麦肯齐

麦肯齐,一条约1,120英里(1,800公里)长的河流，发源于加拿大西北地区的大奴隶湖，一般向西北方向通过一个大三角洲流入北冰洋。它位于大奴隶湖和阿萨巴斯卡湖之间，被称为奴隶河。在阿萨巴斯卡湖，芬利-皮斯河水系和阿萨巴斯卡河与麦肯齐河汇合。Finlay-Peace-Mackenzie溪流(约2600英里/ 4180公里长)是北美第二长的连续溪流。利亚德河是直接流入麦肯齐河的最大支流。这条河在6月至10月间可从北冰洋航行至大奴隶湖。在大奴隶湖和阿萨巴斯卡湖之间有急流(14英里/23公里)必须通过;急流之上是超过400英里(644公里)的通航水域。利亚德河提供了纳尔逊堡、不列颠哥伦比亚省和北极之间的交通工具;阿萨巴斯卡-麦肯齐系统之后是埃德蒙顿和阿尔塔之间的一条主要航线。和北极。 Numerous lakes in the Mackenzie basin act as reservoirs and natural flood controls. The basin, flanked by the Rocky Mts. and the Canadian Shield, is the northern portion of the Great Plains of North America; arctic air masses follow the valley south into the interior of the continent. Much of the Mackenzie valley is heavily forested and, where climate permits, its deep soil is well suited to agriculture. Numerous trading posts were established along the Mackenzie in the early part of the 19th cent. and fur trapping is still an important activity there; the chief trading posts are Fort Simpson, Fort Providence, and Aklavik. The region was the domain of fur traders until the 1930s when vast oil fields and other mineral resources were discovered; Norman Wells is the chief oil-producing town. In the early 1970s large natural gas fields were discovered in the Mackenzie delta region. A plan to construct the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline from the Arctic Ocean to Alberta, which would have been the greatest construction project ever undertaken, was shelved in 1977 after a federal royal commission concluded that, though feasible, the project involved serious legal, political, and environmental problems. Peter Pond was possibly the first European to enter (1777) the Mackenzie drainage area, but Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the 19th-century Canadian explorer, was the first to descend (1789) the river to the Arctic Ocean.

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