The confluence of the Back and Hayes rivers
The confluence of the Back and Hayes rivers Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features the confluence of the Back and Hayes rivers in the eastern Canadian Arctic.
The Back River connects to the confluence from the southwest. It flows for nearly 600 miles from near the Great Slave Lake to its outlet at Chantrey Inlet.
The Hayes River arrives from the opposite direction, flowing for more than 200 miles from an unnamed lake. The Hayes River is a river in Northern Manitoba, Canada, that flows from Molson Lake to Hudson Bay at York Factory. It was historically an important river in the development of Canada and is now a Canadian Heritage River and the longest naturally flowing river in Manitoba. Northeast of Robinson Lake is Robinson Falls and the mile-long Robinson portage which was the longest portage between Hudson Bay and Edmonton. Somewhere in this area is Hill Gates, a mile-long narrow gorge. Beyond this it cuts across Logan Lake, passes the settlement of Wetikoweskwattam to Opiminegoka Lake, where it takes the northeast-flowing Lawford River, flows through Windy Lake and over Wipanipanis Falls to Oxford Lake. It flows out of the lake at Oxford House then southeast over Trout Falls to Knee Lake. Exiting Knee Lake, the Hayes passes over a series of rapids and via several channels and widens into Swampy Lake.
The photo was captured on June 30, 2014 by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8.
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer
