Lake Wanapitei

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.

The crater itself is Template:Convert in diameter, with an estimated age of 37.2 ± 1.2 million years, dating it to the Eocene period.<ref>Template:Cite Earth Impact DB</ref> 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.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Geography

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.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name=":2" /> Another study in 2006 compared the crater to the Popigai, Chesapeake Bay, Mistastin and Haughton impact craters.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The Wanapitei River flows through the lake, and the lake itself is located within the Lake Wanapitei Subwatershed of the Great Lakes Basin watershed.<ref name=":1" /> The subwatershed includes Template:Convert of forests, Template:Convert of lakes, and Template:Convert of wetlands.<ref name=":1" /> Within the subwatershed is the Wolf Lake Forest Reserve covering Template:Convert of old growth red pine forest.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> The reserve contains trees estimated to be around 300 years old.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Human history

Lake Wanapitei is part of the traditional territory of the Wahnapitae First Nation, a signatory to the Robinsion Huron Treat of 1850.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name=":1" /> In the 1960s, six RCMP officers drowned in the lake during a training exercise.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

Recreation

Wanapitei Provincial Park, a non-operating natural environment park, is located on the northern shore of the lake.<ref name=":3" /> The lake is a popular recreational area in the region, with activities including fishing, snowmobiling, and camping.<ref name=":3" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The lake has 370 permanent residents and 180 seasonal residents on its shores, including islands.<ref name=":1" />

See also

• List of lakes in Ontario
• List of provincial parks of Northern Ontario

External links

• Aerial Exploration of the Wanapitei Structure
• Official website of Wahnapitae First Nation
• Wanapitei Provincial Park