The Mackenzie Mountains are a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
forming part of the
Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
-
Northwest Territories boundary between the
Liard and
Peel rivers. The range is named in honour of
Canada's second prime minister,
Alexander Mackenzie.
Nahanni National Park Reserve
Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, approximately west of Yellowknife, protects a portion of the Mackenzie Mountains Natural Region. The centrepiece of the park is the South Nahanni River ( ...
and
Nááts'ihch'oh National Park Reserve are in the Mackenzie Mountains.
The mining town of
Tungsten
Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...
, site of the
Cantung Mine
Cantung Mine is a tungsten producer in the Nahanni area of the Northwest Territories, Canada, located northeast of Watson Lake in the Flat River Valley of the Selwyn Range close to the Yukon border. Tungsten was originally discovered in the ar ...
, is in the Mackenzie Mountains. Only two roads lead into the Mackenzie Mountains, both in Yukon: the
Nahanni Range Road leading to the townsite of Tungsten and the
Canol Road
The Canol Road was part of the Canol Project and was built to construct a pipeline from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, to Whitehorse, Yukon, during World War II. The pipeline no longer exists, but the long Yukon portion of the road ...
leading to the
Macmillan Pass.
The highest mountain in this range is
Keele Peak
Keele Peak, in Yukon, Canada is the highest peak in the Mackenzie Mountains at . With a prominence measure of it is one of Canada's most prominent peaks. It is located about 25 km from the Canol Road not far from the Northwest Territories b ...
at , in Yukon. The second-highest mountain is
Mount Nirvana
Mount Nirvana, at is the unofficial name of the highest mountain in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Currently the Canadian government is working to officially recognize the name ''Thunder Mountain'', reflecting the local Dehcho First Nation ...
. It is, at , the highest mountain in the Northwest Territories.
The Silurian fish family
Archipelepididae has been described from specimens found in the Mackenzie Mountains.
[Soehn, K. L., Märss, T., Caldwell, M. W. & Wilson, M. V. H., 2001: New and biostratigraphically useful thelodonts from the Silurian of the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 21: 651-659]
References
Canadian GeoNames Database entry
Further reading
* Aitken, J. D. (1991). ''The Ice Brook Formation and post-Rapitan, Late Proterozoic glaciation, Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories''.
ttawa Energy, Mines and Resources Canada.
* EXCELeration Corp. (2000). ''Benefits of outfitted hunting in the NWT Mackenzie mountains''. Calgary: EXCELeration Corp.
* Hanke, G. F., Wilson, M. V., & Lindoe, L. A. (2001). ''New species of Silurian acanthodians from the Mackenzie Mountains, Canada''. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 38 (11), 1517.
* James, N., Narbonne, G., & Kyser, T. (2001). ''Late Neoproterozoic cap carbonates: Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada: precipitation and global glacial meltdown''. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 38, 1229–1262.
* Keele, J. (1910). ''A reconnaissance across the Mackenzie mountains on the Pelly, Ross, and Gravel rivers, Yukon, and North West territories''. Ottawa: Government printing bureau.
* Latour, Paul B. ''A Survey of Dall's Sheep in Zone E/1-1, Northern Mackenzie Mountains''. Norman Wells, NWT: Dept. of Renewable Resources, Govt. of the Northwest Territories, 1992.
* Miller, S. J., Barichello, N., & Tait, D. E. N. (1982). ''The grizzly bears of the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories''. Yellowknife, N.W.T.: N.W.T. Wildlife Service.
* Morrow, D. W., & Cook, D. G. (1987). ''The Prairie Creek Embayment and Lower Paleozoic strata of the southern Mackenzie Mountains''. Ottawa, Canada: Energy, Mines and Resources Canada.
* Porsild, A. E. (1940). ''The Alpine flora of the east slope of Mackenzie mountains, Northwest territories''. Ottawa: E. Cloutier, Printer to the King.
External links
Climate change in the Mackenzie Mountains(1995), Liang, L, Kershaw, G.P. ''Climate Research''
Mountain goat survey, Flat River area, Western Mackenzie Mountains(2004). Larter, N.C. Dept of Resources, Wildlife, and Economic Development, Gov't of the NWT. Manuscript Report No. 157.
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of Yukon
Mountain ranges of the Northwest Territories
Nahanni National Park Reserve