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Great Slave Lake

For the lake in Alberta, Canada, see Lesser Slave Lake.

Great Slave Lake
Tıdeè (Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì)
Tinde’e (Wıìlıìdeh Yatii/Tetsǫ́t’ıné Yatıé)
Tu Nedhé (Dëne Sųłıné Yatıé)
Tucho (Dehcho Dene Zhatıé)
NASA photo of Great Slave Lake and Lake Athabasca
Location of the lake in Canada.
Location of the lake in Canada.
Great Slave Lake
LocationNorthwest Territories
Coordinates61°30′01″N 114°00′04″W / 61.50028°N 114.00111°W / 61.50028; -114.00111 (Great Slave Lake)[1]
Lake typeGlacial
Primary inflowsHay River, Slave River, Taltson River, Lockhart River, Yellowknife River, Snare River (through Marian Lake and Frank Channel), Marian River (through Marian Lake and Frank Channel), Stark River
Primary outflowsMackenzie River
Catchment area971,000 km2 (375,000 sq mi)[2]
Basin countriesCanada
Max. length469 km (291 mi)[3]
Max. width203 km (126 mi)[3]
Surface area27,200 km2 (10,500 sq mi)[2]
Average depth41 m (135 ft)[2]
Max. depth614 m (2,014 ft)[2]
Water volume1,115 km3 (268 cu mi)[2]/
Shore length13,057 km (1,900 mi)[2]
Surface elevation156 m (512 ft)[2]
FrozenNovember - mid June[4]
SettlementsYellowknife, Hay River, Behchokǫ̀, Fort Resolution, Łutselk'e, Hay River Reserve, Dettah, Ndilǫ
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Great Slave Lake[1][a] is the second-largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada (after Great Bear Lake), the deepest lake in North America at 614 m (2,014 ft),[2] and the tenth-largest lake in the world by area. It is 469 km (291 mi) long and 20 to 203 km (12 to 126 mi) wide.[3] It covers an area of 27,200 km2 (10,500 sq mi)[2] in the southern part of the territory. Its given volume ranges from 1,070 km3 (260 cu mi)[10] to 1,580 km3 (380 cu mi)[2] and up to 2,088 km3 (501 cu mi)[11] making it the 10th or 12th largest by volume.

The lake shares its name with the First Nations peoples of the Dene family called Slavey by their enemies the Cree. Towns situated on the lake include (clockwise from east) Łutselk'e, Fort Resolution, Hay River, Hay River Reserve, Behchokǫ̀, Yellowknife, Ndilǫ, and Dettah. The only community in the East Arm is Łutselk'e, a hamlet of about 350 people, largely Chipewyan Indigenous peoples of the Dene Nation, and the abandoned winter camp and Hudson's Bay Company post Fort Reliance. Along the south shore, east of Hay River is the abandoned Pine Point Mine and the company town of Pine Point.

  1. ^ a b "Great Slave Lake". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cite error: The named reference EoEarth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c "Google Maps Distance Calculator (From Behchoko to the Slave River Delta it is 203 km and from the Mackenzie River to the furthest reaches of the East Arm it is 469 km)". Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  4. ^ Nav Canada's Water Aerodrome Supplement. Effective 0901Z 26 March 2020 to 0901Z 22 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Grand lac des Esclaves". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  6. ^ "Kw'ahtidee Jimmy Bruneau" (PDF). Northwest Territories. NWT Literary Council. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Indigenous Risk Perceptions and Land-Use in Yellowknife, NT" (PDF). Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  8. ^ Wohlberg, Meagan. "We Are T'satsąot'inę: Renaming Yellowknife". Edge North. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  9. ^ Cohen, Sidney. "Big Lake". Up Here. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  10. ^ Schertzer, William M.; Rouse, Wayne R.; Blanken, Peter D.; Walker, Anne E. (August 2003). "Over-Lake Meteorology and Estimated Bulk Heat Exchange of Great Slave Lake in 1998 and 1999" (PDF). Journal of Hydrometeorology. 4 (4). American Meteorological Society: 650. Bibcode:2003JHyMe...4..649S. doi:10.1175/1525-7541(2003)004<0649:OMAEBH>2.0.CO;2. S2CID 24895512. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2011. The surface area of Great Slave Lake is 27,200 km2 with a total volume of 1,070 km3 (van der Leeden et al. 1990)
  11. ^ "LakeNet - Lakes". www.worldlakes.org.


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