Description, geographic location. Mackenzie (river). Description, geographic location When the river became Mackenzie

North America and Canada's pride is the Mackenzie River. Navigable in summer, it becomes an ice path in winter, which is quite unusual. The hidden strength and power of this natural wonder, which accounts for 11% of the total drainage of the Arctic Ocean, arouses interest and respect. The plan and description of the Mackenzie River, as well as its economic importance, is the topic of this article.

History and titles

The river is named after the traveler and scientist Alexander Mackenzie, who rafted along it in 1789. Prior to this, the river had the name Disspoint, which means "disappointment." And although Alexander Mackenzie is considered the first white man who discovered the river path to the ocean, it is reliably known that before him the English merchant Samuel Herne (1745-1792) had already carried out river rafting to the coast of the North Ocean. The Northwest Fur Company has authorized Mackenzie to organize an expedition to find a waterway to the Pacific Ocean along the rivers of North America. Mackenzie was disappointed - the river turned north, and the path was opened to the Arctic Ocean. Apparently this is what upset the researchers so much that they called the river "disappointment". The foundation of Fort Chipevayan on the Athabasca River was associated with the Mackenzie expedition in 1789.

When the river became Mackenzie

Alexander Mackenzie on July 13, 1789 set out on an expedition to the coast of the Arctic Ocean, it was he who made the first description of the Mackenzie River. The researcher will write in his diary that the path to the Pacific Ocean has not been found, and the whales playing in the bay and the timely ebbs and flows make it clear that this is the Arctic Ocean. The explorer of the Arctic, the Englishman John Franklin, who went with his expedition to this river in 1826, appropriated the river, the mountains, and the bay after the disappointed Scottish merchant Mackenzie.

Mackenzie River Hydrography

The giant of the Canadian North, with his tributary Athabasca, begins in the Cordillera Rocky Mountains, sweeps rapidly across the Great Plains and flows into the lake of the same name. From the lake it flows out under the name of the Slave River, the Pis River joins it and carries its waters to the Great Slave Lake. A river called Mackenzie flows out of it. The Mackenzie River plan is complex and confusing. Its basin covers an area of 1804 thousand kilometers, its width is 80 kilometers, and its length is up to 160 kilometers. It is located from the Hudson Bay to the Cordillera ridges. The total length of the river, including tributaries, is 4,241 kilometers, making it 13th in the world. It is classified as an arctic source, and food is provided by snow and rainfall. In winter, the ice cover reaches 2.5 meters and from October to early June the river is covered with ice.

Pingo of the Mackenzie River

Surprising phenomena even for permafrost are earthen hills with a core of ice, which are located in the riverbed. In summer, the ice inside them melts, but the water cannot make its way out. Freezing, the ice expands and pushes the earth to the surface. It is in the Mackenzie Delta that the largest concentration of pingo in the world is observed - there are more than 1,500 of them.

People on the river

Indigenous peoples have lived on the coast since ancient times. Today the largest cities are industrial Ford Norman and Ford Providence, tourist cities Aklavik and Inuvik, as well as the oil producing Norman Knot. The unusually beautiful scenery of the coastline attracts lovers of canoeing and boat trips. Hiking is available only to the most daring tourists - there are many grizzlies and American bears in the forests.

Agrotechnical significance of the Mackenzie River

The length of the channel suitable for navigation is about 2,200 kilometers. The water level fluctuations are suitable for the use of the river in the power industry. In the upper reaches of the Mackenzie River, the Bennett Dam (1968) was built - one of the largest in the world, it is not the only one in the cascade of dams. In addition to generating electricity, dams prevent floods and provide an opportunity to develop agriculture in the southern reaches.

River basin biology

The river basin is represented by forests and tundra, in many respects strongly wetlands. Marshes make up about 18% of the basin's area and serve as a nesting and migration site for North American birds. About 93% of the pool area is untouched by man. There are about 53 species of fish in the river, and there are endemic species. Interestingly, the endemics are genetically related to similar species of the Missouri River, which may indicate a common basin of these rivers in the past.

Ecology and biotope

The river basin is an important ecosystem for migratory birds. It is here that the intersection of four migration routes and a staging post for North American birds is located. In autumn, their number reaches a million individuals.

The river delta is rich in natural gas, oil, uranium, tungsten, gold and diamonds, the active mining of which does not have the best effect on the ecosystem.

