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Mackenzie River

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: North American Geography

                                    Mackenzie
   The lower Mackenzie River at the end of August. Source: NASA.

        The lower Mackenzie River at the end of August. Source: NASA.

   Origin          Great Slave Lake, in Northwest Territories
   Mouth           Arctic Ocean
   Basin countries Canada
   Length          1,738 km (1,079 mi) without headstreams, 4,241 km (2,634 mi)
                   with headstreams
   Avg. discharge  9,700 cubic metres per second
   Approximate extent of the Mackenzie River watershed
   Enlarge
   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. It is the longest river in Canada at 1,738 km and,
   together with its headstreams the Peace and the Finlay, the second
   longest river in North America at 4,241 km in length; only the
   Mississippi-Missouri is longer. The Mackenzie and its tributaries drain
   1,805,200 square kilometers. Its mean discharge is 9,700 cubic metres
   per second.

   The large marshy delta of the Mackenzie River provides habitat for
   migrating Snow Geese, Tundra Swans, and Brant as well as breeding
   habitat for other waterfowl. The estuary is a calving area for Beluga
   whales.

   The river is navigable for approximately five months of the year. It
   freezes over in October and the ice on the river breaks up in May.
   During the winter months, sections of the river are used as an ice
   road.

   During the ice-free period the river is navigable over its entire
   length. Barge traffic from an intermodal hub at the railhead at Hay
   River serves much of the Western Arctic.

   The Mackenzie (previously Disappointment River) was named after
   Alexander Mackenzie who travelled the river while trying to reach the
   Pacific Ocean. In the Dene languages it is called Deh Cho.

   The divide between the Mackenzie basin and the basin of the Yukon River
   to the west forms the central portion of the boundary between Northwest
   Territories and the Yukon.

Lakes and tributaries

   The Mackenzie River system includes:
     * Great Bear Lake
     * Great Slave Lake
     * Lake Athabasca

   and the following rivers:
     * Arctic Red
     * Athabasca
     * Finlay
     * Fond du Lac
     * Fort Nelson
     * Hay
     * Liard
     * Parsnip
     * Peace
     * Peel
     * Pembina
     * Petitot
     * Slave
     * Smoky
     * South Nahanni

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_River"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
