The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') is a river in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, Canada, which originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is protected in national and provincial parks, and the river is designated a

Canadian Heritage River The Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS; french: Le réseau de rivières du patrimoine canadien) is a joint program administered by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to conserve and protect the best examples of Canada's river he ...

for its historical and cultural importance. The scenic Athabasca Falls is located about upstream from

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref ...

Etymology

The name ''Athabasca'' comes from the Woods Cree word , which means "

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a ...

there are plants one after another", likely a reference to the spotty vegetation along the river.

Course

The Athabasca River originates in Jasper National Park, in an unnamed lake at the toe of the Columbia Glacier within the Columbia Icefield, between Mount Columbia, Snow Dome, and the Winston Churchill Range, at an elevation of approximately . It travels before draining into the Peace-Athabasca Delta near Lake Athabasca south of

Fort Chipewyan Fort Chipewyan , commonly referred to as Fort Chip, is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada, within the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo. It is located on the western tip of Lake Athabasca, adjacent to Wood Buffalo National Park, app ...

. From there, its waters flow north as Rivière des Rochers, then join the

Peace River The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in ...

to form the Slave River, which empties into the Great Slave Lake and discharges through the Mackenzie River system into the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

. The cumulative drainage area is . Athabasca River JNP

The river flows along icefields and through gorges, offering wildlife habitat on its shores and in adjacent marshes. Throughout its course, it flows through or adjacent to numerous national and

provincial park Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to t ...

s, including Jasper National Park, Fort Assiniboine Sandhills Wildland Provincial Park, Hubert Lake Wildland Provincial Park, La Biche River Wildland Provincial Park, Grand Rapids Wildland Provincial Park, Richardson River Dunes Wildland Provincial Park, and Wood Buffalo National Park. Its course is marked by

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade' ...

, impeding navigation southwest of Fort McMurray. Numerous communities are located on the banks of the Athabasca River, including Jasper, Brule, Entrance, Hinton, Whitecourt,

Fort Assiniboine Fort Assiniboine is a hamlet in northwest Alberta, Canada, within Woodlands County. It is located along the north shore of the Athabasca River at the junction of Highway 33 and Highway 661. It is approximately northwest of Barrhead, southe ...

, Smith, Athabasca, Fort McMurray, and

Fort McKay Fort McKay ( ) or Fort MacKay is a community in northeast Alberta, Canada that is located at the confluence of the Athabasca and MacKay rivers. It is approximately north of Fort McMurray via Highway 63 and Fort McKay Road. The community has an ...

Tributaries

; Alberta's Rockies *Habel Creek *Warwick Creek *Quincy Creek * Chaba River *Dragon Creek *

Sunwapta River The Sunwapta River is a major tributary of the Athabasca River in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. Course The headwaters of the Sunwapta River are near the Columbia Icefield in the valley west-northwest of Sunwapta Pass, which divides Ja ...

*Ranger Creek *Fryatt Creek **Lick Creek *Geraldine Lakes *Kerkeslin Creek *Hardisty Creek * Whirlpool River * Astoria River *Portal Creek *Wabasso Creek *Whistlers Creek *Tekerra Creek * Miette River *Pyramid Lake * Maligne River *Garonne Creek *

Snaring River The Snaring River is a medium-sized river in the Canadian Rockies. It runs through parts of Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. The Snaring River is a significant tributary of the Athabasca River. The Snaring is named after a former lo ...

*Morro Creek *Cobblestone Creek *Corral Creek *Jacques Creek *Rocky River * Snake Indian River *Mountain Creek * Fiddle River *Supply Creek *Oldhouse Creek *Prine Creek *Maskuta Creek ;

Central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordered ...

*Hardisty Creek *Fish Creek *Cache Petotte Creek *Tiecamp Creek *Canyon Creek *Ponoka Creek *Plante Creek **Apetowun Creek *Obed Creek *Oldman Creek *Nosehill Creek *Jackpine Creek * Berland River **Wildhay River *Beaver Creek *Marsh Head Creek *Pine Creek *Pass Creek *Two Creek *Windfall Creek *Chickadee Creek *Bessie Creek *Stony Creek *Sakwatamau River * McLeod River ; Northern Alberta * Freeman River *Timeu Creek *

Pembina River Pembina River may refer to: * Pembina River (Alberta), a river in central Alberta, Canada *Pembina River (Manitoba – North Dakota) The Pembina River is a tributary of the Red River of the North, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. Nation ...

* Lesser Slave River *Lawrence Lake Creek *Baptiste Lake Creek *Tawatinaw River *La Biche River *Calling River *McMillan Lake Creek *Parallel Creek *Pelican River *House River *Horse River * Clearwater River *Steepbank River *Muskeg River *Mackay River *Ells River *

Firebag River The Firebag River is a river in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. It gets its name from the traditional bags Aboriginals once used to carry fire-starting flints. Firebag River in western Canada It originates in ''Firebag Lake'' in northw ...

*Richardson River

History

Sekani, Shuswap, Kootenay, Salish,

Stoney Stoney may refer to: Places * Stoney, Kansas, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stoney Creek (disambiguation) * Stoney Pond, a man-made lake located by Bucks Corners, New York * Stoney (lunar crater) * Stoney (Martian crater) ...