Transport artery and ecotourism center

In the upper reaches of the river, timber harvesting is carried out, and in the summer, whole trains from barges move along the river. The peculiarity of the river is its winter use. It connects the mainland and the coast in the form of an ice track. It is used by cars, snowmobiles and dog sleds.

Only 1% of Canadians live in the Mackenzie River basin, of which 36% are Indians, and the rest are descendants of the British, Scots, French, Germans, Russians and Ukrainians. The city of Inuvik takes the first place among tourists among the Arctic settlements. It is the center of indigenous culture, the Inuit, and the start of many ecotourism routes.

Most of the way, the river flows through the lands of the northwestern, circumpolar region of the country, which is called the Northwest Territories. Its source is also located here - in the Great Slave Lake, although in fact the Mackenzie River begins in the Rocky Mountains from the source of the Finley River, which passes into the Peace River, and it, in turn, flows into Lake Athabasca, which connects with the Big Slave Lake, forming the largest Canadian and second longest river system in North America after the Mississippi-Missouri. Great Slave Lake - the deepest (614 m) in the North American continent, it is rightfully considered one of the wonders of local nature. Its name goes back to the designation of the local Slavey tribe - consonant, but having nothing to do with the English word "slave" ("slave", "slave"). The translation of the lake's name as "Slave" is, in fact, mistaken. By the way, the descendants of the Slavey were able to defend their right to the ancestral lands of the tribe, so that a small community of Indians still lives on the shores of the lake named after them.
The river basin occupies the northern part of the Canadian (North American) platform. This Precambrian (earlier 500 Ma) formation, the antiquity of which led to the presence of a number of minerals: rugel, copper, nickel, uranium, gold, zinc, lead and other metals, which lie in the basement of the platform, exposed in the north of the continent, and later the sedimentary cover of the platform contains deposits of oil, gas, coal, potash and other salts. Thanks to their development, these inhospitable places have become more inhabited: for example, the discovery in the 1930s. gold in the Slave Lake area led to the birth of the city of Yellowknife, which later became the administrative center of the province of the Northwest Territories and the center of gold mining. Silver and uranium have also been mined here, and since 1991, diamonds have been mined.
Flowing through the Northwest Territory, Mackenzie, near its mouth, crosses the border of the Arctic Circle and flows through the bay of the same name into the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean. When it merges with the sea, it forms a vast delta, the soil of which, to a depth of 100 m, is bound by permafrost. Mackenzie waters supply about 11% of the total river flow of the Arctic Ocean and play an important role in creating a microclimate in the delta region.
The river flows through a vast area of forests and tundra, in places with highly swampy areas. Over the greater length of its path, Mackenzie has a rather wide channel (from 2 to 5 km), along which the water flows slowly and calmly (the height difference from the source to the mouth is only 156 m). A delta up to 80 km wide is formed at the mouth. The banks are rocky and indented in places, but swamps make up no more than 18% of the river basin area. Most of the basin is covered with forest-tundra and forests, of which 93% are deserted, untouched by man. It feeds on rain and snow, with severe floods occurring when the snow and ice melt. From September to May, the river is hidden under ice.
The cold waters of Mackenzie are home to 53 species of fish, some of which are endemic. Interestingly, many fish species are genetically related to species found in the Mississippi: scientists suggest that earlier these rivers could be connected through a system of lakes and tributaries.
Exploration of the inhospitable northern river basin threatened to become the deepest disappointment not only for Alexander Mackenzie, but also for other geographers and travelers, who were primarily concerned with finding a river route to the Pacific Ocean. Over time, the river was appreciated and it immortalized the name of the discoverer.

