AEOLIAN SEDIMENT TRANSPORT DURING WINTER, BLACK TOP CREEK, FOSHEIM PENINSULA, ELLESMERE ISLAND, CANADIAN ARCTIC

Northerly winds of 25 m s(-1), and possibly in excess of 40 m s(-1), o ccurred for about one hour in the Eureka area on 18 February 1991. In the valley of Black Top Creek, the effects of these winds were dominan tly (1) deflation of fine sediments on north-east-facing slopes, leavi ng a patchy soil crust perched up to 28 mm above the surrounding surfa ce, and (2) deposition of up to 125 mm of fine and coarse sediments ov er snow on south-west-facing slopes, particularly in rough microtopogr aphy within detachment slides. The importance of wind erosion in this arid environment was shown by surface soil loss on a north-east-facing slope of 4.8 kg m(-2) (4 mm), an amount equivalent to more than 20 ye ars of denudation by water. The maximum size (45 mm long) and weight ( 25 g) of particles transported during this storm demonstrate that aeol ian transportation in the Canadian Arctic, like the Antarctic, is not confined to sand-sized materials. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.