The chemistry, mineralogy, and rates of transport of sediments in the ...

Department of the Environment Ministbre de 1'Environnement
Fisheries and Marine Service Service des Pgches et des Sciences de la mer
Research and Development Directorate Direction de la Recherche et D6veloppement
TECHNICAL REPORT NO. 546 'RAPPORT TECHNIQUE N € . 546
(Numbers 1-456 in this series were issued (Les numdros 1-456 dans cette s4rie furent
as Technical Reports of the Fisheries utilises comme Rapports Techniques de l'Office
Research Board of Canada . The series des recherches sur les p±cheries du Canada .
name was changed with report number 457) Le nom de la s6rie fut change avec le
rapport numbro 457)
THE CHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY, AND
RATES OF TRANSPORT OF SEDIMENTS IN THE
MACKENZIE AND PORCUPINE RIVER WATERSHEDS,
N .W .T . AND YUKON, 1971-73 .
by
G . J . BRUNSKILL
P . CAMPBELL
S . E . M . ELLIOTT
B . W . GRABA,"
W . J . DEhTRY
and
R . WAGEMANN
This is the sixty-third
Ceci est le Soixante-troisi±me
Technical Report from the Rapport Technique de la Direction de la
Research and Development Directorate
Freshwater Institute
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Recherche et Ddveloppement
Institut des eaux douces
Winnipeg, Manitoba
1975

ii
The data for this report were obtained as a result of investigations
carried out under the Government of Canada Environmental-Social
Program, Northern Pipelines, Task Force on Northern Oil Development .

iii
TABLE OF-CONTENTS
Page
List of Tables
iv
List of Figures vii
Acknowledgements
viii
Abstract
ix
Introduction
1
Methods
2
Results
6
Discussion ° 10
Conclusion 23
References
25

iv
LIST
OF TABLES
Page
TABLE
1 . Location of stations, dimension, and properties
of rivers and streams of the Mackenzie and
Porcupine River watersheds, N .W .T . and Yukon . 34
2a .
Slopes (b) and intercepts (a) of the regression
lines in Fig . 1, SSi W aZ, relating suspended
sediment concentrations (SSj) to discharge (Qj) . 35
2b .
Slopes (b) and intercepts (a) of the regression
lines relating PC i and Qi (PCi - aQb) . 36
2c . Slopes (b) and intercepts (a) of th~~ regression,
lines relating PN,t, and Q,~ (PN~, - Z) . 37
2d . Slopes (b) and intercepts (a) of recession
lines relating PP A, and Qj (PPj aQ) 38
3 . Average annual mass (SS a ) and annual mass per
unit watershed area per year (SSw ) of suspended
sediments transported out of watersheds of the
Mackenzie and Porcupine Rivers, 1971- .74 . 39
4 . Laboratory estimates of the rate of 0 2 consumption
by sediments from the Harris River .
4n
5 . Cation exchange capacities for sediments of
Mackenzie watershed rivers and lakes, Mackenzie
Delta, and Beaufort Sea . 41
6 . Ammonium acetate (1N) and HC1 (1N) extractible .
cations from Mackenzie Delta Channel Station
EC1-3 sediments . 42
7a .
Ranges of concentrations of particulate carbon
(PCi), nitrogen (PNi) and phosphorus (PPi) in
waters from selected Mackenzie and Porcupine
River watersheds, 1971-74 . 43
7b . Ranges of and mean - (x) concentrations of
particulate carbon (PC), nitrogen (PN) 'and
phosphorus (PP) in suspended sediments' from
selected Mackenzie and Porcupine River watersheds,
1971-74 . 44

V
TABLE
8 .
Page
Mean annual rates of transport of particulate
carbon (PC) in suspended sediments in selected
Mackenzie and Porcupine River watersheds, 1971-
73 . 45
9 . Mean annual rate of transport of particulate
nitrogen (PN) in suspended sediments of
selected Mackenzie and Porcupine River watersheds,
1971-73 . 46
10 . Mean annual rates of transport of phosphorus
(PP) in suspended sediments of selected Mackenzie
and Porcupine River watersheds, 1971-73, and
mole ratios of C, N and P in suspended sediments . 47
11 . Slopes and significance of regressions of
the log of concentrations oC'PPL, PNi, and PCi
(per unit volume of water) on log concentrations
of suspended sediment (SSZ, mg 1 -1 ) for the
rivers and streams of Groups 1 and 2 . 48
12 . Significance of regressions of annual transport
rates of suspended sediments (SSW, in kg km -2
yr -1),, PC B , PNW , PPw (in moles km' 2yr') on
annual discharge (Qa , in m 3yr' 1 ) for available
data on rivers of Groups 1 and 2 . 49
13 . Results of multiple linear regression analyses
of the relationsbips between the logs of mean
(1971-73) annual rates of transport of suspended
sediments (SS a , in metric tons yr - ), PCa , PN a ,
PPa (in metric tons yr-1 ), and logs of the
variables : watershed area (Ad, in km 2 ), relief
(SE, in km), river length (L, in km), mean annual
daily temperature (T), mean annual precipitation
(P, in mm), forest cover (F, in arbitrary rank),
and surface geology (G, in arbitrary rank), for
watersheds of Groups 1 and 2 . 50
14 . dean concentrations of selected major and minor
e lements . in suspended sediments, and mean annual
rate of. transport of these elements in particulate
material from selected Mackenzie Valley watersheds . 51
15 . Estimated mass of suspended sediments (SSa, tons
yr' 1 ), particulate carbon (P a ), particulate
nitrogen (PRa ), and particulate phosphorus 07a, in
moles yr' 1 ) that reaches the Mackenzie Delta
and Beaufort Sea from the Peel and Mackenzie
Rivers . 52