The beginning of the formation of lakes and rivers in this region dates back to the end of the last ice age - about 11,000 years ago. They began to study Mackenzie not so long ago. The first European who managed to reach the coast of the Arctic Ocean, making his way to it on the mainland, is considered the English trader and traveler Samuel Herne (1745-1792). And the first description of this river dates back to 1789 and belongs to the Scottish merchant and traveler Alexander Mackenzie (1764-1820). However, according to the testimony of Mackenzie himself, around 1780, in the lower reaches of the river, the Indians had already exchanged some kind of white skins for iron. It could have been Russian seafarers. As an employee of the Northwest Fur Company, Mackenzie arranged an expedition. Initially, she had to find a waterway to the Pacific Ocean, which the Indians told about. Precisely because the expedition found a way out not to the Pacific, but to the Arctic Ocean, the river was first named "Disappointment", which means "Disappointment" in English. The trek began with the founding of the Chipevayan Fort on the Athabasca River. The river expedition itself started on June 3, 1789. Information has been preserved about the guide - an Indian named "English leader" who took part in the expedition to the Arctic Ocean S. Hern. Six days later, boats made of birch bark approached the Slave Lake, but only on June 29 Mackenzie found it flowing in the direction of the Quiet
(as he thought) an ocean without a name. The Indians they met talked about the endless length of the river and the difficulties with food. The most unpleasant surprise was that the river turned strictly to the north, and on July 10 A. Mackenzie wrote: "It is absolutely clear that this river flows into the Great North Sea," and on July 13 he saw the sea itself. The expedition did not explore its shores, but the night tides and whales frolicking in the bay made it clear that it was an ocean. Later, the English explorer of the Arctic, John Franklin (1786-1847), carried out in 1825-1826. an expedition to this river, he appropriated to it, and the mountains, and the bay, first explored by Mackenzie, the name of the "disappointed" Scotsman.
Mackenzie is navigable - the length of its navigable routes is 2,200 km. The level of seasonal fluctuations in water is used to generate hydropower. In 1968, Bennett Dam, one of the largest in the world, was built in the upper Mackenzie on the Peace River, and it is not the only one here: dams have appeared in many places, both for hydropower and for flood control. In the south, farming became possible. In addition, there is an ambitious project to move Arctic fresh melt waters inland and beyond, using the Mackenzie reservoir, irrigation and transport system.
The river is used for their own purposes not only by people: the Mackenzie Delta, located at the junction of four major migration routes of North American birds (their number reaches a million in autumn), is an important transit point for them.
The construction of the dam caused significant damage to the ecosystem of the river and, in particular, its delta, which led to a significant decrease in the populations of migratory birds. According to the US Geological Survey, published in Forbes magazine in 2004, about a quarter of the world's oil and natural gas reserves are located in the Arctic. In particular, "the Mackenzie River Delta and adjacent offshore area is extremely rich in natural gas, which will be produced over the next decade." Due to the large-scale transformation of the area around the pipeline, many species may soon disappear. In other parts of the river basin, oil, uranium, tungsten, gold and diamonds are mined, and in the upper reaches of the river there is a forest. In addition, Mackenzie is the main transport artery: whole "trains" of barges move along its surface (in winter, dog sleds and snowmobiles move along it).
No matter how noticeable human activity is for the river, only 1% of Canadians now live in its basin. The population of the basin is about 397,000 people (according to 2001 statistics), that is, the average population density is approximately 0.2 people per square kilometer, however, in recent years, tourism has begun to play an increasing role in the economy of the region, the city of Inuvik is the most visited population a point of the Arctic, a center of Inuit culture and a launching pad for many ecotourism routes. Scientific research, hydrographic and geological, is also of great importance.

Climate and weather

In the south of the basin - temperate, in the north - from subarctic to arctic.

Average annual water temperature: + 3 ° С
Average January temperature: -16 ° C in the south to -28 ° C in the north
Average July temperature: from + 16 ° С in the south to + 8 ° С in the north

Average annual precipitation: less than 100 mm in the north, more than 300 mm in the south, up to 1000 mm in the mountains.
Freezing up: September-May / June (downstream).

Economy

Minerals: natural gas, oil, uranium, tungsten, gold and diamonds
Industry: hydropower, logging.
Agriculture: greenhouse vegetable growing (in the south).
Services sector: transport (shipping); tourism (hiking and boating recreational or sports tourism, also excursions to places of the gold rush, the city of Dawson).

