W / 49.35000; -76.37500
TypeNatural
Primary inflowsO'Sullivan River, ruisseau Malouin.
Primary outflowsO'Sullivan River.
Basin countriesCanada
Max. length28.0 kilometres (17.4 mi)
Max. width6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi)
Average depth49 kilometres (30 mi)
Surface elevation288 metres (945 ft)

This body of water extends into the townships of Duplessis, Mountain, Benoit and Ruette. Forestry is the main economic activity of the sector. Recreational tourism activities come second.

The hydrographic slope of Pusticamica Lake is accessible via route 113 which passes on the northwest side, between the lakes Waswanipi and Pusticamica; in addition, this forest road (North–south direction) from Desmaraisville goes south to serve the Wetetnagami River.

The surface of Pusticamica Lake is usually frozen from early November to mid-May, however, safe ice movement is generally from mid-November to mid-April.

Geography

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Lake Pusticamica has a length of 28.0 kilometres (17.4 mi), a maximum width of 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) and an altitude of 288 metres (945 ft). This lake has dozens of islands, peninsulas and many bays. A peninsula attached to the south shore stretches out to 11.8 kilometres (7.3 mi) towards the northeast, ie towards the center of the lake. This lake has a large island of 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) and another one of 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi). This lake is mainly fed by the Malouin creek (coming from the East) which drains the Malouin lake and the Auger lake.

The mouth of this lake Pusticamica is located at the bottom of a bay north of the lake, to:

The main hydrographic slopes near Pusticamica Lake are:

Toponymy

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Of Algonquin origin, the term "Pusticamica" means "lake of the mountainous countries". Before the Geographical Survey of Canada named this lake in 1916, it was referred to as "Puskitamika".[2]

The toponym "lac Pusticamica" was made official on December 5, 1968, by the Commission de toponymie du Québec, when it was created.[3]

Notes and references

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  1. ^ Distances from the Department of Natural Resources Canada's Atlas of Canada (published on the Internet).
  2. ^ Source: Names and Places of Quebec, a work of the Commission de toponymie published in 1994 and 1996 in the form of a printed illustrated dictionary, and under that of a CD-ROM produced by the company Micro-Intel, in 1997, from this dictionary.
  3. ^ Commission de toponymie du Québec - Bank of place names - Toponym: "Lac Pusticamica"

See also

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