Rates of surficial sediment mixing and sediment burial are measured in Shagawa Lake, Minnesota, using radionuclide tracers. Based on 106Ru profiles in 16 cores, mixing rates average 13 cm 2/yr within the upper 9 cm of sediment. Two other nuclides, 210Pb and 137Cs, provide further evidence for calculation of mixing rates. In addition, 210Pb profiles estimate sediment burial rates (about 0.4 cm/yr). Mixing estimates are shown to be fairly insensitive both to uncertainties in sediment burial rates and to temporal patterns of 106Ru deposition.