Coppermine River

Canoe in the Rocky Defile Rapids

The Coppermine River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Name

Was named the flux due to the copper deposits of its lower reaches.

Geography

The source of the Coppermine River is located in the Lac de Gras. From there it flows in a generally north to Coronation Gulf, an inlet of the Arctic Ocean. (Formerly Coppermine ) The village of Kugluktuk is located near the river mouth.

History

Samuel Hearne explored in 1771 the Coppermine River, traveled to its mouth, thus reaching the first European to see the Arctic Ocean by land. At the Bloody Falls massacre described by Hearne If held by Bloody. In the Coppermine Expedition of 1819-1822 Sir John Franklin explored the mouth of the Coppermine River.

Geology

Lava eruptions near the Coppermine River created before about 1,200 million years a vast volcanic plateau with an area of ​​about 170,000 km ² and a Lavavolumen of at least 500,000 km ³. This lava was formed simultaneously with the large Muskox intrusion and the vast Mackenzie Dike Swarm in the southeast. It is believed that they made ​​a Mantelplumezentrum, the Mackenzie hotspot derived.