vi
TABLE
Page
16 . A comparison of annual' rates of sediment
transport in large and small Mackenzie and
Porcupine River watersheds with other Arctic,
Subarctic and Temperate Zone watersheds . 53
17 . Instantaneous concentrations of suspended
sediments (SSi), - particulate carbon (PC .,),
particulate nitrogen (PN .), and particulate
phosphorus (PP,,) ; and instantaneous discharge
(Qt) for selected N .W .T . and Y .T . rivers in
1971-73 . 54

vii
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 1 . Relationships between instantaneous discharge
(Qi) and suspended sediment concentration (SS)
for streams and rivers listed in Table 1,
1971-73 . All regressions are significant at
least to a a 0 .10 . Most of the discharge data
are from records of Water Survey of Canada . .
Figure 2 . Relationship between annual discharge (Qa ) and
annual suspended sediment transport rate per
unit watershed area (SSW ) for rivers listed in
Groups 1 and 2 (excluding Mackenzie at Norman
Wells) of Table 1, 1971-73 . Discharge data
for most rivers are from Water Survey of
Canada
64
65
Figure 3 .
Relationships between instantaneous discharge
(Q,) and concentrations of particulate
nitrogen (PN,) for rivers listed in Table 1,
1971-1973
66
Figure 4 .
Relationships between instantaneous discharge
(Q j) and concentrations of particulate
phosphorus (PPi) for rivers listed in Table 1,
1971-73 67
Figure 5 . Relationship between annual discharge (QQ )
and annual particulate nitrogen transport rates
per unit watershed area (PN W ) for rivers listed
in Groups 1 and 2 (excluding Mackenzie at Norman
Wells) of Table 1, 1971-73 ~
Figure 6 . Relationship between annual discharge (Q a ) and
annual particulate phosphorus transport rates
per unit watershed area (PP ) for rivers listed
W
in Groups 1 and 2 (excluding Mackenzie at
Norman Wells) of Table 1, 1971-73
68
69

N P
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Much of the field work was done . b y . Kritsch-Vascotto, M . Van
Det, P . Stewart, D . Middleton-Stier, L . Dory, C . Crocker, V . Fraser,
A. Wiens, C . Nicol, J . McComiakey, C . Haight, D . Brackett, D . Bottomley,
P . Michaelis, C Metcalfe, R : Andrew., D . Stier, and R . Bernhardt .
Laboratory work in Yellowknife was done . b y . Morden, A . Foster, S .
Michaelis, C . Levine, F . DeVries, C . Rollefson . We thank M . Stainton,
M. Capel, B . Hauser, J . Tisdale, M . Mork, M . Lee, J . Mooers, R .
Simanavicius, and A . Lutz . K . Ramlal of University of Manitoba Earth
Sciences supplied X-ray fluorescence analyses .
We thank H . L . Wood and Kelt Davies of Water Survey of Canada
.for assistance in the field and for advice and data on discharge and
suspended sediments in the Mackenzie Valley . Many aircraft pilots and
engineers from Wardair, Gateway Aviation, LaRonge Aviation, Ptarmigan
Airways, Arctic Air, TNTA, Buffalo Airways, Reindeer Air Service,
'Nahanni Helicopters, and Okanagan Helicopters are greatefully acknowledged .
D . M . Rosenberg, N . B . Snow, D . W . Schindler, M . C . Healey,
-S . C . Zoltai and R . Newbury provided discussion and advice during the
preparation of this manuscript . C . Jones, W . Burton and B' . van der Veen
assisted in the shop . S . Zettler and staff are thanked for drafting of
the figures . G . Porth, C . Plumridge, C . Madder and J . Lewis typed the
manuscript .