, and

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations. In Canada, over 350,000 people are Cree o ...

tribes hunted and fished along the river prior to European colonization in the 18th century. From about 1778, the Athabasca River, the Clearwater River, which enters the Athabasca River from the east at Fort McMurray, and the Methye Portage were part of a primary

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

route from the Mackenzie River to the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

(see Canadian Canoe Routes (early)). David Thompson and Thomas the Iroquois traveled through Athabasca Pass in 1811. In 1862, the Athabasca Springs area was crossed during the Cariboo Gold Rush by the Overlander Party. The northern segment of the Athabasca River became part of a major shipping network in 1921 when the

Alberta and Great Waterways Railway Northern Alberta Railways was a Canadian railway which served northern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. Jointly owned by both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, NAR existed as a separate company from 1929 until 19 ...

reached Waterways near Fort McMurray, making it the northernmost point on the North American railroad grid at that time. Cargo for destinations farther north was shipped to Waterways and transferred to barges, after which fleets of tugboats took them up the river to destinations in the Athabasca and Mackenzie River watersheds. Barge traffic declined after 1964 when

Hay River Hay River may refer to: Places * Hay River, Northwest Territories * Hay River, Wisconsin Rivers * Hay River (Wisconsin) * Hay River (Canada), a river in Alberta and Northwest Territories, Canada * Hay River, Northern Territory, Australia * Hay R ...

, on the Great Slave Lake in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

, became the northern terminus of the rail grid.

Environmental concerns

Owing to its proximity to the Athabasca oil sands, the river has seen significant amounts of energy infrastructure constructed along its course. On June 6, 1970, a pipeline operated by

Great Canadian Oil Sands Great Canadian Oil Sands Limited was a Canadian heavy oil company that existed between 1953 and 1979. In 1962, GCOS received a permit from the Alberta government to build a 31,500 barrels-per-day synthetic crude plant in the Athabasca oil sands ...

, the precursor to Suncor and the earliest commercial extraction operation, ruptured near the banks of the river. The total spill volume was estimated by Great Canadian Oil Sands at approximately . In 2012, an independent study concluded that the Athabasca River contained elevated levels of pollution downstream of the Athabasca oil sands. Testing showed this portion of the river contained mercury,

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

, and 11 other toxic elements. In 2021, another independent research was conducted on the streamflow and climate data sets for the Athabasca River Basin showing the seasonality of the streamflow and precipitation time series via wavelet analysis. The seasonal components of these time series were shown to be coherent with phase discrepancy. The mean temperature had been gradually increasing since 1960, and it was projected to increase by approximately 2 °C during the mid-century, possibly reducing the snowpack volume during the spring.

Coal mine spill

On October31, 2013, a pit at the Obed Mountain coal mine spilled, and between 600 million and a billion litres of slurry poured into Plante and Apetowun Creeks. The plume of waste products then joined the Athabasca River, travelling downstream for a month before settling in Lake Athabasca near Fort Chipewyan, over away.

Heritage

The river was designated a

Canadian heritage river The Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS; french: Le réseau de rivières du patrimoine canadien) is a joint program administered by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to conserve and protect the best examples of Canada's river he ...

for its importance to the fur trade and the construction of railways and roads opening up the

Canadian West Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada– ...

, as well as for its natural heritage. The Canadian Heraldic Authority named the position of

Athabaska Herald The Canadian Heraldic Authority (CHA; french: Autorité héraldique du Canada) is part of the Canadian honours system under the Canadian monarch, whose authority is exercised by the Governor General of Canada. The authority is responsible for t ...

after the river.

Gallery

Image:GeraldineLakes.jpg, Athabasca River Valley seen from the Geraldine Lakes Image:Athabasca_Falls_2005-06-11.jpeg, Flowing through the Athabasca Falls Image:Jasper, Alberta, Canada, ViewFromSummit RyanShepherd.JPG, Passing by

Image:Athabasca River JNP.JPG, In Jasper National Park Image:Athabascafrompyramid.jpg, Athabasca River valley from the Pallisades fire lookout Image:Athabasca_at_Brule_Lake.jpg, Athabasca River at the mouth of Brûlé Lake Image:Banks of the Athabasca (10859000606).jpg, Dr. Karl Clark and guide Romeo Eymundson on the bank of the Athabasca River. Image:Athabasca at windfall.JPG, Upstream from Whitecourt Image:Alberta tar sands.jpg, Bituminous sand banks north of Fort McMurray Image:Athabasca River July 2013.jpg, Athabasca River in July, 2013 Image:Athabasca River in Jasper.jpg, Athabasca River in

Image:Athabasca River Plaque.jpg, Plaque overlooking the river in Jasper National Park, 2015

References

External links

* http://www.environment.alberta.ca/apps/OSEM/ Athabasca River Conditions and Use, Government of Alberta * http://www.ramp-alberta.org/river.aspx Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency, RAMP (Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program), Athabasca River Basin * https://web.archive.org/web/20120414210651/http://www.chrs.ca/Rivers/Athabasca/Athabasca-F_e.php Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS), Athabasca River * http://arbri.athabascau.ca/About-the-Athabasca-River-basin/Index.php About the Athabasca River Basin, Athabasca River Basin Research Institute * {{Authority control Athabasca, Alberta Canadian Heritage Rivers Fort McMurray Jasper National Park Rivers of Alberta Whitecourt Rivers of the Canadian Rockies River, Athabasca