Mackenzie River landmarks

Natural... Little Slave Lake and Hillard Bay National Parks, Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary with a protected herd of 2,000 heads (north of Yellowknife), the youngest Arctic National Park - Tuktut Nogate, Nahanni National Park (South Nahanni River Valley, South Mackenzie Mountains, founded in 1976) - a UNESCO World Heritage Site (since 1978), Cameron waterfalls, pingo hydrolaccoliths (cone-shaped hills up to 40 m in height and up to 300 m in width, which appeared on the surface under the pressure of the underlying ice) ...
Cultural and historical... the Bennett Dam (1968) on the Peace River (tributary) with an excursion center.
Inuvik city... Catholic Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary the Victorious (1958-1960), built in the shape of an igloo.
Yellowknife city... Old Town with houseboat settlement, Prince of Wales Historic Center (Inuit and Dene Ethnographic Museum) Legislative Assembly (1993)
Fort Providence... Dene craft center.
Hay River Settlement... the main port of the Northwest Territories, home of the Dene people for over 1000 years.

Information

Length: 1738 km
Swimming pool: 1 805 200 km²
Water consumption: 10,700 m³ / s
Source: Great Slave Lake
The country: Canada
Region: Northwest Territories

The Mackenzie River is the largest in Canada. Her length is 4241 km... As a matter of fact, the water stream, which bears the name "Mackenzie", begins its journey from Great Slave Lake... It is considered the deepest in North America. The maximum depth of the reservoir reaches 614 meters, and the area is 28.4 thousand square meters. km. In spring, autumn and summer, the lake is covered with an ice crust. It is released from it only in the summer months.

From the lake, the water stream flows to the northwest and ends its way in Beaufort Sea... Its length is 1738 km. The very same water system of the river begins by the Finlay River in central British Columbia. The source is in a small lake Tutade... These are the mountains of Omineka. The river flows south along the Rocky Mountains and into the Williston Reservoir. The total length of Finlay is 420 km.

Mackenzie River on the map

The Pis River flows out of the reservoir. This is a large water flow, the length of which is 1521 km. It flows into the Slave River, which flows out of Lake Athabasca. It is the latter that flows into the Great Slave Lake. And the Mackenzie River already flows out of it and carries its waters into the Arctic Ocean. Hence the figure of 4241 km is obtained.

Why such a strange name - "Slave"? The thing is that a tribe of Slavey Indians lived on the banks of the river and lake. Here is a lake with a river and was named "Slave". Hence the confusion, as the English word "slave" means "slave". We wanted the best, but it turned out to be the Big Slave Lake and the Slave River. Now you can't do anything, it just happened historically.

The mighty northern river was discovered by the Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie (1764-1820). In 1789, he moved along the waterway from Lake Athabasca towards the Arctic Ocean. In total, the traveler swam and walked 4.5 thousand km. People paid tribute to this man's courage and immortalized his name in the name of the river.

It feeds on tributaries, lakes, rain and snow. The floodplain of the river is very swampy. All around are forests of black spruce, aspen and poplar. To the north comes the kingdom of dwarf birches, willows and numerous peat bogs. And, of course, permafrost. In the delta area, its depth reaches 100 meters.

The largest lake connected to the river through a channel is called the Big Bear. It is located in the Arctic Circle. The maximum depth is 413 meters. The area of the reservoir is 31.15 thousand square meters. km, which exceeds the area of the Great Slave Lake. The channel, or more correctly, the river, is called the Big Bear and reaches a length of 113 km. Its depth is 6 meters, and its width reaches 300 meters.

Mackenzie River in Autumn

The Mackenzie itself is a wide and slow river. The height of the fall from source to mouth is 156 meters. There are many shoals and side channels on the river. The width ranges from 2 to 5 km. The depth is 8-9 meters. In some places, the mountainous terrain causes the stream to narrow, and its width reaches 0.5 km. Accordingly, the speed of the current also increases.

This water river system covers 20% of the country's territory. In length, it ranks 13th in the world among all the great water systems and gives the Arctic Ocean 11% of the total drainage. The Mackenzie River begins to ice in September. Ice drift begins in May, and in the lower reaches this period occurs in June.

The river basin is home to 397 thousand people, which is 1% of the population of Canada. The bulk of the population is concentrated in the province of Alberta. But in the Yukon and the Northwest Territories, mostly indigenous peoples live. But there are many useful resources here: oil, gas, uranium, gold, tungsten, timber - all these are abundant in the northern land. Navigation is well developed on the river. It covers 2,200 km in summer. And in winter, ice roads, dog sleds and snowmobiles are practiced.

In a word, this is a real harsh north, in no way inferior to Taimyr or Chukotka. Although life in these places does not boil, it has reliably settled in rare settlements. You can name the hamlet of Fort Providence. It is inhabited mainly by the indigenous population of the northern lands. There are almost 800 inhabitants.

