Mackenzie Mountains

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Mackenzie Mountains
Keele Peak in the Mackenzie Mountains

Keele Peak in the Mackenzie Mountains

Highest peak Keele Peak ( 2972  m )
location between the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories , Canada
Mackenzie Mountains (Canada)
Mackenzie Mountains
Coordinates 65 °  N , 132 °  W Coordinates: 65 °  N , 132 °  W
surface 330,000 km²
p1
Virginia Falls , Nahanni National Park Reserve

The Mackenzie Mountains are a mountain range in northwestern Canada .

topography

The Mackenzie Mountains extend about 950 kilometers in north-south direction and about 800 kilometers in east-west direction between the Liard River and the Peel River . Neighboring mountains are the Franklin Mountains across the Mackenzie River in the east and the Selwyn Mountains in the west.

The Mackenzies form the border between the Northwest Territories , which comprise over 60% of the mountain range, and the Yukon Territory , which comprises about 35% of the mountain range. About 4% are in British Columbia . The Nahanni National Park is located in the southern Mackenzie Mountains.

The highest mountain of the Mackenzies is the 2972  m high Keele Peak , the second highest the Mount Sir James MacBrien with 2762  m . With the Nahanni Range Road to Tungsten and the Canol Road to Macmillan Pass, there are only two roads that lead into the sparsely populated mountains, both from the Yukon.

geology

The Mackenzie Mountains are mainly composed of Proterozoic , Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks, mainly limestone and siliciclastics . In addition, slate , sandstone and siltstone and limestone sediments from the chalk can be found.

The current morphology of the mountain range is due to the Laramian mountain formation between the Upper Cretaceous and the Paleocene.

The mountain range contains about 55% of the known world reserves of tungsten . The mining town of Tungsten with the Cantung Mine is located in the Mackenzie Mountains.

Climate and vegetation

The climate in the Mackenzies is characterized by comparatively mild summers and cold winters (down to below −50 ° C). The eastern slopes of the Mackenzie Mountains are among the wettest areas in the Yukon Territory, with annual rainfall of up to 750mm. The Mackenzie Mountains form a weather divide between the southwest, which is dominated by Pacific air masses, and the northeast, which is heavily influenced by the Beaufort Sea .

The vegetation of the Mackenzie Mountains is characterized by white spruce and subalpine fir forests at lower altitudes , followed by strauchtundra at higher altitudes .

history

The Mackenzie Mountains are named after Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820), a Scottish-Canadian explorer who explored the area in 1789.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Mackenzie Mountains on Peakbagger.com, accessed November 20, 2011.
  2. ↑ RB MacNaughton, KM Fallas, W. Zantvoort: Qualitative Assessment of the Plateau fault as a conceptual hydrocarbonal play . In: Geological Survey of Canada. Open file 5831 . Natural Resources Canada, 2008 ( Google Books [accessed November 20, 2011]).
  3. ^ A b Y. Lemieux: Hydrocarbon Assessment Summary Report of Mountain river, Keele River, Ravensthroat / Redstone River and Drum Lake areas of interest . In: Geological Survey of Canada. Open File 5576 . Natural Resources Canada, 2007 ( Google Books [accessed November 20, 2011]).
  4. ↑ Mackenzie Mountains on Peakware.com, accessed on 20 November 2011th
  5. ^ William J. Cody: Flora of the Yukon Territory . In: National Research Council of Canada (Ed.): Monographs - Plant Sciences . NRC Research Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-660-18110-3 , pp. 2 ( Google Books [accessed November 20, 2011]).
  6. ↑ a b Linheng Liang, G. Peter Kershaw: Climate change in the Mackenzie Mountains, NWT, Canada . In: Climate Research . tape 5 , no. 1-13 , February 23, 1995, pp. 2 ( int-res.com [PDF; accessed November 20, 2011]).
  7. ^ Barry M. Gough: First across the continent: Sir Alexander Mackenzie . In: The Oklahoma western biographies . tape 14 . University of Oklahoma Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-8061-3002-6 , pp. 212 ( Google Books [accessed November 20, 2011]).