ix
ABSTRACT
Brunskill, G . J ., P . Campbell, . S . Elliott, B . W. Graham, J . Dentry and
R . Wagemann . 1975 . The chemistry, mineralogy and rates of transport
of sediments in the Mackenzie and Porcupine-River watersheds, N .W .T .
and Yukon, 1971-1973. Fish . Mar . Serv . Res . Dev . Tech . Rep . 546 :69 pp .
Measurements of concentrations-of suspended sediments (SS), particulate
carbon (PC), particulate nitrogen (PN), particulate phosphorus
(PP), and discharge (Q) were made on a variety of large and small rivers
and streams of the Mackenzie Valley and northern Yukon . 'Significant
logarithmic relationships were found between concentrations of SS, PC,
FN, -PP, and discharge for each river station studied . Annual sediment
and PC, PN, PP transport rates -(in tons or moles km -2yr-1 ) were also logarithmically
related to annual Q for all rivers studied . Suspended
sediment transport rates varied between 0 .2 and 11 .5 mt km' 2yr-1 ) for
small (15,000 km watershed area) rivers . Multiple linear
regression analyses on log transformed data for annual rates of transport
of sediments, PC, PN, and PP, and a variety of map-derived geographic
and climatic parameters indicated that watershed area, forest cover, relief,
and precipitation account for over 97% of the differences in rates of
transport values among the selected rivers . Rates of transport of
suspended sediments in the watersheds studied were similar to data from
other Arctic and Temperate Zone watersheds . Equations were developed to
allow the estimation of sediment, PC, PN, and PP annual transport rates
in unsampled watersheds in the Mackenzie Valley lowlands .
Computed sedimentation rates (3 .8 kg sediments m -2yr -1 , 9 moles
C m'2yr 1, 0 .3 Moles N m-2yr-1 , 0 .06 Moles p m-2yr-1 , based on Mackenzie
and Peel River sediment transport rates) for the Mackenzie Delta and
near-Delta portions of the Beaufort Sea agree well with analyses of bottom
sediment samples in these regions . Bedload transport of cobbles and
boulders were estimated in one small stream near Ft . Simpson, and was
found to be

ottom near the site of addition .- It was observed that small rivers and
streams were not immediately able-to carry increased sediment supply derived
from natural and technological disturbances in their watersheds . We feel
that careful technological activities in this region will not greatly affect
sediment transport regimes of larger rivers .
We strongly propose . that small experimental research watersheds be
established in representative areas within, and outside of proposed development
routes in the Mackenzie Valley and Northern Yukon . These experimental
research watershed's should be carefully maintained to measure the effects of
technological activities on :important components -of the watershed ecosystem,
to experimentally test many hypotheses concerning the interaction of controlled
terrain disturbance and watershed- response, and to provide undisturbed control
for future reference purposes . We recommend that the present network of
discharge, suspended ., sediment, and meteorological stations be expanded,' especially
to - inc lude more small watersheds in a variety of regions within the Mackenzie
Valley and . northern Yukon .,-

xi
RESUMt
Brunskill, G . J ., P . Campbell, S . Elliott, B . W . Graham, J . Dentry and
R. Wagemann . 197 . 5 . The chemistry, mineralogy and rates of
transport of sediments in the Mackenzie and Porcupine River water
sheds,'N .LT, and Yukon, 1971-1973 . Fish . Mar . Serv . Res . Dev .
Tech. Rep . 546 :69 pp .
On a mesurd lea concentrations de sediments en suspension (SS), de
particules de carbone (PC), de particules de nitrogene (PN), de particules
de phosphor* (PP), et le debit (Q) daps un grand nombre de grands at de
.petits cours d'eau de la vallee du Mackenzie et du nord du Yukon . A
chaque endroit etudid, on a ddcouvert qu'il existait des_rapports
logarithmiques revelateurs entre lea concentrations de SS, PC, PN, PP et
le debit . Pour toutes lea rivieres etudides ; les taux de sedimentation
annuals et de transport de PC,'PN et PP (en tonnes ou moles km 2an-1 )
etaient lies aux debits annuels daps un rapport logarithmique . Les taux
de transport des sediments 'en suspension variaient entre 0 .2 et 11 .5 mt
km-2 an 1 ) pour let petits cours d'eau (bassin

plupart des petits cours d'eau des basses terres de la vallEe du
Mackenzie transportent actuellement une quantitE de sediments maximum
ou presque maximum pour un debit donnd, et que tous les sediments
supplementaires se deposeront au fond du lit pros de l'endroit of ils
penEtreront dans le cours d'eau . On a remarque que les petits cours
d'eau n'etaient pas capables de transporter immfidiatement les nouveaux
sediments provenant de bouleversements naturels et technologiques dans
leurs bassins . Nous pensons que, si les activites technologiques sont
effectuees avec soin dons cette region, elles n'affecteront pas
EnormEment les regimes de transport de sediments des rivibres les plus
importantes .
Nous suggErons fermement la creation de petits bassins de recherche
expErimentale dens des regions reprlsentatives, E l'intErieur et I
1'extErieur des routes' de developpement prEvues dans la vallEe du
Mackenzie et le nord du Yukon . Ces bassins de recherche expdrimentale
devront Etre soigneusement entretenus afin que 1'on puisse mesurer les
effets des activites technologiques sur les parties constituantes
importantes'de 1'Ecosyst6me du bassin, experimenter de nombreuses
hypotheses relatives E 1'interaction des bouleversements de terrain
controlEs et des consequences sur le bassin, et fournir des Elements de
contr6le stables afin de permettre des comparaisons ultErieures . Nous
recoam andons 1'exp ansion du reseau actuel de debit, des sediments en
suspension et des stations mEtEorologiques, en y incorporant notamment
un plus grand nombre de petits bassins dans diverses regions de la
vallEe du Mackenzie et du nord du Yukon .

