The Ramparts (Mackenzie River)

The Ramparts are rapids in a 12-kilometre (7.5 mi) canyon that forms a navigational impediment on Canada's Mackenzie River, in the Northwest Territories.[1] The river narrows from almost 2 kilometres (6,600 ft) wide to barely more than 100 metres (330 ft).[2]

For other uses, see The Ramparts.

The river's only other rapids, the Sans Sault Rapids, are found 56 kilometres (35 mi) upstream.[1] According to the 1968 Great Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Pilot, the rapids lie between mile 672 and 682.[3]

Early explorers for the North West Company reported that Stone Age "eskimo" were known to have ascended the river as far as The Ramparts, in search of flint, to make stone tools.[4]

A scholarly study on climate change discussed how it had lead to reduced water levels, which were, in turn affecting navigation.[5] Water levels in the shipping channel in The Ramparts sometimes falls below 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) -- too shallow for the tugboats used for water transport on the river.

References
  1. "Mackenzie river trip" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-04-30. The Sans Sault Rapids are formed by a rocky ledge that extends into midstream from the east bank. Although a portage is not necessary, they are best skirted by keeping to the west/left side of the river. There is a sign posted here to warn all boaters of this rapid.
  2. Barry M. Gough (1997). First Across the Continent: Sir Alexander Mackenzie. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806130026. Retrieved 2017-04-29. The party had traveled through The Ramparts--that grand scenic wonder of the river where the great waterway, mile-wide, rushes through a gorge three to four hundred feet wide.
  3. "Great Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Pilot". Canadian Hydrographic Service. 1968. pp. 55–56. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
  4. Lloyd Keith (2001). "North of Athabasca: Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Documents of North West Company, 1800-1821". North West Company. pp. 8–9, 20–21, 40, 239, 244, 352. ISBN 9780773520981. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
  5. Donald H. Burn; Eric D. Soulis (March 2006). "A Case Study of Climate Change Impacts on Navigation on the Mackenzie River". Canadian Water Resources Journal. p. 66. doi:10.4296/cwrj3101057. Retrieved 2020-12-19. It is interesting to see that after September 17, even though the base climate modelled water level is below the drafting depth of M.V. Lister, the water levels in some scenarios (e.g., HadCM3 B21 and CSIRO-Mk2b A21) are still high enough so as not to cause grounding. This is an example of how climate changes may extend favourable navigation conditions on the river.

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