
Rivière aux Mélèzes and confluence with Rivière du Gué as seen from airplane.
The 'Rivière aux Mélèzes' (also known as the 'Larch River') is a river in
Nunavik,
Québec,
Canada. It forms the western part of the large basin of the
Koksoak River. The other main tributary of the Koksoak is the
Caniapiscau River, to the south.
The English name "Larch River" probably comes from the
larch trees found in the sheltered valley of the river, which is, in less sheltered locations, as much as ''400 kilometres'' beyond the
northern limit of tree growth. Most of the basin is covered by sparse
tundra and is remains uninhabited, even by
Inuit. Owing to the intense
glaciation, the basin is generally flat and does not rise to elevations beyond three hundred metres above
sea level even after major
post-glacial rebound. The
climate is polar (Köppen ''ET'') with temperatures ranging from about -20 °C in January to 8 °C in July.
The river probably flowed into
Hudson Bay before the
Pleistocene. However, the fact that for ninety percent of the
Quaternary Nunavik has been covered with
glacial ice up to four kilometres thick has meant that, during the very brief deglaciations,
ice dams and/or
moraines have tended to prevent the river from flowing westwards. Hence, during the brief periods of deglaciation (generally only the ''latter half'' of interglacials), the river has flowed into the
Koksoak River.