René-Levasseur Island

The René- Levasseur Island (French Île René- Levasseur ) is an island in the Canadian province of Québec. It was created by damming the Rivière Manicouagan.

Geography

The 2020 km ² large island is surrounded by the annular Manicouagan Reservoir. It is densely forested and includes two nature reserves. Its highest point is the 952 meter high Mont Babel. It is the largest caused by human activity island in the world and the second largest location in an inland lake in the world ( after Manitoulin in Lake Huron ). Another special feature is that the island has an area larger than the lake in which it is located.

History

The René- Levasseur Island represents the central peak of an impact crater, the Manicouagan crater, which was about 214 million years ago. In the 1960s, the Daniel -Johnson dam was built to the south of the island today and dammed the Manicouagan. Thus the island, which was named after a senior engineer of the dam project was formed.