Observations of aeolian transport and niveo‐aeolian deposition at three lowland sites, Canadian arctic archipelago

Abstract

Observations of wind action were made in the late winter, spring and summer at three lowland sites located on Banks Island (1977‐79), Melville Island (1986‐87) and Ellesmere Island (1989‐90). Erosion pin measurements in north‐central Banks Island showed minimal activity on interfluves and the highest rates at a blowout site in an unvegetated sand plain. The timing of aeolian activity during the year depended on the site characteristics. Where the snow cover was incomplete in winter, either because a rugged microtopography resulted in terrain elements protruding above the surface of the snow or because sublimation of snow exposed the ground surface, aeolian transport could occur year‐round. In areas with a flatter microtopography, summer transport took place but deflation was negligible over the winter and niveo‐aeolian deposition was confined to the autumn and spring when the snow cover was patchy. Windblown sediment became spatially concentrated by denivation at some sites and was deposited on slopes as fans or layers up to 8 cm thick. In the years this occurred, the rate of deposition was greater than sediment removal by wash or other processes and, at least in the short term, the form of the slope was changed.

Aeolian blowout dynamics in subarctic lapland based on decadal levelling investigations

“…Winter sublimation processes (cf. Law and van Dijk 1994) like those described in North America, by McKenna Neuman (1989, 1990, Lewkowicz and Young (1991) and Law (1995, 2003) are not known in the region due to blanketing snow cover. Therefore, only the snow-free period was taken into account when calculating the wind parameters.…”

Palaeoenvironmental Interpretation of Yedoma Silt (Ice Complex) Deposition as Cold‐Climate Loess, Duvanny Yar, Northeast Siberia

“…Loess deposition in winter was more limited than that in summer or autumn. A frozen ground surface overlain with a limited snow cover restricted deflation and silt supply, as observed in the present day in cold‐climate loess regions such as western Greenland (Dijkmans and Törnqvist, ), in flattish lowland sites in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (Lewkowicz and Young, ) and in inland areas of Iceland (Arnalds, ). Limited aeolian transport of sand may have occurred in winter, based on analogy with modern windy Arctic settings close to sandy sources (e.g.…”

Depositional conditions on an alluvial fan at the turn of the Weichselian to the Holocene – a case study in the Żmigród Basin, southwest Poland

“…In periods of no flow dry sediments underwent aeolian redeposition, which is indicated by significant aeolisation (more than 70% of grains are matt) of the material of the alluvium ( Fig. 4; Isarin et al, 1997;Lewkowicz & Young, 1991;Van Huissteden et al, 2000;Blair & McPherson, 2009;Woronko, 2012). At the same time, the results of particle size, in particular the relationship between mean grain size (Mz) and standard deviation, i.e., the sorting parameter (σ I ), show that they are characteristic of sandy sediments which form active parabolic dunes (Mycielska-Dowgiałło & Ludwikowska-Kędzia, 2011).…”