But in Inuvik, which is the administrative center of the Northwest Territories, is home to about 4 thousand people. It is the stronghold of the oil companies. It is from here that the geological research of the nearby lands is supervised. You can also mention the hamlet of Aklavik, Fort Norman, Norman Wells.

The Mackenzie River is navigable in summer.

Concerning deltas the great northern river, then in winter, and this is as much as 6 months, it is practically indistinguishable. Everything around comes to life after the beginning of the ice drift. The ice melts in a few days, and countless channels appear, separated by islands. The delta is 160 km long and 80 km wide from edge to edge.

There are many pingo... These are earthen hills, the core of which is ice. This phenomenon is usually found in permafrost regions. During the summer, ice turns into water, but cannot break out to the surface. Then it freezes, expands and pushes the earth up. There are over 1,500 pingos in the delta area. This is the largest concentration of them in the world.

The mighty Nord Stream is rightfully considered the pride of Canada. It carries its waters into the Beaufort Sea leisurely and solidly. But they feel hidden strength and power. And this always arouses respect and interest in the greatest creations of nature, one of which is the Mackenzie River.

Stanislav Lopatin

- Coordinates

/ / 69.1977; -135.022 (Mackenzie, mouth)Coordinates:

It is a navigable river, the length of the navigable routes of the entire river system Mackenzie 2,200 km - from Waterways on the Athabasca River to the port of Taktoyaktuk on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. The largest settlements are Aklavik, Inuvik, Fort Norman, Fort Providence and the Norman Wells oil field center.

Story

It was discovered and first passed by A. Mackenzie from June 29 to July 14, 1789. Originally called a river Disappointment(eng. Disappointment, "Disappointment" or "Displeasure" ).

Tributaries

R. Karkadzhu
R. Ruth
R. Mountain
R. Hare Indian

Hydrography

The source of the Great Slave Lake is considered to be the beginning of the Mackenzie River; large Canadian lakes also belong to the river basin. The relatively low water content of Mackenzie is due to the blocking effect of the Rocky Mountains in the west, which reduce the influence of the Pacific Ocean in the lower part of its catchment.

Mackenzie, like more than half of Canada's rivers, belong to the Arctic Ocean basin. The Arctic rivers are fed mainly by snow and rain. In the central and northern regions of the country, rivers and lakes are covered with ice for 5 to 9 months. Mackenzie freezes in September - October, breaks open in May, downstream - in early June; food for snow and rain; spring-summer flood.

The river valley is formed by strata of alluvial and water-glacial deposits, is heavily swampy, covered with spruce forest.

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Notes (edit)

Excerpt from Mackenzie (river)

(If anyone is interested in the details of the real fate of Radomir, Magdalene, Cathars and Templars, please look at the Supplements after the chapters of Isidora or the separate (but still being prepared) book "Children of the Sun" when it will be displayed on the website www.levashov.info for free copy).

I stood completely shocked, as it was almost always after the next story of the North ...
Was that tiny, just-born boy really the most famous Jacques de Molay ?! How many different beautiful legends have I heard about this mysterious man! .. How many miracles were associated with his life in the stories I once loved!
(Unfortunately, miraculous legends about this mysterious man have not survived to this day ... He, like Radomir, was made a weak, cowardly and spineless master who "failed" to preserve his great Order ...)
- Can you tell us a little more about him, Sever? Was he such a powerful prophet and miracle worker as my father once told me? ..
Smiling at my impatience, Sever nodded in the affirmative.
- Yes, I will tell you about him, Isidora ... I knew him for many years. And I spoke to him many times. I loved this man very much ... And I missed him very much.
I didn’t ask why he didn’t help him during the execution? It made no sense, since I knew his answer in advance.
- You - what ?! Have you spoken to him ?! Please, will you tell me about it, Sever ?! - I exclaimed.
I know, with my delight I looked like a child ... But it didn't matter. Sever understood how important his story was to me, and patiently helped me.
“Only I would like to know first what happened to his mother and the Cathars. I know that they died, but I would like to see it with my own eyes ... Help me, please, Sever.
And again reality disappeared, returning me to Montsegur, where wonderful brave people lived their last hours - the disciples and followers of the Magdalene ...

