Great Slave Lake

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

Great Slave Lake (French: Grand lac des Esclaves) is the second largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada (behind Great Bear Lake), the deepest lake in North America at 614 meters (2,015 ft.), and the tenth largest lake in the world. It is 480 kilometres long and 19 to 109 kilometres wide. It covers an area of 28,400 square kilometres in the southern part of the territory. Its volume is 2,090 cubic kilometres. The lake was named for the Slavey North American Indians.

The Hay and Slave Rivers are its chief tributaries. It is drained by the Mackenzie River. Though the western shore is forested, the east shore and northern arm are tundra-like. The southern and eastern shores reach the edge of the Canadian Shield. Along with other lakes such as the Great Bear and Athabasca, it is a remnant of a vast post-glacial lake.

British fur trader Samuel Hearne explored the area in 1771 and crossed the frozen lake, which he initially named Lake Athapuscow (after an erroneous French speaker's pronunciation of Athabaska). In the 1930s, gold was discovered there, which led to the establishment of Yellowknife, the territory's capital. Other towns around the lake include: Fort Providence, Hay River and Fort Resolution.

It is at least partially frozen during an average of 8 months of the year. During winter Great Slave Lake is frozen enough for semitrucks to pass over. Until 1967, when an all-season highway was built around the lake, goods were shipped across the ice to Yellowknife, located on the north shore. Goods and fuel are still shipped across frozen lakes up the winter road to the diamond mines located near the headwaters of the Coppermine River, Northwest Territories. A ferry is required to access Yellowknife during summer when the ice is not present in a solid sheet.

South of Great Slave Lake, in a remote comer of Wood Buffalo National Park, is the nesting site of a remnant flock of whooping cranes, discovered in 1954 ([reference]).

Great Slave Lake

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