Redstone River

This article is about Redstone River in the Northwest Territories of Canada. For rivers in Ontario, see Redstone River (Northeastern Ontario) and Redstone River (Haliburton County, Ontario). For Redstone River in Montana, see Powder River (Montana).
Redstone River
Origin Redstone Plateau
Mouth Mackenzie River
64°17′10″N 124°32′40″W / 64.28611°N 124.54444°WCoordinates: 64°17′10″N 124°32′40″W / 64.28611°N 124.54444°W[1]
Progression Southwest-northeast
Basin countries Canada
Length 289 km (180 mi)
Source elevation 1,068 m (3,504 ft)
Mouth elevation 133 m (436 ft)
Avg. discharge 139 m3/s (4,900 cu ft/s)
Basin area 16,400 km2 (6,300 sq mi)
Left tributaries Moose Horn River, Parallel Creek
Right tributaries Ravens Throat River

The Redstone River is a large river in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is about 289 km (180 mi) long.[2] It is a tributary of the Mackenzie River, joining it on the left bank some 100 km (62 mi) north of Wrigley. Draining a rugged and high area of the Mackenzie Mountains, the Redstone watershed is sparsely populated; in fact, there are no significant settlements within the basin.

Course

It begins in several ponds on Rockslide Pass south of the Redstone Plateau deep within the Mackenzie Mountains, at an elevation of 1,068 m (3,504 ft). The river initially flows northwest, turning west where the Moose Horn River enters from the left. It makes a bend to the north, turning south near Wrigley Lake, and receives one of its larger tributaries, the Ravens Throat River, as it cuts through the Redstone Range. The Redstone turns north, bending west around the Silvan Plateau, leaving its canyon and spreading onto the plains surrounding the Mackenzie River, which it joins about 40 km (25 mi) after that point, at just 133 m (436 ft) above sea level, 13 km (8.1 mi) upstream from the Keele River.[3]

Watershed

The Redstone's watershed encompasses an area of roughly 16,400 km2 (6,300 sq mi).[4] Its average annual discharge, measured at a gauge near the mouth from 1963 to 1974, was roughly 139 m3/s (4,900 cu ft/s). The highest monthly flows occurred in August at 454 m3/s (16,000 cu ft/s), and the lowest was 15.7 m3/s (550 cu ft/s) in March, because of its dependence on glacier and snow melt in the brief Arctic summer. The highest recorded flow was 545 m3/s (19,200 cu ft/s) in July 1968, and the lowest was 11.3 m3/s (400 cu ft/s) in February 1972.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Gazetteer of the Northwest Territories
  2. ↑ Length measured in Google Earth using data from Canadian topographic maps to find the source; source location is approximate
  3. ↑ Topo Maps for United States and Canada (Map). Cartography by U.S. and Canada, various sources. ACME Mapper. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Redstone River near the Mouth". Mackenzie Watershed. R-ArcticNET. 1963–1974. Retrieved 2010-05-04.