1
INTRODUCTION
In regions of northern Canada underlain by continuous or discontinuous
permafrost (Brown, 1970), natural and man-induced changes in the thermal
regime of high ice-content, fine-grained soils usually result in thermal
erosion (Mackay, 1970). The thermal regime of these northern frozen soils
has been influenced'by climatic amelioration (Lachenbruch et al ., 1962 ;
Crampton, 1973), proximity to unfrozen water bodies (Lachenbruch et al .,
1962 ; Judge, 1973 ; Crampton, 1973 ; McRoberts and Morgenstern, 1973 ; Code,
1973 ; Mackay, -1963 ; Johnson and Brown," 1969), fire (Lotspeich et al ., 1970 ;
Mackay, 1970 ; Heginbottom, 1973 ; Wein and Weber, 1974 ; Kurfurst, .1973 ; Bliss,
1973), changes in, or removal of vegetation (Bliss, 1973 ; Heginbottom, 1973 ;
Haag and Bliss, 1974),
vehicular or animal traffic (Mackay, 1970 : Heginbottom,
1973 ; Hernandez, 1973 ; Rickard and Slaughter, 1973 ; Radforth, 1973 ; Strang,
1973 ; Kurfurst ; 1973 ; Beattie et-aZ .,"1973),and roads, seismic line clearings
and pipeline construction (Legget and MacFarlane, 1972 ; Lachenbruch, 1970 ;
Kurfurst, 1973 ; Bliss, 1973 ; Mackay, 1970 ; Strang, 1973) . In the Mackenzie
and Porcupine River Valleys, the distribution of terrain that is likely to be
disturbed by development (roads, pipeline construction) has been described
and mapped, based on vegetation, soil, permafrost, and surficial geological
information (Crampton, 1973 ; Zoltai and Pettapiece, 1973 ; Zoltai and Tarnocai,
1974 ; Lavkulich, 1973 ; Rampton, 1974 ; Tarnocai, 1973 ; Forest Management
Institute, 1974 ; Hughes, 1972 ; Rampton and Mackay, 1971 ; Rutter et al ., 1973) .
If high ice-content, fine-grained frozen soils on slopes are unwisely disturbed
by construction and development, the resulting slurry of water and
sediment will move downslope to streams, rivers and lakes . There exist only
limited data on the necessary hydrological and meteorological parameters
required to estimate the sediment transport capacity of most rivers and streams
of the Mackenzie Valley and northern Yukon (Davies, .1973 and 1974 ; Water Survey
of Canada, 1970 ; Mackay, 1973 ; McDonald and Lewis, 1973 ; Hopkins et aZ .,1955 ;
Williams,'1970 ; Church, .1974 ; Newb%ry, 1974 ; Anderson, 1974 ; Dingman, 1973a
and 1973b' ; Burns, 1973 and 1974) . Very limited data are available for estimates
of the natural variation of suspended sediments, bed load, and discharge
in rivers of this region (Davies, 1974 ; McDonald and Lewis, 1973 ; Brunskill
al ., 1973) .
Hynes (1973) indicated . that sediment added-to temperate and tropical
streams (in excess of the maximum suspended sediment load of the stream) will
be deposited on the stream,bottom, and will deleteriously affect the habitat
of fish and other aquatic organisms ., In surveys of Mackenzie Valley and
northern Yukon fish resources, Hatfield (1972), Stein et al . (1973), Jessop
et al . (1974), Dryden et al . (1973) ;,, Bryan et al . (1973), and Bryan (1973)
have expressed great concern that "siltation" might be deleterious to northern
fishes, although no observational or, .experimental demonstration of the effect
of increased sedimentation on northern fish was given . Rosenberg and Snow
(197`. nd Brunskill et aZ_.(1973) showed, by experiment and observations,
* The second in a series of 13 technical reports on ecological studies of
aquatic systems n the )Iackenzi~e and Porcupine drainages in relation to
proposed pipeline and highway development .

