Great Bear Lake

File:Great Bear Lake (depth information).png

Image:Mackenzie River drainage basin.PNG drainage basin showing Great Bear Lake's position in the Western Canadian Arctic]]

The lake has a surface area of {{cvt|31153|km2}} and a volume of {{cvt|2234|km3}}. Its maximum depth is {{cvt|446|m}} and average depth {{cvt|71.7|m}}. The shoreline is {{cvt|2719|km}} and the catchment area of the lake is {{cvt|114717|km2}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/nam/nam-30.html|title=Great Bear Lake|work=World Lakes Database|publisher=International Lake Environment Committee|access-date=2 February 2013

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605082305/http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/nam/nam-30.html|archive-date=5 June 2011}} Great Bear Lake is covered with ice from late November to July.

The lake is known for its considerable clarity. Explorer John Franklin wrote in 1828 that a white rag placed in the water did not disappear until it exceeded a depth of {{convert|15|fathom|lk=in}}.{{cite book |last=Franklin|first=John|date=1828|title=Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/33467/33467-h/33467-h.htm|publisher=Carey, Lea, and Carey|page=264}}

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 is located on the Keith Arm near the outflow of the Great Bear River that flows west into the Mackenzie River at Tulita.{{cite web| title =The Atlas of Canada - Toporama|url =http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/toporama/index.html|publisher=Natural Resources Canada| access-date =23 January 2015}}

Rivers flowing into Great Bear Lake include the Whitefish River,{{cite cgndb|id=LAZYG|name=Whitefish River}} Big Spruce River,{{cite cgndb|id=LACXQ|name=Big Spruce River}} Haldane River,{{cite cgndb|id=LAJVL|name=Haldane River}} Bloody River,{{cite cgndb|id=LADFE|name=Bloody River}} Sloan River,{{cite cgndb|id=LAWCG|name=Sloan River}} Dease River{{cite cgndb|id=LAGBJ|name=Dease River}} and the Johnny Hoe River.{{cite cgndb|id=LAMBC|name=Johnny Hoe River}}

Great Bear Lake lies between two major physiographic regions: the Kazan Uplands portion of the Canadian Shield and the Interior Plains. It was part of glacial Lake McConnell in the pre-glacial valleys reshaped by ice erosion during the Pleistocene. Since, the lake has changed from 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 sedimentary and metamorphic deposits supplemented by igneous intrusions forming dikes and sills.{{cite web|url=http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/278603.pdf|title=Great Bear Lake|author=Lionel Johnson|publisher= Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans Freshwater Institute|access-date=12 February 2015}}

The community of Délı̨nę is on the lake, near the headwaters of the Bear River.{{cite web |url=http://spectacularnwt.com/explore-our-regions/15/deline |title=Deline - "Where the Water Flows" |work=Spectacular Northwest Territories |publisher=Northwest Territories |access-date=19 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726215813/http://spectacularnwt.com/explore-our-regions/15/deline |archive-date=26 July 2014 }} There is an ice crossing from Délı̨nę to the winter road on the far side of the Great Bear River.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/impassable-ice-roads-delay-holiday-travel-1.860531 |title=Impassable ice roads delay holiday travel |date=23 December 2009 |work=CBC News: North |publisher=CBC |access-date=2 February 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.dot.gov.nt.ca/_live/pages/wpPages/Open_Close_Dates_Community_Access_Roads.aspx |title=Open and Close Dates for the NWT's Community Access Roads |work=Transportation |publisher=Government of the Northwest Territories |access-date=2 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130104125657/http://www.dot.gov.nt.ca/_live/pages/wpPages/Open_Close_Dates_Community_Access_Roads.aspx |archive-date=4 January 2013}}

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 {{cvt|40000|kg}} on the road.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/truck-plunges-deline-ice-road-1.3477869 |title=Fuel tanker plunges through Deline, N.W.T., ice road |date=5 March 2016 |publisher=CBC News |first=Chris |last=Windeyer}} The truck, which was {{cvt|3|km}} outside of Délı̨nę and close to the community's fresh water intake, as well as a major fishing area, contained approximately {{cvt|30000|L}} of heating fuel and was one of 70 truck loads intended to resupply the community.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/deline-nwt-fuel-tanker-stuck-ice-1.3479766 |title=N.W.T. hopes to remove fuel from tanker stuck in ice near Deline quickly |date=7 March 2016 |publisher=CBC News |first=Guy |last=Quenneville}} The fuel was removed from the truck by 2 am, 8 March.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/deline-ice-road-tanker-fuel-drained-1.3481630 |title=Fuel load successfully drained from tanker stuck in ice near Deline, N.W.T. |date=8 March 2016 |publisher=CBC News |first=Guy |last=Quenneville}}

Three lodges around the lake are destinations for fishing and hunting. In 1995, a {{cvt|32.65|kg}} lake trout was caught, the largest ever caught anywhere by angling.{{cite web |url=https://igfa.org/member-services/world-record/common-name/Trout,%20lake |title=International Game Fish Association - Trout, lake (Salvelinus namaycush)|access-date=25 July 2023}}

In 1930, Gilbert LaBine discovered uranium deposits in the Great Bear Lake region.{{Cite web |date=1989-08-15 |title=Gilbert A. LaBine (1890 - 1977) - Canadian Mining Hall of Fame |url=https://mininghalloffame.ca/gilbert-a-labine/ |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=mininghalloffame.ca |language=en-US}} The former mining area Port Radium, site of the Eldorado Mine, where pitchblende was discovered, was located on the eastern shore. Echo Bay Mines Limited leased the old camp and mill at Port Radium to recover silver and copper values from 1965 to 1981.{{cite book |author=Schiller, E A |title=Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 65-11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KZmF8lZkbe8C&pg=PA42 |publisher=Natural Resources Canada |pages=42– |id=GGKEY:CR5H58XXBJZ}}

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 Dene Elder, is widely regarded as a prophet, making over 30 prophecies which have been interpreted as having come true.{{cite web|url=https://edgenorth.ca/article/prophet-ayah-nostradamus-of-the-north/ |title=Prophet Ayah: Nostradamus of the North|last1=Wohlberg|first1=M.|work=Edge North |date=22 January 2016|access-date=25 July 2023}} 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.Sakardi, L. (26 December 2017). [https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/inside-fight-protect-arctics-water-heart Inside the fight to protect the Arctic’s “Water Heart”]. Retrieved from Canadian Geographic 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. (31 August 2016). [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/deline-to-sign-historic-agreement-1.3742178 Deline set to launch historic self-government, 20 years in the making] Retrieved from CBC News

{{Portal|Lakes|Canada|Geography}}

File:Fort Confidence2.jpg|Ruins of Fort Confidence at the mouth of the Dease River in 1911

File:Deline4.jpg|The community of Délı̨nę 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

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• [http://anglicanhistory.org/canada/bompas/great_bear1867.html 1867 account of the lake] by William Bompas

{{Northwest Territories hydrography}}

{{Northwest Territories parks}}

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Category:Lakes of the Northwest Territories