Great Bear Lake ( den, Sahtú; french: Grand lac de l'Ours) is a lake in the

boreal forest of Canada Boreal may refer to: Climatology and geography *Boreal (age), the first climatic phase of the Blytt-Sernander sequence of northern Europe, during the Holocene epoch *Boreal climate, a climate characterized by long winters and short, cool to mild ...

. It is the largest lake entirely in Canada (

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

and Lake Huron are larger but straddle the Canada–US border), the fourth-largest in North America, and the eighth-largest in the world. The lake is in the Northwest Territories, on the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

between 65 and 67 degrees of northern latitude and between 118 and 123 degrees western longitude, above sea level. The name originated from the Chipewyan language word , meaning "grizzly bear water people". The

Sahtu The Sahtú or North Slavey (historically called ''Hare'' or ''Hareskin Indians'') are a Dene First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living in the vicinity of Great Bear Lake (''Sahtú'', the source of their nam ...

, a

Dene The Dene people () are an indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages. ''Dene'' is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term "Dene" ha ...

people, are named after the lake. Grizzly Bear Mountain on the shore of the lake also comes from Chipewyan, meaning, "bear large hill".Johnson, L
The Great Bear Lake: Its Place in History
Calgary, Alberta: ''Arctic Institute of North America'' (AINA) database at the University of Calgary. pp. 236-237. Retrieved on: 2012-01-30. The Sahoyue (Grizzly Bear Mountain) peninsula on the south side of the lake and the Edacho (Scented Grass Hills) peninsula on the west side form the

Saoyú-ʔehdacho Saoyú-ʔehdacho (also known as Sahoyue-Edacho, Sahoyúé-§ehdacho, Saoyú and Æehdacho and Grizzly Bear Mountain and Scented Grass Hills) is a cultural landscape in the Northwest Territories, Canada, comprising two peninsulas in Great Bear ...

National Historic Site of Canada.

Geography

The lake has a surface area of and a volume of . Its maximum depth is and average depth . The shoreline is and the catchment area of the lake is . Great Bear Lake is covered with ice from late November to July. The lake is known for its considerable clarity. Explorer

John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through t ...

wrote in 1828 that a white rag placed in the water did not disappear until it exceeded a depth of .

Arms

Arms of Great Bear Lake include the Smith Arm (northwest), the Dease Arm (northeast), the McTavish Arm (southeast), the McVicar Arm (south) and the Keith Arm (southwest). The community of

Délı̨nę The Charter Community of Délı̨nę (North Slavey: ) is located in the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, on the western shore of Great Bear Lake and is northwest of Yellowknife. Délı̨nę means "where the waters flow", a ref ...

is located on the Keith Arm near the outflow of the

Great Bear River The long Great Bear River, which drains the Great Bear Lake westward through marshes into the Mackenzie River, forms an important transportation link during its four ice-free months. It originates at south-west bay of the lake. The river has ir ...

that flows west into the Mackenzie River at

Tulita Tulita, which in Slavey means "where the rivers or waters meet," is a hamlet in the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It was formerly known as ''Fort Norman'', until 1 January 1996. It is located at the junction of the Great Be ...

Tributaries

Rivers flowing into Great Bear Lake include the Whitefish River, Big Spruce River, Haldane River, Bloody River, Sloan River, Dease River and the Johnny Hoe River.

Prehistoric geology

Great Bear Lake lies between two major physiographic regions: the Kazan Uplands portion of the Canadian Shield and the

Interior Plains The Interior Plains is a vast Physiographic province, physiographic region that spreads across the Laurentia, Laurentian craton of central North America, extending along the east flank of the Rocky Mountains from the Gulf Coast region to the Arcti ...

. It was part of glacial

Lake McConnell Lake McConnell was a very large proglacial lake that existed in what is now Canada from 11,800 to 8,300 years ago. Other sources give starting and ending dates of about 12,000 and between 9,000 and 8,000 years ago, respectively. It covered parts of ...

in the pre-glacial valleys reshaped by

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

al ice during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

. Since, the lake has changed from

post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound ...

following the ice melting. Precambrian rocks of the Canadian Shield form the eastern margin of the McTavish Arm. These rocks of the Precambrian are

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...

ary and

metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...

deposits supplemented by

igneous Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...

intrusions forming

dike Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes ...

s and sills.

Climate

Human use

The community of

is on the lake, near the headwaters of the Bear River. There is an ice crossing from Délı̨nę to the winter road on the far side of the Great Bear River. On 5 March 2016, a tank truck fell partway through the ice road just a few days after the government had increased the allowed maximum weight limit to on the road. The truck, which was outside of Délı̨nę and close to the community's fresh water intake, as well as a major fishing area, contained approximately of heating fuel and was one of 70 truck loads intended to resupply the community. The fuel was removed from the truck by 2 am, 8 March. Three lodges around the lake are destinations for fishing and hunting. In 1995, a

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...

was caught, the largest ever caught anywhere by angling.

Mining

In 1930,

Gilbert LaBine Gilbert A. LaBine, (10 February 1890 – 8 June 1977) was a Canadian prospector who, in 1930, discovered radium and uranium deposits at Port Radium, Northwest Territories. He has become known as the father of Canada's uranium industry. LaB ...

discovered

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

deposits in the Great Bear Lake region. The former mining area

Port Radium Port Radium is a mining area on the eastern shore of Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. It included the settlement of Cameron Bay as well as the Eldorado (also called Port Radium) and Echo Bay mines. The name Port Radium did n ...

, site of the Eldorado Mine, where

pitchblende Uraninite, formerly pitchblende, is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral and ore with a chemical composition that is largely UO2 but because of oxidation typically contains variable proportions of U3O8. Radioactive decay of the uranium causes t ...

was discovered, was located on the eastern shore.

Echo Bay Mines Limited Echo Bay Mines Limited was a Canadian company which was organized in 1964 by Northwest Explorers Limited to develop a silver deposit at Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada, which had been staked in 1930 by The Consolidated Mining and Sm ...

leased the old camp and mill at Port Radium to recover silver and copper values from 1965 to 1981.

Cultural significance

The Prophecy

Great Bear Lake is paramount in the Délı̨nę peoples' identity, laws and culture. Hence, conserving it is critical for the Délı̨nę people. ɂehtsǝ́o Erǝ́ya, a

Elder, is widely regarded as a prophet, making over 30 prophecies which have been interpreted as having come true. His prediction for the end of times claims that, as the world dries up, the little remaining life will flock to, and end on the banks of the Great Bear Lake, a lake seen as a physical beating heart to humanity. The Délı̨nę people have followed these prophecies closely, the cultural considerations being a driving force for self-governance and environmental sustainability.inchey, G., & Kyle, K. (2016, August 31)
Deline set to launch historic self-government, 20 years in the making
Retrieved from CBC News

Gallery

File:Fort Confidence2.jpg, Ruins of Fort Confidence at the mouth of the Dease River in 1911 File:Deline4.jpg, The community of

on Great Bear Lake File:Bear Mountain, Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories.jpg, Grizzly Bear Mountain, Great Bear Lake File:GreatBearLake_Canada_nwcanada_amo_2005235_lrg.jpg, Smoke from forest fires in Alaska blows over Great Bear Lake File:Great Bear Lake.jpg, Great Bear Lake. Note the smoke plumes from wildfires

References

External links

1867 account of the lake
by William Carpenter Bompas {{Authority control Lakes of the Northwest Territories