Great Bear Lake, NWT, Canada

Mackenzie River drainage basin showing Great Bear Lake's position in the Western Canadian Arctic

Great Bear Lake (Slavey: Sahtu, French: Grand lac de l'Ours) is the largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada, the fourth largest in North America, and the eight largest in the world. The lake is situated on the Arctic Circle between 65 and 67 degrees of northern latitude and between 118 and 123 degrees western longitude, 186 m (610 ft) above sea level. Image File history File links Great_Bear_Lake. ... Image File history File links Great_Bear_Lake. ... Image File history File links Mackenzie_River_drainage_basin. ... Image File history File links Mackenzie_River_drainage_basin. ... Approximate extent of the Mackenzie River watershed The Mackenzie River (French: fleuve Mackenzie) originates in Great Slave Lake, in the Northwest Territories, and flows north into the Arctic Ocean. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Motto: None Official languages Dene Suline, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Gwichʼin, Inuktitut, Slavey Flower Mountain avens Capital Yellowknife Largest city Yellowknife Commissioner Tony Whitford Premier Joe Handley (Consensus government - no party affiliations) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 1 1 Area Total  - Land  - Water    (% of total)  Ranked 3rd 1... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... A sign along the Dalton Highway marking the location of the Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. ... Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter φ, gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the Equator. ... Longitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter λ, describes the location of a place on Earth east or west of a north-south line called the Prime Meridian. ...

The lake has a surface area of 31,153 km² (12,028 mi²) and a total volume of 2,236 km³ (536 mi³). Its maximum depth is 446 m (1,463 ft) and its average depth 72 m (236 ft). The total shoreline is 2,719 km (1,690 mi) and the total catchment area of the lake is 114,717 km² (44,293 mi²).

The lake empties through the Great Bear River (Sahtu De) into the Mackenzie River. The only communities along the lake are Deline at the southwest end and Echo Bay on the northeast side. Approximate extent of the Mackenzie River watershed The Mackenzie River (French: fleuve Mackenzie) originates in Great Slave Lake, in the Northwest Territories, and flows north into the Arctic Ocean. ... Categories: Northwest Territories communities | Stub ... Great Bear Lake, NWT, Canada Port Radium is the regional name for a mining area on the eastern shore of Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. ...

The Sahtu Dene people took their name from the lake. The Sahtu are a Dene people living in the vicinity of Great Bear Lake (Sahtu, the source of their name), Northwest Territories, Canada. ... The Dene are a group of First Nations that live in the Arctic regions of Canada. ...

The Prehistory

Great Bear Lake lies between two major physiographic regions: the Kazan Uplands portion of the Canadian Shield and the Interior Plains. Originally it was part of preglacial valleys that were reshaped by erosional effects of ice during the Pleistocene. Since then, the lake has undergone various changes resulting from rebound following the melting of the ice. Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield is a large craton in eastern and central Canada and adjacent portions of the United States, composed of bare rock dating to the Precambrian Era (between 4. ... The Interior Plains is a vast region that spreads across the legs (craton) of North America. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion s the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock and other particles) by the agents of wind, water or ice, by downward or down-slope movement in response to gravity or by living organisms (in the case of... The Pleistocene epoch (pronounced like ply-stow-seen) is part of the geologic timescale. ...

Precambrian rocks of the Canadian Shield form the eastern margin of the McTavish Arm. These rocks of the Precambrian are made up of sedimentary and metamorphic deposits supplemented by igneous intrusions forming dikes and sills. The Precambrian is an informal name for the eons of the geologic timescale that came before the current Phanerozoic eon. ... Sediment is any particulate matter that can be transported by fluid flow and which eventually is deposited as a layer of solid particles on the bed or bottom of a body of water or other liquid. ... Metamorphism can be defined as the mineralogical, chemical and crystallographic changes in a solid-state rock, i. ... Igneous rocks are formed when molten rock (magma) cools and solidifies, with or without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive (plutonic) rocks or on the surface as extrusive (volcanic) rocks. ... Pluton redirects here. ... A dike in geology refers to a tabular intrusive igneous body. ... In geology, a sill is a tabular mass of igneous rock that has been intruded laterally between layers of older rock. ...

Climate

Between 1950 and 1974, this climatic data was collected at Port Radium: Great Bear Lake, NWT, Canada Port Radium is the regional name for a mining area on the eastern shore of Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. ...

A degree Celsius (°C) is a unit of temperature named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701-1744), who first proposed a similar system in 1742. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ...

See also

• Great Slave Lake
• List of world's largest lakes

... Worlds largest lakes (over 1,700 sq. ...

External links

• Great Bear Lake Watershed
• World Lakes Database
• Prehistory of Great Bear Lake