Lake Abitibi is a shallow lake in northeastern Ontario and western Quebec, Canada. The lake, which lies within the vast Clay Belt, is separated in two distinct portions by a short narrows, making it actually two lakes. Its total area is 931 square kilometres (359 sq mi), and net area 903 square kilometres (349 sq mi). The lake is shallow and studded with islands. Its shores and vicinity are covered with small timber.
Lake Abitibi
Hudson's Bay Company post on Lake Abitibi, c. 1910
The Clay Belt is a vast tract of fertile soil in Canada, stretching across Cochrane District in Ontario and Abitibi County in Quebec, covering 180,000 square kilometres (69,000 sq mi) in total with 120,000 square kilometres (46,000 sq mi) of that in Ontario. It is generally subdivided into the Great Clay Belt to the north running eastward from Kapuskasing, past Lake Abitibi and on to Amos, and the V-shaped Lesser Clay Belt to its south, running from Englehart down to the Wabi River to the northern tip of Lake Timiskaming, and long the eastern side of Timiskaming and back up to Rouyn-Noranda. The Clay Belt is the result of the draining of the Glacial Lake Ojibway around 8,200 BP, whose lakebed sediment forms the modern landform. The Clay Belt is surrounded by the Canadian Shield, forming an island of "southern flatlands" in the midst of the hilly and rocky surroundings. Similar "glaciolacustrine deposits" dot the northern areas of Ontario, Quebec and Labrador.
This satellite photo of Lake Timiskaming shows a clear difference in landforms, with the muskeg of the Canadian Shield to the southwest and flatter drained and cleared area of the Lesser Clay Belt to the north and east. The white coloring is due to snow lying on the flat land, while it is hidden under the fir-covered Shield to the south.
Graphic describing lands affected by The Forestry Act, 1927
