The Ottawa River, the "Natural Urban River", is one of the great rivers of North America. The "Natural-Urban River" is my project name to photograph the natural history of a ten kilometre stretch of the river within the city limits, from Philemon Island upstream to the Deschệnes Rapids.
A "Natural Urban River" factoid: At the end of the last Ice Age, 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, the Ottawa River system drained the lower half of the gigantic Laurentide Ice Sheet into the St. Lawrence River; at the time these two rivers were combined into the largest river system in the world. Their flow of fresh water into the Atlantic Ocean was so immense that it changed the climate of the entire planet. The Ottawa is still impressive at over 1200 kilometres in length and boasting a watershed that drains tens of thousands of square kilometres of the Canadian Shield.
A "Natural Urban River" factoid: At the end of the last Ice Age, 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, the Ottawa River system drained the lower half of the gigantic Laurentide Ice Sheet into the St. Lawrence River; at the time these two rivers were combined into the largest river system in the world. Their flow of fresh water into the Atlantic Ocean was so immense that it changed the climate of the entire planet. The Ottawa is still impressive at over 1200 kilometres in length and boasting a watershed that drains tens of thousands of square kilometres of the Canadian Shield.
