Great Bear Lake is the largest lake entirely within Canada (Lake Superior and Lake Huron straddling the Canada-US border are larger), the third largest in North America, and the seventh largest in the world. The lake is situated on the Arctic Circle between 65 and 67 degrees of northern latitude and between 118 and 123 degrees western longitude, 186 m (610 ft) above sea level.

 

The lake has a surface area of 31,153 km² (12,028 mi²) and a total volume of 2,236 km³ (536 mi³). Its maximum depth is 446 m (1,463 ft) and its average depth 71.7 m (235 ft). The total shoreline is 2,719 km (1,690 mi) and the total catchment area of the lake is 114,717 km² (44,293 mi²).

 

The lake empties through the Great Bear River (Sahtúdé) into the Mackenzie River. The only community on the lake is Deline, Northwest Territories at the southwest end.

 

In 1930, Gilbert LaBine discovered uranium in the Great Bear Lake region.

The Sahtú Dene people took their name from the lake.

 

 

Great Bear Lake lies between two major physiographic regions: the Kazan Uplands portion of the Canadian Shield and the Interior Plains. Originally it was part of preglacial valleys that were reshaped by erosional effects of ice during the Pleistocene. Since then, the lake has undergone various changes resulting from rebound following the melting of the ice.

 

Precambrian rocks of the Canadian Shield form the eastern margin of the McTavish Arm. These rocks of the Precambrian are made up of sedimentary and metamorphic deposits supplemented by igneous intrusions forming dikes and sills.

 

 

 

Great Bear Lake is covered with ice from late November to July.

 

 

1 Johnson, L. (1975), "Physical and chemical characteristics of Great Bear Lake", J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 32: 1971-1987  quoted at Great Bear Lake (World Lakes Database)
2 Hebert, Paul (2007), "Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories", Encyclopedia of Earth, Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment, http://www.eoearth.org/article/Great_Bear_Lake,_Northwest_Territories, retrieved 2007-12-07 
3 Great Bear Lake. The Canadian Encyclopedia.