Thames River (Ontario)
Green areas on the Thames River in London ( Ontario)
The Thames River [ tɛmz ] (French Rivière Thames ) is a 260 km long river in southwestern Ontario, Canada.
It rises about 80 km northeast of the city of London, and from there flows in a southwesterly direction for another 120 km before it joins near Chatham at Lighthouse Cove in the Lake St. Clair.
The river was named after the River Thames in England.
Description of the river
In London meet at the Forks of the Thames successive two smaller rivers, both of which are referred to as the Thames River. The two rivers are also referred to as North and South Thames River Thames River, and Thames River (North Branch) and Thames River ( South Branch).
The South Thames River - which is considered the main river - just East of Tavistock and initially flows south to the town of Woodstock, and thence into a broad and shallow valley west to Ingersoll and on to London. In between flows coming from the north or the smaller Middle Thames River a.
The North Thames River rises north of the community Mitchell, flows south through the town of St. Marys and on to London. A left tributary is the River Avon Stratford coming out. The Medway Creek flows into London on the right side in the North Thames River - shortly before its union with the South Thames River.
From the Forks ( of the Thames ), directly on the western edge of downtown London, the Thames River flows parallel to the north shore of Lake Erie to the town of Chatham, and from there about 30 km to the mouth at Lake St. Clair.
Features of the Thames are a highly meandering course, a low gradient in the lower reaches and stunting the headwaters into rivulets in water scarcity.
Navigability
There is a historic lighthouse at the mouth of Lake St. Clair. Upriver is navigable Thames River to Chatham. With sufficient water level, for example, after rainfall, the headwaters from Woodstock and St. Mary's can be navigated by canoe.
Water regulation
The catchment area of the Thames was covered up to the European colonization phase with deciduous forest, which spread everywhere on the wet clay soils. Nowadays, the catchment area is considered the most intensively used agricultural areas of Ontario, with mostly drained arable land. To mitigate the insufficient water storage capacity of cultivated soils, three major dams were built, among others, at the headwaters. This is the Pittock Dam, Dam Wildwood and Fanshawe Dam.
Special
Close to the bank of the Thames, in the amount of the city Ingersoll, a supra-regional landfill is planned (as of 2014). This is the fourth largest landfill in Canada are, with a capacity of 0.85 million tons of waste per year.