Bedload Transport and Channel Bed Changes in the Proglacial Skeldal River, Northeast Greenland

Abstract

This study presents data on bedload transport rates for the proglacial Skeldal River in northeast Greenland monitored during August 1998. The study adds to a very limited data set from which we can assess bedload transport rates in true Arctic environments. Bedload transport rates were determined using a sediment budget approach based on cross-section resurvey, supplemented by “at-a-point” bedload measurements using a Helley-Smith bedload sampler. Bedload transport rates were low and ranged from 0.02 to 0.04 kg rrr–1 s–1. These rates fall within the extremes reported for arctic and subarctic environments. Bedload sampling conducted through flood events suggests that there is a broad (but not significant) relationship with discharge. Maximum bedload transport rates derived using a sediment budget approach based on cross-section resurvey were found to be 50% lower than maximum rates measured “at-a-point” using a Helley-Smith bedload sampler during meltwater flood events. Bedload transport rates derived in this study vary both spatially and temporally by up to an order of magnitude. Upstream bedload supply parameters are believed to be more influential than specific stream power in controlling the transport patterns and changes in channel bed elevation observed.