2
that increased suspended and deposited sediments in small streams and
lakes resulted in reduced abundance of zoobenthic organisms . Rosenberg
(in prep .) indicated that increased sedimentation above 50 g m-2 of
stream bottom in a 5 hr period in the Harris River caused increases in
zoobenthic organisms drifting away from the area of sediment addition .
From the above, it would appear that it is necessary to have
estimates of the natural rates of movement of suspended and deposited
sediments in streams in order to consider the effects of increased
s:edimentsupply on the stream ecosystem . Of the many factors that
influence stream discharge, suspended sediment load, and bed load, some
will likely be affected by construction and operation of roads and
pipelines . The objectives of this paper are to 1) estimate natural
suspended sediment transport rates for selected watersheds, 2) to
identify characteristics of streams or their watersheds that influence
the rate of sediment supply to a stream, and 3) to relate present and
projected . increased sediment supply A the stream bottom (the habitat of
aquatic organisms) and to the watershed area ( the source of stream
sediments) .
METHODS
S amp l in$
Samples for suspended sediments were taken in streams and rivers
with a) van Dorn samplers at the surface and at various depths, b) by
hand filling carboys or bottles at the surface, and c) by using depthintegrating
suspended sediment samplers (such as the US DH-48 sampler,
see Stichling, 1974) . Samples were taken when possible at the point of
maximum velocity and depth in the stream cross section . A few comparisons
of depth-integrated suspended sediment samples and samples taken by hand
filling a 20 L . carboy at the surface indicated that the latter method
yielded results within 20% of the former method . Samples were taken at
least monthly when possible in the open water period . In some cases,
fewer samples were taken from rivers that' presented logistic problems of
access during break-up and ice formation periods . Usually only one or
two samples per year were taken from the river sampling stations under
winter ice . Sampling stations were reached by freight canoe, skidoo, and
aircraft . In situ measurements of temperature, turbidity, and conductance
were made as described in Brunskill et al . (1973) .
In the Jean Marie River bedload experiment, 22 August 1973, cobbles
and boulders from 0 .100 to 27 kg dry weight were painted bright colors
(coded for weight classes) and replaced in the strew : bed, just below a
riffle, in a straight line perpendicular to the river channel . After one
year, the site was revisited and the distance travelled by the painted
stones was measured from a tape stretched across the river at the site
of the original placement of the stones .

3
Stream and river bottom sediments were sampled by hand and with Lane
buckets, Ekman and Ponar dredges . . Shore, and bank sediments were sampled
with a shovel . Water velocity was measured with Gurley flow meters, and
steel tapes were used to measure stream cross-section area . Discharge and
suspended sediment concentrations were also taken from the data of Davies
(1973 ; 1974) .-
Oxygen-demand of Harris bank sediments was estimated in the field and
laboratory . Harris River bank sediments, identical to those sediments used
in the experiments of Rosenberg and Snow (1975), were added to 300 ml glass
stoppered 02 bottles to yield suspended sediment concentrations of 2 to 300 mg/L
of Harris River water . These stoppered bottles, with sediment-free controls,
were suspended in the stream current for 1-4 hours . Oxygen was measured by
the Winkler method (APHA, 1965) at the beginning and the end of the period to
estimate changes in 02 concentrations caused by sediments . Similar experiments
were done in the Freshwater Institute laboratory by adding Harris River
bank sediments to oxygenated water in glass stoppered bottles to yield sediment
concentrations of 100-18,500 mg/L . These bottles were wrapped in tinfoil
and agitated on an automatic shaker for 16-60 hours . Oxygen was measured as
above .
SampleAnalyses
-Suspended sediment samples were usually filtered on ignited, preweighed
Whatman GF/C 45 mm filters at field camps in Ft . Simpson and Inuvik, usually
on the day of sampling, but sometimes_ as late as one week after sampling .
Alternately, large volume (20 L . carboy) samples were centrifuged in Yellowknife
on a Sorval RC2B centrifuge with a continuous-flow unit . A comparison
of the precision of these methods is given in Campbell and Elliott (1975)
which indicates that filtration of 1-2 L . of sample gives reasonable (±5%)
results, even in very low suspended sediment (2-5 mg/L) waters . For analytical
reasons, it was necessary to have large (10 g) samples of suspended sediments,
which required the use of the continuous-flow centrifuge . The precision of
suspended sediment determination by centrifugation was 15-20% for low suspended
sediment waters (Campbell and Elliott, 1975) . The sediment collected by
centrifugation was dried at 110°C in the centrifuge tube, weighed, removed
from the tube, ground with mortar and pestle, and shipped to Freshwater
Institute laboratories for mineralogical and chemical analyses . Sediment
on filters was dried, weighed, and stored in a freezer until analysis . Particulate
phosphorus (PP) was analyzed in the Yellowknife laboratory from filter
samples according to Stainton et aZ . (1974) . Particulate carbon (PC) and
particulate nitrogen (PN) were determined from filters or subsamples of
centrifuged sediment on a CHN elemental analyzer according to Stainton et OZ .
(1974) and Hauser (1973) .
For the analysis of copper and zinc, sediments were dried for 1 hour at
100°C, .cooled to room temperature in a desiccator, and a quantity in the range
of 0 .1-0 .2 grams was weighed accurately into the teflon insert of an acid
digestion bomb (Parr 4745) . The sediment was digested in the bomb with a