Cathars.
Esclarmonde lay quietly on the bed. Her eyes were closed, it seemed as if she was asleep, exhausted by losses ... But I felt - it was just protection. She just wanted to be alone with her sadness ... Her heart suffered endlessly. The body refused to obey ... Just a few moments ago, her hands were holding her newborn son ... They hugged her husband ... Now they are gone into the unknown. And no one could say with certainty whether they would be able to escape the hatred of the "hunters" who flooded the foot of Montsegur. And the whole valley, as far as the eye could see ... The fortress was the last stronghold of Qatar, after it there was nothing left. They suffered a complete defeat ... Exhausted by hunger and winter cold, they were helpless against the stone "rain" of catapults that rained down on Montsegur from morning to night.

- Tell me, Sever, why didn't the Perfect ones defend themselves? After all, as far as I know, no one had a better command of "movement" (I think, I mean telekinesis), "breath" and many other things. Why did they give up ?!
- There are reasons for this, Isidora. In the very first attacks of the Crusaders, the Cathars had not yet surrendered. But after the complete destruction of the cities of Albi, Beziers, Minerva and Lavura, in which thousands of civilians died, the church came up with a move that simply could not fail to work. Before attacking, they announced to the Perfect One that if they surrender, not a single person would be touched. And, of course, the Cathars surrendered ... From that day on, the fires of the Perfect ones began to blaze throughout Occitania. People who devoted their whole lives to Knowledge, Light and Good, were burned like garbage, turning the beautiful Occitania into a desert scorched by fires.

The Mackenzie is the longest river in Canada and the entire American North (including the Finley, Peace and Slave Rivers). The Mackenzie River flows through the northwestern part of the country and, due to its large number of tributaries, is an extremely ramified river system that occupies up to 20% of Canada's territory. The Mackenzie Basin covers several Canadian provinces, including: in the southern part it, Alberta and Saskatchewan, in the northwest - Yukon. River in the XVIII century. Europeans became interested in how a potential path to the Pacific Ocean, but Mackenzie could not bring the discoverers to the Pacific coast, it is separated from it by mountains - to the south there are ridges, and to the north - by the Mackenzie mountains.
Most of the way, the river flows through the lands of the northwestern, circumpolar region of the country, which is called the Northwest Territories. Its source is also located here - in the Great Slave Lake, although in fact the Mackenzie River begins in the Rocky Mountains from the source of the Finley River, which passes into the Peace River, and it, in turn, flows into Lake Athabasca, which connects with the Big Slave Lake, forming the largest Canadian and second longest river system in North America after the Mississippi-Missouri. - the deepest (614 m) in the North American continent, it is rightfully considered one of the wonders of local nature. Its name goes back to the designation of the local Slavey tribe - consonant, but having nothing to do with the English word "slave" ("slave", "slave"). The translation of the lake's name as "Slave" is, in fact, mistaken. By the way, the descendants of the Slavey were able to defend their right to the ancestral lands of the tribe, so that a small community of Indians still lives on the shores of the lake named after them.
The river basin occupies the northern part of the Canadian (North American) platform. This Precambrian (earlier 500 Ma) formation, the antiquity of which led to the presence of a number of minerals: rugel, copper, nickel, uranium, gold, zinc, lead and other metals, which lie in the basement of the platform, exposed in the north of the continent, and later the sedimentary cover of the platform contains deposits of oil, gas, coal, potash and other salts. Thanks to their development, these inhospitable places have become more inhabited: for example, the discovery in the 1930s. gold in the Slave Lake area led to the birth of the city of Yellowknife, which later became the administrative center of the province of the Northwest Territories and the center of gold mining. Silver and uranium have also been mined here, and since 1991, diamonds have been mined.
Flowing through the Northwest Territory, Mackenzie, near its mouth, crosses the border of the Arctic Circle and flows through the bay of the same name into the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean. When it merges with the sea, it forms a vast delta, the soil of which, to a depth of 100 m, is bound by permafrost. Mackenzie waters supply about 11% of the total river flow of the Arctic Ocean and play an important role in creating a microclimate in the delta region.
The river flows through a vast area of forests and tundra, in places with highly swampy areas. Over the greater length of its path, Mackenzie has a rather wide channel (from 2 to 5 km), along which the water flows slowly and calmly (the height difference from the source to the mouth is only 156 m). A delta up to 80 km wide is formed at the mouth. The banks are rocky and indented in places, but swamps make up no more than 18% of the river basin area. Most of the basin is covered with forest-tundra and forests, of which 93% are deserted, untouched by man. It feeds on rain and snow, with severe floods occurring when the snow and ice melt. From September to May, the river is hidden under ice.
The cold waters of Mackenzie are home to 53 species of fish, some of which are endemic. Interestingly, many fish species are genetically related to species found in the Mississippi: scientists suggest that earlier these rivers could be connected through a system of lakes and tributaries.
Exploration of the inhospitable northern river basin threatened to become the deepest disappointment not only for Alexander Mackenzie, but also for other geographers and travelers, who were primarily concerned with finding a river route to the Pacific Ocean. Over time, the river was appreciated and it immortalized the name of the discoverer.

