Saint-Athanase River Explained

The Saint-Athanase River is a tributary of the south shore of the Saguenay River flowing into the municipality of Petit-Saguenay in the Le Fjord-du-Saguenay Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada.

The Saint-Athanase River Valley is mainly served by Saint-Louis Road and Saint-Etienne Road.^[2]

Forestry is the first economic activity in the sector; recreational tourism activities, second.

The surface of the Saint-Athanase River is usually frozen from the beginning of December to the end of March, however, safe ice circulation is generally from mid-December to mid-March.

Geography

The main hydrographic slopes near the Saint-Athanase River are:

• North side: Saguenay River;
• East side: Saint-Étienne River, Petites Îles River, St. Lawrence River;
• South side: Petit Saguenay River;
• West side: Petit Saguenay River, Cabanage River.

The Saint-Athanase River rises at the mouth of Petit Lac Alphée (length: 0.3km (00.2miles); altitude: 183m (600feet)). This source is located at:

• 5.4km (03.4miles) south of its mouth (confluence with the Saguenay River);
• 2.6km (01.6miles) northeast of the Petit Saguenay River;
• 23.8km (14.8miles) west of the mouth of the Saguenay River;
• 4.9km (03miles) east of the village center of Petit-Saguenay.

From its source (Petit Lac Alphée), the course of the Saint-Athanase River descends on 8.6km (05.3miles) according to the following segments:

• 0.6km (00.4miles) to the north, in particular, crossing the Alphée lake (length: 0.4km (00.2miles); altitude: 164m (538feet)) on 0.6km (00.4miles) to its mouth;
• 0.5km (00.3miles) easterly, forming a curve to the north, to the discharge (coming from the north) of a group of small lakes;
• 1km (01miles) easterly forming at the beginning of a segment a hook to the south, to the discharge (coming from the south) of a set of small lakes;
• 1.4km (00.9miles) northerly forming a large S, to the discharge (from the east) of an unidentified lake;
• 2.4km (01.5miles) northerly, curving to the northeast, to the discharge (from the east) of a set of unidentified lakes;
• 0.8km (00.5miles) northwesterly to a dump of unidentified lakes;
• 1.9km (01.2miles) north in a steep valley curving westward around a large mountain to its mouth.^[3]

The mouth of the Saint-Athanase River flows into the bottom of "Anse au Cheval" on the south shore of the Saguenay River. This confluence is located at:

• 3.4km (02.1miles) northwest of the village center of Saint-Étienne;
• 9.1km (05.7miles) northeast of the confluence of the Petit Saguenay River with the Saguenay River;
• 23.2km (14.4miles) west of Tadoussac.

Toponymy

The toponym "rivière Saint-Athanase" (St. Athanase River) refers to St. Athanasius, a patron of the Roman Catholic Church.

The toponym "Saint-Athanase River" was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Bank of place names of the Commission de toponymie du Quebec.^[4]

Notes and references

External links

See also

• Petit-Saguenay, a municipality
• Saguenay River, a watercourse
• List of rivers of Quebec

Notes and References

1. Web site: Rivière Saint-Athanase, Bank of Quebec place names. Commission de toponymie du Québec. December 9, 2019.
2. https://tools.wmflabs.org/osm4wiki/cgi-bin/wiki/ wiki-osm.pl?project=en&article=Saint-Athanase River Open Street Map - Retrieved December 9, 2019
3. Web site: Atlas of Canada from the Department of Natural Resources Canada - Features extracted from the map, database and site instrumentation - accessdate on December 9, 2019.. 12 September 2016.
4. Web site: Saint-Athanase River. Commission de Toponymie. Bank of Quebec place names.