Hazen Lake | Hazen Lake | World Lake Database (2024)

HAZEN LAKE

A view on the lake

Photo: L. Johnson

A. LOCATION

Northwest Territories, Canada.
81:0-81:5N, 68:7-73:0W; 158 m above sea level.

B. DESCRIPTION

Lake Hazen, the largest lake in the world entirelynorth of the Arctic Circle (66¡¦0'N), is situated at the northern end ofEllesmere Island, the largest and most northerly of the Queen ElizabethIslands (1). The lake was first discovered by the Inuit. In modern timesit was first discovered in 1882 by Adolphus Greely during his explorationof the region during 1881-1983 (2). Greely established a base at Fort Conger(81¡¦4'N) as part of the first International Geophysical Year (IGY). Duringthe spring of 1882 he explored Conybeare and Chandler Fjords, moving upthe Ruggles River to Lake Hazen. Greely, a signals officer in the U.S.Army, named the lake after his superior, William Babco*ck Hazen, the chiefsignals officer who had been responsible for the dispatch of the expedition.
In an earlier period the region had been occupiedby Inuit of the Dorset culture, up to about 1200 A. D., but the area wasabandoned following the climatic deterioration that began about this time(3) coincident with the spread of the more recent Thule culture.
Lake Hazen is situated on the Palaeozoic rocksof the Hazen Plateau of the Eureka Uplands (4, 5, 6). North of the lakethe Hazen Fault Zone forms the boundary of the Grant Land Mountains. Thesemountains are largely covered by ice although nunataks (a hill or mountaincompletely surrounded by glacial ice) rise above the permanent ice-fieldsto heights up to 2,500 m. The icefields feed valley glaciers flowing southwardto the Hazen Plateau, the melting of which in summer, primarily the HenriettaNesmith and the Gilmour Glaciers, forms the major source of water for thelake.
Most of the information on Lake Hazen is derivedfrom the results of a further IGY expedition in 1957-58 (1). In additionto geophysical and meteorological (7, 8) observations, investigations onthe surrounding vegetation (9) and its susceptibility to disturbance (10),the lake fauna (11, 12) and the limnology were carried out. A bibliographyof Lake Hazen region was prepared by the members of the IGY team (13).Unfortunately, the limnologist of the expedition, Dr. R. E. Deane, wasdrowned in a boating accident in southern Canada shortly after his return,thus precluding presentation of the full results.
The region around Lake Hazen functions as a "thermaloasis" in a true polar desert, the Lake Hazen Fault Zone functioning asa gigantic solar receiver while Lake Hazen itself augments this effect(7). Air temperatures frequently rise to 10-13¡¦between June 1 and August10 although the lake itself remains ice-covered in all but the warmestyears (8). Greely (2) reported a shade temperature of 23¡¦one afternoonin June 1882. The area is extremely dry experiencing only about 25 mm ofprecipitation annually.
The only fish species present, the anadromousarctic charr Salvelinus alpinus, maintains a sizeable population recognizableas distinct anadromous (migratory) and non-anadromous forms (14). Theseare the most northerly stock of charr in North America, possibly in thewhole world. In recent years a small sport-fishing camp has been operatingon the lake, serviced out of Resolute Bay. In 1983 the region was giventhe protective status of a National Park (5).

C. PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS (Q)

Surface area [km2]	542
Maximum depth [m]	280
Water level	Unregulated
Normal range of annual water
level fluctuation [m]	1.4*
Length of shoreline [km]	185

* 142.3 cm water level rose for 6-8 December 1962.

D. PHYSIOGRAPHIC FEATURES

D1 GEOGRAPHICAL
Sketch map: Fig. NAM-32-01.
Names of main islands: John's.
Number of outflowing rivers and channels (name): 1 (Ruggles R.).

See Also
One degree rise in atmospheric temperature causes ripple effect in world's largest High Arctic lake
Fig. NAM-32-01
Sketch map of the lake (Q).

D2 CLIMATIC
Climatic data at Hazen Camp, 1958-1963 (8)
Mean temp. [deg C]

	Jun	Jul	1-15 Aug
1961	-0.5	5.6	4.8
1962	4.4	8.6	7.55

Annual precipitation [mm]: 23 (2-19, 1 June-15 August).






Seasonal change of temperature [deg C](Q).

?