4
nitric/hydrofluoric acid mixture (5 :8 volumes respectively of concentrated
acids) using high-purity acids (Aristar) for 48 hours at 140-145°C . After
cooling to room temperature, 4 grams of recrystallized reagent grade boric
acid were added, the pH was adjusted to 4 .0 with ammonia, and the digest
was then transferred quantitatively to a 125 ml separatory funnel . The heavy
metals were then complexed with ammonium pyrollidine dithicarbamate (AFDC)
(2 ml of 2% solution) and extracted 3-4 times with 30 ml of carbon tetrachloride .
The extract was collected in a 100 ml volumetric flask, and the solvent was
then removed from the extract with a Buchi Rotavapor evaporator . For this
purpose the volumetric flask was attached directly to the evaporator via a
special adaptor . Removal of solvent was carried out at relatively low temperature
(50-55°C) to prevent loss of metals in the process . The residue in the
flask was then oxidized with 5-ml of concentrated high-purity (Aristar) nitric
acid, and the solution was made up to volume with triply distilled (twice in
quartz) water . The heavy metals in this aqueous matrix were then analyzed for
Cu and Zn by flameless atomic absorption, using a heated graphite tube atomizer,
70 HGA Perkin Elmer, and a 403 Perkin Elik , Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer
. Precision, accuracy and some operational parameters are given in
Wagemann (1975) .
The elements Si, Al and Ca were determined simultaneously on a multichannel
ARL X-ray spectrometer (University of Manitoba, using the method of
Wilson et al ., 1965) . This method consists essentially of fusing the sample
with lithium tetraborate at 1100°C, then grinding the fused bead with the
appropriate quantities of lanthanum oxide and boric acid and pressing the
mixture into discs appropriate for analysis .
Cation exchange capacity and ammonium acetate-extractible cations were
determined on Mackenzie Delta channel sediments according to methods 5A1 and
3A2a from U . S . Dept . Agriculture (1967) . These sediments were also extracted
with HC1 to determine acid- .labile elements . Oven-dried (110 °C) sediment
(15-25 g) was shaken with 100 ml of 1N NH40Ac and 1N HC1 for 8 hrs . The
solution was then filtered through Whatman GF/C filters and analyzed for Ca,
Mg, Na, K, Fe and Hn by atomic absorption spectrophotometry according . t o
Stainton et al . (1974) .
X-ray diffraction, mineral identifications and sediment particle size
determinations were done by methods given in Brunskill et al . (1973,
Appendix VII) .
Data Analysis
Instantaneous concentrations of suspended, sediment or particulate nutrients
were obtained by direct measurement or analysis . Instantaneous discharge
figures were generally taken from Water Survey of Canada (Davies, 1973 ; 1974) .
Summations of total monthly discharges, computed from the mean discharge for
each month, yielded annual discharge. Monthly rates of transport of suspended
sediment and particulate nutrients were calculated from the product
of the mean concentration during the month and the total monthly discharge .

Annual rates of transport were obtained by summing monthly rates of transport .
For months during which no concentration was measured, a seasonal mean concentration
was generally applied . Winter mean concentrations were calculated
for the period November through April and summer means for the period May to
October .
Considering each river individually, the instantaneous concentrations
of suspendedr
sediment. or particulate nutrients were regressed on instantaneous
discharge ., All data was transformed to logarithms . The method for
these simple linear regressions is discussed in Snedecor and Cochran (1971) .
Only those analyses producing regression coefficients significant at a - 0 .10
were subsequently plotted . The linear regression analysis program of a Wang-462
was used for.' computations .
t
Annual rates of transport for particulate materials were divided by the
watershed area above the sampling station . Simple linear regressions were
then performed on the logarithms of these normalized transport rates versus
the logarithm of corresponding annual discharges . The set of data pairs consisted
of eleven different stations on eight rivers, with a maximum of three
years data for any one station . The statistical method is discussed in Sokal
and Rohlf (1969) .
Multiple linear regressions were performed on mean annual rates of transport
versus seven topographic and climatic variables . . Transport of suspended
sediment, and particulate nitrogen, phosphorous and carbon were considered
individually, using - the same eleven stations as above . Logarithmic transformations
were maintained .
Topographic variables included watershed area (Ad), change in elevation
(LE) and length (L) of the river . Area of the watershed above the sampling
station was obtained from Water Survey (Davies, 1973 ; 1974) • where possible,
or by planimetry . Change in elevation represents •the difference between the
highest - contour-in the watershed and' the contour on which the sampling station
falls . Lengths of the rivers from the source to the station were determined
with a chartometer . The Canadian National topographic map series (Scale 1 :250,-
000) was used for these three determinations .
Temperature (T), precipitation (P), and forest cover (F) represented
climatic and vegetation variables . Mean annual daily temperatures for each
watershed were obtained from Figure 4 .18 in Burns, (1973), and mean annual
precipitation .from Figure 6 .8 in Burns (1974) . In both cases a grid was
drawn over each watershed to obtain a mean value for the watershed area .
Using the map provided in Rowe (1972), •the vegetation zones included in the
Mackenzie Valley and Yukon were'ranked in increasing order of forest cover :
mountain tundra .- 1, forest and grassland = 2, and predominately forest - 3 .
The grid method was again used to determine an average vegetation type for
the watershed .
The last variable was representative of the surface geology of each
watershed . A coded system for erodibility (G) of rock was obtained from
Jansen and Painter (1974) . The system assigns higher values to rock-types

