Athabasca River

Athabasca River
Athabasca River
	Athabasca River in Jasper National Park
	Athabasca River watershed in western Canada
Location
Country	Canada
Province	Alberta
Physical characteristics
Source	Columbia Icefield
• location	Jasper National Park
• coordinates	52°10′4″N 117°25′50″W / 52.16778°N 117.43056°W
• elevation	1,520 m (4,990 ft)(foot of glacier)
Mouth	Lake Athabasca
• coordinates	58°37′35″N 110°50′5″W / 58.62639°N 110.83472°W
• elevation	205 m (673 ft)
Length	1,231 km (765 mi)
Basin size	95,300 km2 (36,800 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	Athabasca Delta
• average	783 m3/s (27,700 cu ft/s)
• minimum	75.0 m3/s (2,650 cu ft/s)
• maximum	4,790 m3/s (169,000 cu ft/s)

The Athabasca River (French: Rivière Athabasca) is a river in Alberta, Canada, which originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than 1,231 km (765 mi) before emptying into Lake Athabasca.^[5] Much of the land along its banks is protected in national and provincial parks, and the river is designated a Canadian Heritage River for its historical and cultural importance. The scenic Athabasca Falls is located about 30 km (19 mi) upstream from Jasper.

Etymology

The name Athabasca comes from the Woods Cree word ᐊᖬᐸᐢᑳᐤ aðapaskāw, which means "[where] there are plants one after another",^[6] likely a reference to the spotty vegetation along the river.^{[citation needed]}

Course

The Athabasca River originates in Jasper National Park, in Lake Providence^[7] at the toe of the Columbia Glacier^[8] within the Columbia Icefield, between Mount Columbia, Snow Dome, and the Winston Churchill Range, at an elevation of approximately 1,600 metres (5,200 ft). It travels 1,231 km (765 mi) before draining into the Peace-Athabasca Delta near Lake Athabasca south of Fort Chipewyan. From there, its waters flow north as Rivière des Rochers, then join the Peace River to form the Slave River, which empties into the Great Slave Lake and discharges through the Mackenzie River system into the Arctic Ocean. The cumulative drainage area is 95,300 km² (36,800 sq mi).^[9]

The river flows along icefields and through gorges, offering wildlife habitat on its shores and in adjacent marshes. Throughout its course, it flows through or adjacent to numerous national and provincial parks, including Jasper National Park, Fort Assiniboine Sandhills Wildland Provincial Park, Hubert Lake Wildland Provincial Park, La Biche River Wildland Provincial Park, Grand Rapids Wildland Provincial Park, Richardson Wildland Provincial Park, and Wood Buffalo National Park. Its course is marked by rapids, impeding navigation southwest of Fort McMurray.^[10]

Numerous communities are located on the banks of the Athabasca River, including Jasper, Brule, Entrance, Hinton, Whitecourt, Fort Assiniboine, Smith, Athabasca, Fort McMurray, and Fort McKay.

Tributaries

Alberta's Rockies

Habel Creek
Warwick Creek
Quincy Creek
Chaba River
Dragon Creek
Sunwapta River
Ranger Creek
Fryatt Creek
- Lick Creek
Geraldine Lakes
Kerkeslin Creek
Hardisty Creek
Whirlpool River
Astoria River
Portal Creek
Wabasso Creek
Whistlers Creek
Tekerra Creek
Miette River
Pyramid Lake
Maligne River
Garonne Creek
Snaring River
Morro Creek
Cobblestone Creek
Corral Creek
Jacques Creek
Rocky River
Snake Indian River
Mountain Creek
Fiddle River
Supply Creek
Oldhouse Creek
Prine Creek
Maskuta Creek

Central Alberta

Hardisty Creek
Fish Creek
Cache Petotte Creek
Tiecamp Creek
Canyon Creek
Ponoka Creek
Plante Creek
- Apetowun Creek
Obed Creek
Oldman Creek
Nosehill Creek
Jackpine Creek
Berland River
- Wildhay River
Beaver Creek
Marsh Head Creek
Pine Creek
Pass Creek
Two Creek
Windfall Creek
Chickadee Creek
Bessie Creek
Stony Creek
Sakwatamau River
McLeod River

Northern Alberta

Freeman River
Timeu Creek
Pembina River
Lesser Slave River
Lawrence Lake Creek
Baptiste Lake Creek
Tawatinaw River
La Biche River
Calling River
McMillan Lake Creek
Parallel Creek
Pelican River
House River
Horse River
Clearwater River
Steepbank River
Muskeg River
Mackay River
Ells River
Firebag River
Richardson River

History

Sekani, Shuswap, Kootenay, Salish, Stoney, and Cree tribes hunted and fished along the river prior to European colonization in the 18th century. From about 1778, the Athabasca River, the Clearwater River, which enters the Athabasca River from the east at Fort McMurray, and the Methye Portage were part of a primary fur trade route from the Mackenzie River to the Great Lakes (see Canadian Canoe Routes (early)).

