Pelly River

Last updated
Pelly River
Puente sobre el rio Pelly, Pelly Crossing, Yukon, Canada, 2017-08-27, DD 12.jpg
Pelly River at Pelly Crossing
Pellyrivermap.jpg
Map of the Pelly River
EtymologyNamed by Robert Campbell in honour of Sir John Henry Pelly, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Location
Country Canada
State Yukon
Cities Ross River, Faro, Pelly Crossing
Physical characteristics
Source Mackenzie Mountains
 - locationAn unnamed glacier
 - coordinates 62°26′32″N129°11′34″W / 62.44222°N 129.19278°W / 62.44222; -129.19278
 - elevation1,465 m (4,806 ft)
Mouth Yukon River
 - coordinates 62°46′37″N137°20′48″W / 62.77694°N 137.34667°W / 62.77694; -137.34667 Coordinates: 62°46′37″N137°20′48″W / 62.77694°N 137.34667°W / 62.77694; -137.34667
 - elevation458 m (1,503 ft)
Length530 km (330 mi), East-southeast to west-northwest
Discharge 
 - minimum35 m3/s (1,200 cu ft/s)
 - average700 m3/s (25,000 cu ft/s)
 - maximum4,160 m3/s (147,000 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Basin size49,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi)
Tributaries 
 - right Ross River, Tay River (Yukon), Macmillan River

The Pelly River is a river in Canada, and is a headstream of the Yukon River. The river originates west of the Mackenzie Mountains and flows 530 km (329 mi) long through the south central Yukon. The Pelly has two main tributaries, the Ross and Macmillan rivers.

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States, stretching some 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, with 70% of citizens residing within 100 kilometres (62 mi) of the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Yukon River river in the Yukon territory of Canada

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The river's source is in British Columbia, Canada, from which it flows through the Canadian Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is 3,190 kilometres (1,980 mi) long and empties into the Bering Sea at the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta. The average flow is 6,430 m3/s (227,000 ft3/s). The total drainage area is 832,700 km2 (321,500 mi2), of which 323,800 km2 (126,300 mi2) is in Canada. The total area is more than 25% larger than Texas or Alberta.

Mackenzie Mountains mountain range in north west Canada

The Mackenzie Mountains are a mountain range forming part of the Yukon-Northwest Territories boundary between the Liard and Peel rivers. The range is named in honour of Canada's second prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie, as well as the explorer. Nahanni National Park Reserve and Nááts'ihch'oh National Park Reserve are in the Mackenzie Mountains.

Contents

Tent camp along the Pelly River, 1898 Pelly River 1898.png
Tent camp along the Pelly River, 1898

The river was named by Robert Campbell in honour of Sir John Henry Pelly, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. The restored Hudson's Bay Company trading post of Fort Selkirk is at the juncture of the Pelly and Yukon Rivers.

Robert Campbell was a Hudson's Bay Company fur trader and explorer. He explored a large part of the southern Yukon and northern British Columbia. He established the short-lived Dease Lake Post, and in 1838 he was the first European to reach the Stikine River overland. He established Fort Frances, Yukon on Frances Lake in the Liard River basin. In 1840 he crossed from Frances Lake to the Pelly River becoming the first European to explore the upper Yukon River Basin. He established Fort Selkirk, Yukon at the juncture of the Yukon River and the Pelly River.

Hudsons Bay Company Canadian retail business group

The Hudson's Bay Company is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada, the United States, and parts of Europe including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. The company's namesake business division is Hudson's Bay, commonly referred to as The Bay. Other divisions include Galeria Kaufhof, Home Outfitters, Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue. HBC's head office is currently located in Brampton, Ontario. The company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "HBC".

Course

The Pelly rises in glaciers on the western slopes of the Selwyn Mountains above 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) in elevation, close to the Yukon-Northwest Territories boundary. It flows south and west through a wide valley, receiving many small tributaries from the east. It passes the Pelly Lakes, out of which flows the Woodside River, and there it turns to the west. The Pelly then assumes a northwesterly course through the Tintina Trench. It flows northwest to receive the Ross River at the town of Ross River where there is a cable ferry. Paralleling the Robert Campbell Highway, it then merges with the Lapie River from the left and passes the community of Faro which can be reached by a bridge. After Faro, it runs south of Rose Mountain and receives the Glenlyon River from the left. [1]

Glacier Persistent body of ice that is moving under its own weight

A glacier is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight; it forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. Glaciers slowly deform and flow due to stresses induced by their weight, creating crevasses, seracs, and other distinguishing features. They also abrade rock and debris from their substrate to create landforms such as cirques and moraines. Glaciers form only on land and are distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water.

Selwyn Mountains mountain range

The Selwyn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Canada, forming part of the border between the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, and which are part of the Eastern System of the Canadian Cordillera. They are neighboured on the east by the Mackenzie Mountains and on their northwest end by the Brooks Range. To their southwest is the Yukon Plateau, while a lower southward extension of their mountain spine protrudes into British Columbia as the Liard Plateau. In some reckonings the Selwyns and Mackenzies are considered to be part of the Rocky Mountains, but that range officially lies only to the south of the Liard River and the aforesaid plateau. Named for Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn, director of the Geological Survey of Victoria from 1852 to 1869, director of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) from 1869 to 1894 and President of the Royal Society of Canada from 1895 to 1896.

