An Extreme Sediment Transfer Event in a Canadian High Arctic Stream.

• Main Authors: Lewis, Ted, Braun, Carsten, Hardy, Douglas R., Francus, Pierre, Bradley, Raymond S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: sédiments; cours d'eau; Canada; Arctique; Arctic; Ellesmere Island; Antarctic and Alpine Research; Arctique*
• Online Access: https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/9576/; https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/9576/1/P1352.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1657/1523-0430(2005)037[0477:AESTEI]2.0.CO;2

Two large suspended sediment concentration (SSC) pulses were recorded in 1998 in a small snowmelt-fed stream on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian High Arctic. The largest pulse occurred from 7 to 8 July, when 32% of the monitored seasonal sediment transport occurred in only four hours. SSC reached 83,760 mg L⁻¹, exceeding all previously recorded values from high arctic glacially-fed and snowmelt-fed rivers by more than one order of magnitude. The event occurred after the majority of snow in the watershed had melted, and was preceded by a long period of relatively high air temperature, and a small rainfall event on 7 July. We consider the most likely cause of the event to be a rapid mass movement.