6
with a greater susceptibility to erosion : Paleozoic i 3, Mesozoic • S,
Cenozoic • 6, Quaternary • 2 . Crude estimates of this parameter were
determined from physiographic maps and discussion in Bostock (1964),
Inland Waters Directorate (1973) .
The multiple linear regression analyses were performed by the "step
up method" described in Chapter 13 of Snedecor and Cochran (1971) . Rates
-of transport were regressed on Ad-initially, and then subsequent variables
were added one at a time . Only those variables causing a significant
increase in R from one step to another were retained . Thus, only the
fewest number of variables which significantly explained the variance in
rate of transport were retained . These calculations were performed on a
Hewlett-Packard 9810, by means of a Stat-Pac program .
RESULTS
Suspended Sediments
The range of concentration of suspended sediments in the selected
rivers and streams varied from

7
The total mass of sediments removed yearly from the watershed of
each river, is given in Table 3 . The rivers of Group 1, with large watershed
areas and annual discharges, carried vast amounts of sediments compared to
the smaller rivers and streams of Group 2 . In order to compare natural erosion
.rates of sediment from large and small watersheds, the annual mass of sediment
transported was divided by the watershed area of the river . This
resulted in an estimate of the average annual mass of sediment carried
away from a square kilometer of the land drainage area of a river . This
treatment of the data (Table 3) indicates that the watersheds of small
streams yielded much less sediment to the stream-per unit watershed area
than did the large watersheds in Group 1 .
The annual mass of sediment transported per unit watershed area was
positively related to annual discharge (Fig . 2) . Rivers with annual discharges
greater-than about 5 km3yr-1 transported 36 to 126-metric tons of
suspended sediment per km2 of watershed area, while rivers and streams with
discharges from 0 .01 to 2 km3yr-1 transported 0 .2'to 12 metric tons of
sediments km-2yr-l . Some idea of the seasonal variation in these parameters
can be obtained from Fig . 2, where,-,3 years of discharge and sediment transport
are given for the Willowlake River, Liard River at Ft . Liard, and South
Nahanni River above Virginia Falls : . .
Bedload
We tried to estimate the annual movement of cobbles and small boulders
in the bed- of Jean Marie River (50'km SE of Ft . Simpson) . Jean Marie
River has a watershed area (2,960 km-2) a little larger than Martin River,
and is probably similar to Martin River in its annual discharge pattern,
although it carries very low concentrations of suspended sediments (see
Campbell •et aZ ., 1975) . We recovered over 90% of the painted stones that
were placed in . the stream bed, and found that the maximum distance moved
in a year was less than 2 meters . Small stones (0 .10 kg) moved the most,
while larger boulders (10-27 kg) moved very little (maximum of 0 .2 m for
10 kg stones) or not at all .
Oxygen Demand of Sediments in Water
Sediments from the banks of, the Harris River do consume measurable
.amounts of 02 from water at 20-220C in the dark (Table 4) . These data
indicate that 02 consumption per unit time was not related to the mass of
sediment added, nor to the fraction of organic matter in the added sediments
. However, Table 4 does indicate that sediments added to oxygenated
water may cause a reduction in 02' concentrations over a period of 10-30
days .
Similar experiments were .done in situ on Harris River on 1 August
1974 . In this small, clear water stream, sealed, clear glass bottles
(with varying amounts of suspended sediments added) were suspended in the

8
stream current, and 02 was measured before-and after incubation . Nearly
all bottles (including the control bottles) increased in 02 concentration,
which indicated that algal photosynthesis produced more 02 than the sediment
consumed .
Cation Exchange Capacity andExchangeable Cations of Mackenzie Valley
Sediments
Estimates of cation exchange capacities are given for selected sediment
samples in Table 5 . Most of the flowing water suspended and bottom
sediments are rather low in cation exchange capacity, compared to Temperate
Zone prairie soils . This is likely the result of the lack of the more
reactive clay minerals (e .g .- the montmorillonite group) in these sediments .
Chlorite and illite were the clay minerals commonly found in these samples
(see Campbell et al ., 1975, for sediment mineralogy of these localities) .
Sediments of lakes usually had higher cation exchange capacities than did
flowing water sediments . Lakes in the Mackenzie Delta that frequently
received suspended sediments from flooding Mackenzie River waters had lower
exchange capacities than did Delta lakes which rarely receive Mackenzie
River floodwaters . Shell (- Long) Lake, near Inuvik, is not in the Delta,
does not receive turbid Mackenzie waters, and has the highest exchange
capacity among our samples .
Acid and basic extracts of a Mackenzie Delta East Channel sediment
sample indicated that Ca, Mg,-Na, and Fe are the major reactive ions in
the sediment (Table 6) . The large yield of Ca and Mg in the acid extract
is likely due to the dissolution of calcite and dolomite in these sediments
(see below) . The relatively high yield .of Fe in the acid extract is likely
due to the dissolution of amorphous hydrated iron oxides and hydroxides,
since our X-ray diffraction methods revealed no reactive crystalline iron
minerals .
Mineralogy of Lake andRiver
Sediments
Nearly all samples of bottom sediments, shore and bank sediments
and suspended sediments contained quartz and a Ca-rich plagioclase, and
several samples from the Beaufort Sea contained orthoclase (Campbell et at .,
1975 ; Brunskill et al ., 1973, vol . 2, App . IX, Table VI) . These .detrital
minerals were found in all size fractions, and appeared as both fresh,
sharply angled fragments and as highly abraded and rounded grains . Dolomite
and calcite were very commonly found in bottom sediments and in
suspension in river waters (see Table 8, PCo/PCZ., Campbell et al . 1975,
and Brunskill et al . 1973 .) . These carbonate minerals in river systems
are likely all detrital in origin, since ion activity products computed
from dissolved ion concentration data (Campbell et al ., 1975) indicate
undersaturation with respect to common carbonate (calcite, dolomite)
minerals, and there are abundant sources of carbonate rocks in most of
these watersheds . Most Mackenzie Delta lake bottom sediments have inorganic
compositions similar to Mackenzie River sediments, but have much higher
concentrations of organic matter (5-30% weight loss on ignition in lake
sediments, see Campbell et al . (1975) for tabulated data) .