Northwest Territories Territory of Canada

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately 1,144,000 km2 (442,000 sq mi) and a 2016 census population of 41,786, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated population as of 2018 is 44,445. Yellowknife became the territorial capital in 1967, following recommendations by the Carrothers Commission.

At the Glenlyon River confluence, the valley narrows and the walls grow higher and steeper, and a short distance later, receives the swift-flowing Tay River from the right. Several kilometers after, it turns north and receives the Earn River, also from the right. The river soon exits out of the canyon and winds across a plain, where it receives the Tummel River from the left. It then receives the Macmillan River, its largest tributary, from the right, then turns west, looping around the town of Pelly Crossing and crossing under the Klondike Highway, one of only two bridges on its course (the other is in Faro). The river continues west for about 25 kilometres (16 mi) to merge with the Yukon River near old Fort Selkirk. [1]

Macmillan River river in Canada

The Macmillan River is a tributary, approximately 320 kilometres (200 mi) long, of the Pelly River in the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada. It originates in the Mackenzie Mountains and flows in a generally westward direction. The river's watershed extends over 13,800 square kilometres (5,300 sq mi) and its average discharge is about 190 cubic metres per second (6,700 cu ft/s).

Pelly Crossing is a community in Yukon, Canada. It lies where the Klondike Highway crosses the Pelly River. Population in 2008 was 291.

Klondike Highway highway in Alaska and Yukon Territory

The Klondike Highway is a highway that links the Alaskan coastal town of Skagway to Yukon's Dawson City. Its route somewhat parallels the route used by prospectors in the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush.

Watershed

One of two major headwaters of the Yukon River (the other is the Stewart River), the Pelly River's drainage basin, measured above the town of Pelly Crossing, is 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi) in size. It drains a large part of the sparsely-populated Yukon Plateau of the central Yukon Territory west of the Mackenzie Mountains. The Tintina Trench, which the majority of the river's waters flow in, is the northernmost extension of the Rocky Mountain Trench, which stretches well south to British Columbia. The river is navigable by small and medium-sized craft for over 320 kilometres (200 mi), from its mouth to Hoole Rapids, except for a shallow stretch of the river in Bradens Canyon. [2] The Yukon communities of Ross River, Faro and Pelly Crossing are all on the Pelly River. There are bridges across the Pelly in Pelly Crossing (where it crosses the Klondike Highway) and in Faro, as well as a cable ferry at Ross River on the Canol Road.

Stewart River (Yukon) river in the Yukon, Canada

The Stewart River is a 533-kilometre (331 mi) tributary of Yukon River in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It originates in the Selwyn Mountains, which stand on the border between the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory. From there, the Stewart flows west, past the village of Mayo. The river is crossed by the Klondike Highway at the village of Stewart Crossing, and the highway parallels the river westward for about 56 kilometres (35 mi). After leaving the highway, the river travels southwest until it intersects the Yukon River 112 kilometres (70 mi) south of Dawson City. The mostly abandoned village of Stewart River is located at the mouth of the river.

Drainage basin Area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet

A drainage basin is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. The drainage basin includes all the surface water from rain runoff, snowmelt, and nearby streams that run downslope towards the shared outlet, as well as the groundwater underneath the earth's surface. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at lower elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins, which in turn drain into another common outlet.

The Yukon Plateau is a plateau located in the Yukon Territory, comprising much of the central and southern Yukon Territory and the far northern part of British Columbia, Canada between Tagish Lake (W) and the Cassiar Mountains (E) and north of the Nakina River.

The river's average discharge is about 700 cubic metres per second (25,000 cu ft/s) and it drains about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi) of land. Because the river is fed primarily by glacier melt, the highest average flow is reached around June or July at up to 1,600 cubic metres per second (57,000 cu ft/s), and the lowest is in December or January as low as 35 cubic metres per second (1,200 cu ft/s). [3]

In hydrology, discharge is the volumetric flow rate of water that is transported through a given cross-sectional area. It includes any suspended solids (e.g. sediment), dissolved chemicals (e.g. CaCO3(aq)), or biologic material (e.g. diatoms) in addition to the water itself.

Hazards

Volcanoes near the Pelly River, such as Volcano Mountain, may have once partly blocked or at least altered the Pelly River. Any future activity in this area could disrupt the course of the river and could have a serious impact on people living or working downstream.

See also

Related Research Articles

Arno Italian river

The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.

Saône river of France

The Saône is a river of eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, just south of the Presqu'île.

Ashuapmushuan River tributary of Lake Saint-Jean, Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean, Quebec, Canada

The Ashuapmushuan River is a river in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of the Canadian provinces of Quebec. It starts at the outlet of Lake Ashuapmushuan, and flows first in a north-easterly direction for about 30 kilometres (19 mi) whereafter it continues south-east to Saint-Félicien. There it drains into Lac Saint-Jean of which it is the third largest tributary after the Peribonka and Mistassini Rivers. The river is 181 kilometres (112 mi) long but its source is 266 kilometres (165 mi) from its mouth.