A Hudson's Bay Company scow in the Athabasca River, c. 1910

David Thompson and Thomas the Iroquois traveled through Athabasca Pass in 1811. In 1862, the Athabasca Springs area was crossed during the Cariboo Gold Rush by the Overlander Party.

The northern segment of the Athabasca River became part of a major shipping network in 1921 when the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway reached Waterways near Fort McMurray, making it the northernmost point on the North American railroad grid at that time. Cargo for destinations farther north was shipped to Waterways and transferred to barges, after which fleets of tugboats took them up the river to destinations in the Athabasca and Mackenzie River watersheds. Barge traffic declined after 1964 when Hay River, on the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, became the northern terminus of the rail grid.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Environmental concerns

Owing to its proximity to the Athabasca oil sands, the river has seen significant amounts of energy infrastructure constructed along its course. On June 6, 1970, a pipeline operated by Great Canadian Oil Sands, the precursor to Suncor and the earliest commercial extraction operation, ruptured near the banks of the river. The total spill volume was estimated by Great Canadian Oil Sands at approximately 1,190 barrels (189 m³).^[14]^[15]

In 2012, an independent study concluded that the Athabasca River contained elevated levels of pollution downstream of the Athabasca oil sands. Testing showed this portion of the river contained mercury, lead, and 11 other toxic elements.^[16]

In 2021, another independent research was conducted on the streamflow and climate data sets for the Athabasca River Basin showing the seasonality of the streamflow and precipitation time series via wavelet analysis.^[17] The seasonal components of these time series were shown to be coherent with phase discrepancy. The mean temperature had been gradually increasing since 1960, and it was projected to increase by approximately 2 °C during the mid-century, possibly reducing the snowpack volume during the spring.^[17]

Coal mine spill

On October 31, 2013, a pit at the Obed Mountain coal mine spilled, and between 600 million and a billion litres of slurry poured into Plante and Apetowun Creeks.^[18] The plume of waste products then joined the Athabasca River, travelling downstream for a month before settling in Lake Athabasca near Fort Chipewyan, over 500 km (310 mi) away.^[18]

Heritage

The river was designated a Canadian heritage river for its importance to the fur trade and the construction of railways and roads opening up the Canadian West, as well as for its natural heritage.^[19]

The Canadian Heraldic Authority named the position of Athabaska Herald after the river.

Gallery

Athabasca River Valley seen from the Geraldine Lakes
Flowing through the Athabasca Falls
Passing by Jasper
In Jasper National Park
Athabasca River valley from the Pallisades fire lookout
Athabasca River at the mouth of Brûlé Lake
Dr. Karl Clark and guide Romeo Eymundson on the bank of the Athabasca River.
Upstream from Whitecourt
Bituminous sand banks north of Fort McMurray
Athabasca River in July, 2013
Athabasca River in Jasper
Plaque overlooking the river in Jasper National Park, 2015

References

^ ^a ^b Atlas of Canada. "Canadian Rivers". Archived from the original on 2 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
^ ^a ^b Benke and Cushing, p. 845
^ "Natural Resources Canada-Canadian Geographical Names (Athabasca River)". Retrieved 2014-08-29.
^ "Atlas of Canada Toporama". Retrieved 2014-08-29.
^ "Ecology & Wonder in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site", Robert W. Sandford, AU Press, ISBN 978-1-89742557-2, page 160.
^ Bright, William (2004). Native American Place Names of the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg. 52
^ "x.com". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2024-06-13.
^ "Columbia Glacier". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
^ Environment Alberta. "River Basins in Alberta". Archived from the original on 16 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
^ Encyclopædia Britannica (2006). "Athabasca River". Archived from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-12.
^ "Atlas of Alberta Railways: The Alberta and Great Waterways Railway". University of Alberta. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
^ "Fort McMurray tourism". Archived from the original on 2011-10-11.
^ "Radium King en route: Eldorado Subsidiary's Ship Leave for West by Train". Montreal Gazette. 1937-04-15. p. 20. Retrieved 2012-05-31. Both ships were built for the Northern Transportation Company, a subsidiary of Eldorado Gold Mines, Limited, and will ply the Mackenzie and Athabaska rivers, 1,600 miles north of Edmonton.
^ Province of Alberta, Alberta Government Committee Report on Great Canadian Oil Sands Oil Spill to Athabasca River June 6, 1970, Edmonton: Alberta Government, 1970. Page 3.
^ "Lake Athabasca oil slick broken by wind". The Leader-Post. June 17, 1970. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
^ "Elevated levels of toxins found in Athabasca River". The Globe and Mail. August 23, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Ghaderpour, E.; Vujadinovic, T.; Hassan, Q. K. (2021). "Application of the Least-Squares Wavelet software in hydrology: Athabasca River Basin". Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. 36: 100847. doi:10.1016/j.ejrh.2021.100847. hdl:11573/1655307.
^ ^a ^b Wohlberg, Meagan (October 21, 2015). "Two Years Later, Charges Laid in Massive Alberta Coal Mine Spill". Vice News. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
^ Canadian Heritage River System. "Athabasca River". Archived from the original on 8 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-12.