The beginning of the formation of lakes and rivers in this region dates back to the end of the last ice age - about 11,000 years ago. They began to study Mackenzie not so long ago. The first European who managed to reach the coast of the Arctic Ocean, making his way to it on the mainland, is considered the English trader and traveler Samuel Herne (1745-1792). And the first description of this river dates back to 1789 and belongs to the Scottish merchant and traveler Alexander Mackenzie (1764-1820). However, according to the testimony of Mackenzie himself, around 1780, in the lower reaches of the river, the Indians had already exchanged some kind of white skins for iron. It could have been Russian seafarers. As an employee of the Northwest Fur Company, Mackenzie arranged an expedition. Initially, she had to find a waterway to the Pacific Ocean, which the Indians told about. Precisely because the expedition found a way out not to the Pacific, but to the Arctic Ocean, the river was first named "Disappointment", which means "Disappointment" in English. The trek began with the founding of the Chipevayan Fort on the Athabasca River. The river expedition itself started on June 3, 1789. Information has been preserved about the guide - an Indian named "English leader" who took part in the expedition to the Arctic Ocean S. Hern. Six days later, boats made of birch bark approached the Slave Lake, but only on June 29 Mackenzie found it flowing in the direction of the Quiet
(as he thought) an ocean without a name. The Indians they met talked about the endless length of the river and the difficulties with food. The most unpleasant surprise was that the river turned strictly to the north, and on July 10 A. Mackenzie wrote: "It is absolutely clear that this river flows into the Great North Sea," and on July 13 he saw the sea itself. The expedition did not explore its shores, but the night tides and whales frolicking in the bay made it clear that it was an ocean. Later, the English explorer of the Arctic, John Franklin (1786-1847), carried out in 1825-1826. an expedition to this river, he appropriated to it, and the mountains, and the bay, first explored by Mackenzie, the name of the "disappointed" Scotsman.
Mackenzie is navigable - the length of its navigable routes is 2,200 km. The level of seasonal fluctuations in water is used to generate hydropower. In 1968, Bennett Dam, one of the largest in the world, was built in the upper Mackenzie on the Peace River, and it is not the only one here: dams have appeared in many places, both for hydropower and for flood control. In the south, farming became possible. In addition, there is an ambitious project to move Arctic fresh melt waters inland and beyond, using the Mackenzie reservoir, irrigation and transport system.
The river is used for their own purposes not only by people: the Mackenzie Delta, located at the junction of four major migration routes of North American birds (their number reaches a million in autumn), is an important transit point for them.
The construction of the dam caused significant damage to the ecosystem of the river and, in particular, its delta, which led to a significant decrease in the populations of migratory birds. According to the US Geological Survey, published in Forbes magazine in 2004, about a quarter of the world's oil and natural gas reserves are located in the Arctic. In particular, "the Mackenzie River Delta and adjacent offshore area is extremely rich in natural gas, which will be produced over the next decade." Due to the large-scale transformation of the area around the pipeline, many species may soon disappear. In other parts of the river basin, oil, uranium, tungsten, gold and diamonds are mined, and in the upper reaches of the river there is a forest. In addition, Mackenzie is the main transport artery: whole "trains" of barges move along its surface (in winter, dog sleds and snowmobiles move along it).
No matter how noticeable human activity is for the river, only 1% of Canadians now live in its basin. The population of the basin is about 397,000 people (according to 2001 statistics), that is, the average population density is approximately 0.2 people per square kilometer, however, in recent years, tourism has begun to play an increasing role in the economy of the region, the city of Inuvik is the most visited population a point of the Arctic, a center of Inuit culture and a launching pad for many ecotourism routes. Scientific research, hydrographic and geological, is also of great importance.

general information

The longest river in Canada and the American North.

