Streamflow and suspended sediment transfer to Lake Sophia, Cornwallis Island, Nunavut, Canada

To ascertain the climatic controls on sediment transport to Lake Sophia, Co rnwallis Island, Nunavut, Canada, we made detailed hydrological and meteoro logical measurements in the Sophia River watershed through the 1994 melt se ason. Streamflow and suspended sediment transport are limited, on an annual time scale, by the supply of snow and sediment in the watershed. Suspended sediment yield from the watershed was only 0.46 t km(-2), which is lower t han any previously published yield for a stream in the High Arctic. Snowmel t runoff accounted for 88% of the annual suspended sediment load, whereas 6 and 9% were transported in response to a slushflow event and summer rainfa ll, respectively These measurements provide no direct evidence that modern- day sediment delivery to Lake Sophia is related to fluctuations in air temp erature, which has implications for the paleoenvironmental signal preserved in Lake Sophia's laminated sediments. We suggest that on-site sediment tra nsport studies are necessary to establish the relationships among geology, geography, climate, and hydrology unique to each watershed-lake system and need to be an integral part of any calibration attempt. Additional yeats of data are needed however to define the interannual variability of streamflo w and sediment transport in response to climate.