External links

http://www.environment.alberta.ca/apps/OSEM/ Athabasca River Conditions and Use, Government of Alberta
http://www.ramp-alberta.org/river.aspx Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency, RAMP (Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program), Athabasca River Basin
https://web.archive.org/web/20120414210651/http://www.chrs.ca/Rivers/Athabasca/Athabasca-F_e.php Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS), Athabasca River
http://arbri.athabascau.ca/About-the-Athabasca-River-basin/Index.php About the Athabasca River Basin, Athabasca River Basin Research Institute
Kelly, EN; Schindler, DW; Hodson, PV; Short, JW; Radmanovich, R; Nielsen, CC (September 2010). "Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107 (37): 16178–83. Bibcode:2010PNAS..10716178K. doi:10.1073/pnas.1008754107. PMC 2941314. PMID 20805486.

[Atlas-1] Atlas of Canada. "Canadian Rivers". Archived from the original on 2 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-16.

[Benke_845-2] Benke and Cushing, p. 845

[3] "Natural Resources Canada-Canadian Geographical Names (Athabasca River)". Retrieved 2014-08-29.

[Atlas_of_Canada-4] "Atlas of Canada Toporama". Retrieved 2014-08-29.

[5] "Ecology & Wonder in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site", Robert W. Sandford, AU Press, ISBN 978-1-89742557-2, page 160.

[6] Bright, William (2004). Native American Place Names of the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg. 52

[7] "x.com". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2024-06-13.

[cgndb-8] "Columbia Glacier". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2019-03-25.

[abrivers-9] Environment Alberta. "River Basins in Alberta". Archived from the original on 16 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-16.

[10] Encyclopædia Britannica (2006). "Athabasca River". Archived from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-12.

[RR_Atlas-11] "Atlas of Alberta Railways: The Alberta and Great Waterways Railway". University of Alberta. Retrieved 21 October 2017.

[FortMcMurrayTourism-12] "Fort McMurray tourism". Archived from the original on 2011-10-11.

[MontrealGazette1937-04-15-13] "Radium King en route: Eldorado Subsidiary's Ship Leave for West by Train". Montreal Gazette. 1937-04-15. p. 20. Retrieved 2012-05-31. Both ships were built for the Northern Transportation Company, a subsidiary of Eldorado Gold Mines, Limited, and will ply the Mackenzie and Athabaska rivers, 1,600 miles north of Edmonton.

[14] Province of Alberta, Alberta Government Committee Report on Great Canadian Oil Sands Oil Spill to Athabasca River June 6, 1970, Edmonton: Alberta Government, 1970. Page 3.

[15] "Lake Athabasca oil slick broken by wind". The Leader-Post. June 17, 1970. Retrieved July 18, 2014.

[16] "Elevated levels of toxins found in Athabasca River". The Globe and Mail. August 23, 2012.

[EG-JHRS-17] Ghaderpour, E.; Vujadinovic, T.; Hassan, Q. K. (2021). "Application of the Least-Squares Wavelet software in hydrology: Athabasca River Basin". Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. 36: 100847. doi:10.1016/j.ejrh.2021.100847. hdl:11573/1655307.

[vice-18] Wohlberg, Meagan (October 21, 2015). "Two Years Later, Charges Laid in Massive Alberta Coal Mine Spill". Vice News. Retrieved 17 February 2016.

[19] Canadian Heritage River System. "Athabasca River". Archived from the original on 8 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-12.

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Athabasca River

Etymology

Course

Tributaries

History

Environmental concerns

Coal mine spill

Heritage

Gallery

See also

References

External links

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