Main tributaries:(left) Liard, Arctic Red River, Peel; (right) Big Bearish.
Largest lakes: Big Slave, Athabasca, Williston, Claire.
Largest settlements: Inuvik, Norman Wells (Oilfield Center), Fort Providence.

Ethnic composition: Indians - 36%, descendants of the British - 17%, descendants of Scots and Irish - 26%, others (Eskimos / Inuit, French, Germans, mestizos, Ukrainians, etc.) - 1% (of all respondents, only 20% identify themselves as Canadians ).

Languages: English, Gwich'in, Inuinnaktun, Inuktitut, Inuktun, Cree, North and South Slavey, Dogrib, French, Dene.
Religions: Catholicism - over 50%, shamanism.

Ports: Hay River, Waterways, Taktoyaktuk.

Nearest airport: Yellowknife International Airport.

Numbers

Length: Mackenzie proper - 1,738 km, with the Finley, Peace River and Slave Rivers - 4241 km.

Width: up to 5 km.

Average depth: 8-9 m.

The height of the source: the Finley source - 1200 m, the source from the Great Slave Lake - 156 m.

Pool area: 1 805 200 km 2.

Water discharge at the mouth: average - 10,000 m 3 / sec, maximum - 31,800 m 3 / sec.
Solid runoff: 15 million tons / year.

Length of shipping lanes: 2200 km

Climate and weather

In the south of the basin - temperate, in the north - from subarctic to arctic.

Average annual water temperature:+ 3 ° C.
Average January temperature: from -16 ° С in the south to -28 ° С in the north.
Average temperature in July: from + 16 ° С in the south to + 8 ° С in the north.

Average annual rainfall: in the north less than 100 mm, in the south more than 300 mm, in the mountains up to 1000 mm.

Freezing up: September-May / June (downstream).

Economy

Minerals: natural gas, oil, uranium, tungsten, gold and diamonds.

Industry: hydropower, logging.
Agriculture: greenhouse vegetable growing (in the south).
Service sector: transport (shipping); tourism (hiking and boating recreational or sports tourism, also excursions to places of the gold rush, the city of Dawson).

sights

■ Natural: Little Slave Lake and Hillard Bay National Parks, Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary with a protected herd of 2,000 heads (north of Yellowknife), the youngest national park in the Arctic - Tuktut Nogate, Nahanni National Park (South Nahanni River Valley, South Mackenzie Mountains , founded in 1976) - a UNESCO World Heritage Site (since 1978), Cameron waterfalls, pingo hydrolaccoliths (cone-shaped hills up to 40 m in height and up to 300 m in width, which appeared on the surface under pressure from the underlying ice layers ).
■ Cultural and historical: Bennett Dam (1968) on the Peace River (tributary) with an excursion center.
■ Inuvik city: Catholic Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary Victorious (1958-1960), built in the shape of an igloo.
■ Yellowknife city: Old Town with houseboat settlement, Prince of Wales Historic Center (Inuit and Dene Ethnographic Museum), Legislative Assembly (1993)
■ Fort Providence: the center of the crafts of the Dene people.
■ Hay River Settlement: the main port of the Northwest Territories, home to the Dene people for over 1000 years.

Curious facts

■ Samuel Herne was accompanied on his journey by an Indian guide, who, in turn, was accompanied by ... eight wives.
■ In winter, snowstorms often occur, giving the effect of "white haze", when, in a strong wind, the snow turns into a stream, inside which the feeling of the depth of space is lost.

■ The first casino in Canada, Gertie's Diamond Tooth, got its exotic name in honor of Gertie Lovejoy: the front teeth of this 1898 local dance hall queen were decorated with a real diamond.
■ Taktoyaktuk is the northernmost settlement in Canada, a former whaling center.
■ The ice road on the Mackenzie River is approximately 3 m wide and 2.5 m thick and suitable for truck traffic. Travel speed should not exceed 75 km / h. However, there is a risk: if the car stalls, it can easily freeze in it, and the movement along this icy highway between the city of Taktoyaktuk and the city of Inuvik cannot be called active, so there is nowhere to wait for help.