Number of hours of bright sunshine
Hazen Camp: Circa 2,200 hr yr-1.
Alert: Circa 1,700 hr yr-1.
Solar radiation (Alert)[MJ m-2 day-1](8a)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Ann.
0.03	2.01	11.78	22.63	24.57	18.78	10.66	3.61	0.35	-	-	-	10.5

Water temperature [deg C](10)
1957-1962: <3¡¦ Most years ice does not clear completely.
Freezing period: Throughout the year.
1957 Ice-free by 3 August, frozen by 26 September.
1958 East half ice-free, west half 40% covered on 20 August and nightfreezing occurring.
1959 90% ice cover on 24 August.
1960 Well-developed shore lead on 12 June, ice-free on 29 August and24 September.
1961 70% ice cover on 21 August.
Mixing type: Monomictic and Polar.
Notes on water mixing and thermocline formation
Although detailed observations are not available the lake has remainedpermanently ice covered in some years (amictic) while in others iceoutoccurs in late August (monomictic).

E. LAKE WATER QUALITY

E1 TRANSPARENCY [m](10)
Deep water, 1958
Clear in spring, turbid during melt season owing to turbid inflow frommelting glaciers. In August: turbid water, Secchi disc 1.7 m; clear water,Secchi disc 8.3 m.
E4 DO [mg l-1](10)
Deep water, 1958
All samples taken under ice except those of August.

[m]
Depth	Jun	Jun	Jun	Jul	Jul	Jul	Aug
1.3	14.71	-	14.38	12.47	10.41	10.72	12.63
2.9	15.04	15.01	15.11	13.37	12.66	11.82	-
5.8	14.34	14.72	14.51	14.11	13.05	12.53	12.74
8.7	14.53	14.58	14.24	-	13.36	12.64 -
11.6	-	13.98	13.84	13.96	12.45	12.66	12.84
14.6	13.28	13.97	-	-	-	-	-
17.5	-	-	13.11	-	12.23	12.67	-
20.4	12.70	13.67	-	13.35	-	-	-
23.3	-	-	12.7	-	12.69	12.57	-
26.2	-	13.31	-	-	-	-	-
29.1	13.14	-	12.80	-	12.52	-	-
32.0	-	-	12.82	-	-	-	-
34.9	-	13.24	-	-	12.57	12.57 -
46.6	-	13.19	-	-	-	-	-
58.2	13.11	13.14	-	12.85	-	-	-
116.4	12.70	-	-	-	-	-	-
136.8	12.53	-	-	12.87	-	-	-

F. BIOLOGICAL FEATURES

F1 FLORA
Emerged macrophytes: None.
Floating macrophytes: None.
Submerged macrophytes: None.
Phytoplankton
"Virtually no plankton in net hauls at any date" (10). "But dark foodwas found in the guts of copepods collected on June 14 and 18, 1958 butnever thereafter. The high oxygen values in mid-June even super-saturatednear the surface are also certainly the result of plant production" (10).
F2 FAUNA
Zooplankton (10)
Cyclops scutifer, Keratella hiemalis (<1% less common than C. scutifer,K. cochlearis (very rare), Daphnia middendorffiana (single specimen). Estimatedstanding crop and production in dry weight of Cyclops scutifer

	Standing Crop	Production
Date	mg m-2	Period	mg m-2 day-1
June 18	160	June 18-July 5	0.20
July 5	55	July 5-July 24	2.25
July 24	148
August 10	23	July 24-Aug. 10-11	0.65
August 11	68



Fig. NAM-32-03
Vertical distribution of naupliar and copepodite stages of Cyclopsscutifer, Aug. 1958 (11).

Data on zooplankton collections in 1958 (11).