Kostroma River river in Russia

The Kostroma is a river in the European part of Russia. It flows through the Kostroma and Yaroslavl Oblasts, and becomes a left tributary of the Volga, which it enters at the Gorky Reservoir, at the city of Kostroma, at 57°46′44″N40°53′55″E.

Benue River tributary of the Niger River in Cameroon and Nigeria

The Benue River, previously known as the Chadda River or Tchadda, is the major tributary of the Niger River. The river is approximately 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) long and is almost entirely navigable during the summer months. As a result, it is an important transportation route in the regions through which it flows.

Ardèche (river) river in France

The Ardèche is a 125-kilometre (78 mi) long river in south-central France, a right-bank tributary of the River Rhône. Its source is in the Massif Central, near the village of Astet. It flows into the Rhône near Pont-Saint-Esprit, north-west of Orange. The river gives its name to the French department of Ardèche.

Geography of Yukon

Yukon is in the northwestern corner of Canada and is bordered by Alaska and the Northwest Territories. The sparsely populated territory abounds with natural scenic beauty, with snowmelt lakes and perennial white-capped mountains, including many of Canada's highest mountains. The territory's climate is Arctic in the north, subarctic in the central region, between north of Whitehorse and Old Crow, and has a humid continental climate in the far south, south of Whitehorse and in areas close to the British Columbia border. The long sunshine hours in the short summer allow a profusion of flowers and fruit to blossom. Most of the territory is boreal forest, tundra being the main vegetation zone only in the extreme north and at high elevations.

Hers-Vif river in France

The Hers-Vif, also named Grand Hers or simply Hers, is a 135-kilometre (84 mi) long river in southern France, right tributary of the Ariège.

Rocky Mountain Trench landform

The Rocky Mountain Trench, also known as The Valley of a Thousand Peaks or simply the Trench, is a large valley on the western side of the northern part of North America's Rocky Mountains. The Trench is both visually and cartographically a striking physiographic feature extending approximately 1,600 km (1,000 mi) from Flathead Lake, Montana to the Liard River, just south of the British Columbia-Yukon border near Watson Lake, Yukon. The trench bottom is 3-16 km wide and ranges from 600-900 metres above sea level. The general orientation of the Trench is an almost uniform 150/330 degree geographic north vector and has become convenient as a visual guide for aviators heading north or south.

San Juan River (Argentina) river in the Argentine province of San Juan

The San Juan River is, together with the Jáchal, the most important river of the Argentine province of San Juan. Both join the Desaguadero/Colorado system that ends at the Atlantic Ocean.

Senio river in Italy

The Senio is a 92-kilometre (57 mi) river of Romagna in Italy, the final right-sided tributary of the river Reno. The source of the river is in the province of Florence in the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano mountains. The river flows northeast into the province of Ravenna and flows near Casola Valsenio, Riolo Terme, Castel Bolognese, Cotignola, Lugo, Bagnacavallo, Fusignano and Alfonsine before entering the Reno. The river has a tributary called the Sintria that flows into it east of Riolo Terme. The river is along the road to Imola.

Reno (river) river in Italy

The Reno is a river of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is the tenth longest river in Italy and the most important of the region apart from the Po.

Usa River (Komi Republic) river, a tributary of the Pechora

Usa is a river in the northeast corner of European Russia that drains the Polar Urals southwest into the Pechora River. The Polar Urals tend to the northeast and the Usa runs parallel to them. It is in the Komi Republic of Russia and the largest tributary of the Pechora River, which it joins from the right. It is 565 kilometres (351 mi) long, with a drainage basin of 93,600 square kilometres (36,100 sq mi).

The Pyshma is a river in Sverdlovsk and Tyumen Oblasts of Russia. It is a tributary of the Tura, and is 603 kilometres (375 mi) long, with a drainage basin of 19,700 square kilometres (7,600 sq mi).

The Tintina Trench is a large valley extending through Yukon, Canada. It is the northern extension of the Northern Rocky Mountain Trench in British Columbia and it has its origin from the Tintina Fault.

Anuy River river in Russia

The Anuy River is a 327-kilometre (203 mi) long left tributary of the Ob River originating in the Altai mountains of Siberia, Russia.

The Redstone River is a large river in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is about 289 kilometres (180 mi) long. It is a tributary of the Mackenzie River, joining it on the left bank some 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of Wrigley. Draining a rugged and high area of the Mackenzie Mountains, the Redstone watershed is sparsely populated by people but remains an ecological haven for wildlife including moose, caribou, wolves Dall's Sheep and Bears. It is a pristine mountain wilderness.

References

  1. 1 2 Course info mostly from Natural Resources Canada and U.S. Geological Survey/U.S. Forest Service topographic maps from mytopo.com
  2. ↑ "Pelly River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  3. ↑ "Pelly River at Pelly Crossing". R-ArcticNET. Archived from the original on 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.