NOTES ON SEDIMENTATION IN THE MACKENZIE 
RIVER BASIN’ 
E. M. KINDLE 
Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa 
INTRODUCTION 
In the course of field work in the Mackenzie River region during 
the summer of 1917 the writer had an opportunity to observe 
various features in connection with the constructive and destruc- 
tive work of the rivers and lakes traversed. The following notes 
relate to the lower Peace, the Slave, Athabasca, and upper Mac- 
kenzie rivers, and Great Slave and Athabasca lakes (Fig. 1). The 
making of these observations was incidental to other work, and 
they are assembled here as a fragmentary contribution to a knowl- 
edge of present-day work in continental sedimentation in the 
Northwest. 
The parallel streams of clear and muddy water in the channel 
of the Mackenzie, its sloping bowlder-paved banks in marked con- 
trast with the cut banks of the Peace and Slave rivers, and its 
relatively straight course are among the noteworthy features of 
this great river. The marked inequality in the rate of sedimen- 
tation on opposite sides of Great Slave Lake is one of the signifi- 
cant features in connection with the lacustrine sedimentation of 
- the region. These and other factors relating to sedimentation in 
the Mackenzie basin will be discussed in the following notes. 
MATERIALS OF THE VALLEY FLOORS 
The valleys of the Peace and Athabasca rivers are throughout 
the major part of their courses cut deeply into the shales and 
sandstones of the Cretaceous formations. At Peace River crossing 
the Peace River flows in a steep-sided valley cut about nine hundred 
t Published with the permission of the Director of the Geological Survey of 
Canada. 
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