*1 C. scutifer. *2 K. hiemalis. *3

	Date	Depth	No.	Vol.	Portion	Nos. in
		[m]	hauls	filter-	sub-	subsample
				ed [m3]	sampled	A*1	B*2
Vertical and lique series
	Jun 14	135-0	2 vert.	1.82	0.60	763	2
	Jun 13	32-0	2 vert.	0.30	0.47	813	2
	Jul 4	135-0	2 vert.	1.90	0.41	505	8
	Jul 5	32-0	2 vert.	0.32	0.47	209	2
	Jul 24	32-0	1 obl.	0.43	0.53	684	3
	Aug 10	32-0	1 obl.	0.48	0.53	194	6
	Aug 11	32-0	1 obl.	0.90	0.45	747	10
Horizontal hauls in shore lead
	July 24		1-4	1.67	0.04	670	0
Horizontal hauls to show vertical distribution
	Aug 10		1	2.24	0.52	68	1
	Aug 10		3	1.48	0.27	62	0
	Aug 10		5	1.38	0.18	300	7
	Aug 10		10	1.57	0.18	244	4
	Aug 10		15	1.38	0.20	189	0
	Aug 10		24	1.19	0.30	369	2
	Aug 10		32	1.60	0.55	212	1
	Est. no*	No. stages of C. scutifer in random aliquots
	C. scutifer	NH	NIII	NIV	NV	CI	CII	CIII	CIV	CV	A*2
Vertical and lique series
	91,500/m3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	186,000	26	49	91	10	4	13	93	3	0	0
	86,400	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	45,300	7	15	37	3	0	11	114	6	0	0
	91,900	4	25	54	88	3	6	79	137	3	0
	21,300	11	25	47	80	13	3	12	37	10	0
	55,200	1	9	19	48	23	1	12	33	6	0
Horizontal hauls in shore lead
	9,980/m3	1	1	10	37	0	4	52	93	0	0
Horizontal hauls to show vertical distribution
	60/m3	7	10	6	7	1	0	2	10	5	1
	155	8	20	17	21	1	1	4	40	19	1
	1,255	13	44	57	105	37	2	18	58	13	0
	870	4	30	36	79	73	2	17	30	18	0
	685	12	11	20	42	23	2	6	21	5	0
	625	2	6	11	24	5	2	22	8	0	0
	240	10	21	15	33	9	2	12	0	0	0

*1 It is assumed as shown by the series on August 10, that most animalsare in the upper waters and that both the shallow (32.0 m) and deep (135-0)vertical hauls sampled the entire population. The results explained asmembers per square meter do not suggest otherwise. *2 Adults. *3 A fewadults removed from the whole samples and identified by Dr. E.B. Reed.Benthos (12) Libertia sp., Hydroporus polaris, Apatania zonella, Rademasp., Tipula arctica, Dactylolabis sp., Protantypus caudatus, Pseudodiamesaartica, D. simplex, Psectrocladius barbatimanus, Prosmittia nanseni, Paraphaenocladiusdespectus, Chironomus sp., Procladius sp., Abiskomyia sp., Corynoneurasp., Heterotrissocladius subpilosus, Hydrobaenus fusistylus, Limnophyesglobifer, Oliveridia tricornis, Orthocladius charensis, O. lapponicus,O. mixtus, Paracladius quadrindosus, Parakiefferiella sp., Zalutschia trigonacies,Micropsectra sp., Tanytarsus sp., Forcipomyia sp., Ceratopogon sp., Culicoidessp., Helophilus borealis, Metasyrphus chillcolti. Supplementary notes onthe biota Two stocks of arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) exist; 1) a non.anadromousstock and 2) an anadromous stock migrating down Ruggles River to Lady FranklinBay.

Fig. NAM-32-04
Fish catch and size distribution of Salvelinus alpinus.

F3 PRIMARY PRODUCTION RATE (10) Primary production is very low,just within the lower detection limits of the 14C method. July-August mean= 39 mg C m-3 day-1, range was 0-193 mg C m-3 day-1. The negative 14C results(August) can only be taken to indicate very low, unmeasurable primary production.

Date	Depth [m]	C in mg m-2 day	Comments
18-19 Jul	1.5	59	In narrow lead off camp.
	2.5	56	Max. depth ca. 3 m
9-10 Aug	0.2	31
	2.0	-5
	5.0	18
	10.0	6
10-11 Aug	0.2	16
	2.0	0
	5.0	-4
	10.0	-13

All experiments were carried out in 300 B. 0. D. bottles, suspended for24 hrs on clear days (24-hr daylight). Collections made with aluminum sampler.Oxygen determined by winkler method and gross carbon (C) production estimatedusing A. P. Q. of 1.25 (10). Char Lake (Cornwallis Island, latitude 74°Ëphytoplankton mean daily primary productivity was 2.3 mg C m-2 day-1 (15).Converting the Hazen Lake mean 39 mg C m-3 day-1 to aerial units assuminga 20 m deep photic zone (Secchi = 8.3 m in clear water) gives 2 mg C m-2day-1 which is only sightly lower than the much smaller Char Lake (10).
F5 FISHERY PRODUCTS Annual fish catch 1984 Limited sport fishery;fishery production trends are unknown as the Hazen Lake fishery has onlyrecently started operation.

G. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

G1 LAND USE IN THE CATCHMENT AREA

	Area [%]
Natural landscape
Herbaceous vegetation*1	10
Others*2	90
Total	100

*1 Tundra. *2 Blue ground including ice. Virtually all inflow originatesin the ice field to the northwest.

Types of important forest or scrub vegetation: None. Types of importantherbaceous vegetation (9) Dryas hummocks, Dryas-Kobresia tundra, Dryas-Salixtundra, marshes and sedge meadows. Main kinds of crops and/or croppingsystems: None. Trends of change in land use in recent years: None.
G2 INDUSTRIES IN THE CATCHMENT AREA AND THE LAKE
None.

H. LAKE UTILIZATION

H1 LAKE UTILIZATION Source of water and recreation (sport-fishing).

I. DETERIORATION OF LAKE ENVIRONMENTS AND HAZARDS

I1 ENHANCED SILTATION Natural siltation from spring runoff and ice-outcauses Secchi transparency to fall from 8.3 m to 1.7 m (10).
I2 TOXIC CONTAMINATION No data.
I4 ACIDIFICATION Extent of damage: None.

J. WASTEWATER TREATMENTS

J1 GENERATION OF POLLUTANTS IN THE CATCHMENT AREA

a) Pristine lake environment.

L. DEVELOPMENT PLANS

Small sport-fishing camp in recent years. Region given protective statusof a National Park in 1983.

N. SOURCES OF DATA

17. Questionnaire filled by Dr. L. Johnson, Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans,Freshwater Institute, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
1. Hattersley-Smith, G. (1974) North of Latitude Eighty. Defence ResearchBoard, Ottawa.
2. Greely, A. W. (1866) Three Years of Arctic Service. An Account of the LadyFranklin Bay Expedition of 1881-1884, 2 vols. New York.
3. Bandi, Hans-Georg. (1968) Eskimo Pre-history. University of Alaska Press,College, Alaska.
4. Douglas, R. J. W. (ed.). Physiographic Regions of Canada. Geol. and EconomicMinerals of Canada, vol. II. Geological Survey, Dept. of Energy, Minesand Resources, Ottawa.
5. England, J. (1981) Northern Ellesmere Island: A Natural Resource Inventory.Parks Canada, Edmonton (see also Northern Perspectives, 10: 2- 9. CanadianArctic Resources Committee).
6. Christie, R. L. (1962) Northern Ellesmere Island, District of Franklin.Geol. Surv. Can. Paper, 62-10.
7. Jackson, C. I. (1959) The meteorology of Lake Hazen, N. W. T. Analysisof the Observations. Arctic Met. Res. Group, McGill University, Montreal,Publ. 15. Defence Research Board, Ottawa.
8. Harrington, C. R. (1960) A Short Report of the Ice and Snow Conditionson Lake Hazen. Winter 1957-58. Defence Research Board, Ottawa.
9. ) Canadian Climate Normals, 1951-1980. Environment Canada, AtmosphericEnvironment Service.
10. Saville, D. B. 0. (1964) General ecology and vascular plants of the HazenCamp area. Arctic, 17: 237-255.
11. Babb, T. A. & Bliss, L. C. (1974) Susceptibility to environmental impactin the Queen Elizabeth Islands. Arctic, 27: 234-236.
12. McLaren, I. A. (1964) Zooplankton of Lake Hazen, Ellesmere Island, anda nearby pond with special reference to the Copepod Cyclops scutifer Sars.Can. J. Zool., 42: 613-629.
13. Oliver, D. R. (1963) Entomological studies in the Lake Hazen area, EllesmereIsland, including lists of species of arachnida, collembola and insecta.Arctic, 16: 175-180.
14. Defence Research Board of Canada. Bibliography of Operation "Hazen" 1957-1963.
15. Johnson, L. (1983) Homeostatic mechanisms in single species arctic fishpopulations. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 40: 987-1024.
16. Kalff, J. & Welch, H. E. (1974) Phytoplankton production in Char Lake,a natural polar lake, and in Meretta Lake, a polluted polar lake. CornwallisIsland, Northwest Territories. J. Fish. Res. Board Can., 31(5): 621-636.