The Tintina Trench is a roughly valley extending from southwestern

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, Canada to the

Yukon Flats The Yukon Flats are a vast area of wetlands, forest, bog, and low-lying ground centered on the confluence of the Yukon River, Porcupine River, and Chandalar River in the central portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. The Yukon Flats are bordered in ...

in the central portion of the U.S. state of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. It is a prominent topographic lineament along the northern extension of the Northern Rocky Mountain Trench in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

and it has its origin from the

Tintina Fault The Tintina Fault is a large right-lateral fault (geology), strike-slip fault in western North America, extending from Flathead Lake, Flathead Lake, Montana to the centre of the U.S. state of Alaska. It represents the Yukon continuum between the R ...

.The Geological Framework of the Yukon Territory
It was named by R.G. McConnell of the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; , CGC) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the environment. A branch of the Earth Science ...

in 1904 after an indigenous word for “chief.” The Tintina Trench crosses the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

between the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

and the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

near Finlayson Lake, between Ross River and Watson Lake. The northwestern part of the valley is occupied by the

Yukon River The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S ...

before it flows northwestward into

. The central part of the valley is occupied by the

Pelly River The Pelly River (Ts'ekínyäk Chú) is a river in Canada, and is a headstream of the Yukon River. The river originates west of the Mackenzie Mountains and flows through south-central Yukon. The Pelly has two main tributaries, the Ross and ...

before its confluence with the Yukon River at

Fort Selkirk Fort Selkirk is a former trading post on the Yukon River at the confluence of the Pelly River in Canada's Yukon. For many years it was home to the Selkirk First Nation (Northern Tutchone). Climate On February 3, 1947, a temperature of –65 ° ...

. The southern Tintina Trench is drained by the

Liard River The Liard River of the Boreal forest of Canada, North American boreal forest flows through Yukon, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, Canada. Rising in the Saint Cyr Range of the Pelly Mountains in southeastern Yukon, it flows sout ...

which first flows south-eastward, then eastward and finally merges into the

Mackenzie River The Mackenzie River (French: ; Slavey language, Slavey: ' èh tʃʰò literally ''big river''; Inuvialuktun: ' uːkpɑk literally ''great river'') is a river in the Canadian Canadian boreal forest, boreal forest and tundra. It forms, ...

at Fort Simpson, NWT where the combined waters turn back north for the Mackenzie's long flow to the Arctic Ocean. Communities and features of the Trench include the following: * Lower Post, BC on the Liard Plain, see 'last outpost of civilization' by

George Mercer Dawson George Mercer Dawson (August 1, 1849 – March 2, 1901) was a Canadian geologist and surveyor. He performed many early explorations in western North America and compiled numerous records of the native peoples. Biography He was born in ...

. *

Watson Lake, Yukon Watson Lake is a town in Yukon, Canada, located at mile 635 on the Alaska Highway close to the British Columbia border. It had a population of 1,133 in 2021. The town is named for Frank Watson, an American-born trapper and prospector, who settled ...

on the Liard Plain, but a waypoint for travel up the Tintina *

Ross River, Yukon Ross River is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Yukon, Canada. It lies at the junction of the Ross River (Yukon), Ross River and the Pelly River, along the Canol Road, not far from the Campbell Highway. Primary access to t ...

Faro, Yukon Faro is a town in central Yukon, Canada, the home of the now abandoned Faro Mine. It was the largest open-pit lead– zinc mine in the world as well as a significant producer of silver and other natural resources. The mine was built by the ...

Stewart Crossing, Yukon Stewart Crossing is a settlement in Yukon, Canada located on the Stewart River. It is about 179 km east of Dawson City on the Klondike Highway, near the junction with the Silver Trail, from which it is about southwest of Mayo. A Yukon ...

Dawson City, Yukon Dawson City is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest municipality in Yukon. History Prior t ...

lying just west of and outside the actual Tintina Trench *

Forty Mile, Yukon Forty Mile (Hän: ''Ch’ëdähdëk'') is best known as the oldest town in Canada’s Yukon. It was established in 1886 at the confluence of the Yukon and Fortymile rivers by prospectors and fortune hunters in search of gold. Largely abandoned ...

Eagle, Alaska Eagle ( in Hän Athabascan) is a village on the south bank of the Yukon River, near the Canada–US border in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area in Alaska, United States. It includes the Eagle Historic District, a U.S. National Historic Lan ...

Robert Campbell Highway Yukon Highway 4, also known as the Robert Campbell Highway or Campbell Highway, is a road between Watson Lake, Yukon on the Alaska Highway to Carmacks, Yukon on the Klondike Highway. It is long and mostly gravel-surfaced. It serves the communi ...

Geology

The location of the Tintina Trench corresponds with recessive weathering rocks which have been deformed by 450 km of right lateral faulting along the

References

External links

*
Fault zone: A massive geological scar slicing diagonally across the Yukon...

Travel information on the Tintina Trench
Geology of Yukon Valleys of Yukon Geology of Alaska Valleys of Alaska {{Alaska-geo-stub