9
Only two clay minerals were found, chlorite and illite, and these
were, common in nearly all samples . Kaolinite and members of the montmorillonite
group . were sought but not found . See Campbell et aZ . (1975)
for specific data for individual rivers and lakes .
Nutrients N, P, and C in Suspended Sediments
Concentrations of C, N, and P in suspended sediments (PC1,, PN : and PPS)
of river waters are given in Table 7a and 7b . Variations in concentrations
of these elements in the particulate phase were likely due to changes a) in
concentration of suspended sediments, and b) in the relative proportions
of inorganic and organic material in suspended sediments . The proportion
of C, N, and P per unit weight of suspended sediments is greater in the
smaller Group 2 streams, compared to the larger rivers of Group 1 (Table 7b) .
Per unit volume of river water, instantaneous concentrations of PP, :, PN,-
and PC, : were related to instantaneous discharge (Qi) as indicated in Figs . 3
and 4 . With increased discharge, there was usually an increase in concentrations
of PN1, PP, :, and PC, :, with the exception of rivers in Group 3 .
Mean annual rates of transport of na, P91a, and gPQ in suspended sediment
are given in Table 8, 9, and 10 . In general, Group 1 watersheds
transported greater amounts of PC, PN, and PP (in units of moles yr'1 and
moles kin-2 of watershed area yr'l) than did Group 2 rivers and streams of
Table 1 . The annual mass of PCW, PNu,, and PPW transported per unit watershed
was also positively related to annual discharge (QQ) as shown in FiRs .5
and 6 . With increasing annual discharge, the transport of PCW, PNw, and PP ; .. .
from a square kilometer of watershed also increased . Small Qa rivers and
streams (Group 2 in Table 1) in the Mackenzie Valley lowlands yielded less
PCW, PNu., and PP,, ., per unit watershed area than did the larger Qa rivers of
Group 1 .
The concentrations of PC, :, PN1 and PP, : (moles m'3 of river water)
.increased exponentially per unit increase in the concentration of suspended
sediments (Table 11) . The slopes of the regression lines were of similar
magnitude for PC, :, PN: and PP,: . - :The mean annual rates of transport of
suspended sediments (SSW in kg k~'2yr'1), PCW, PNW, and PPW (in moles
km- yr-1) increased exponentially per unit increase in annual discharge
(Table 12 and Figs . 2, 5 & 6) .
An attempt was made to provide a means of "order of magnitude" prediction
of na, . Ts a, TNQ, and TPQ from parameters that can be obtained from
topographic,, climatic, vegetation and geologic maps . The results of multiple
linear regression analyses given in Table 13 indicate that watershed area,
forest cover, relief, and precipitation are useful parameters in estimating
the annual mass of suspended sediments and particulate nutrients flowing out
of a Mackenzie Valley watershed . -Estimates of annual transport (metric tons
yr-1) of the above mentioned elements can be obtained from the following
equations :

10
log Pra -
1 .0892 + 0 .9073 log Ad + 1 .1828 log AE
-2 .8210 log F, R2 - 0 .98 ; ( 2 )
log PWg - 1 .0243 + 1 .1333 log Ad + 0 .6353 log AE - 3 .3231 log F,
R2 - 0 .97 ; (3)
log PE - 4 .5434 + 1 .0059 log Ad + 1 .8438 log AE - 2 .0173 log P
and
- 3 .7420 log F, R 2 - 0 .98 ; ( 4 )
log •STQ - 8 .8995 + 1 .2741 log
Ad + 1 .1417 log AE - 2 .6367-log P
- 6 .1278 log F, R2 - 0 .98 ( 5 )
These predictive relationships would likely be improved by inclusion of
meterorological and soil-permafrost-vegetation parameters, by increased
frequency of sampling, and a more widespread geographic distribution of river
discharge, suspended sediment, and chemical measurement stations . In particular,
small mountain streams and intermediate sized rivers (i .e . Hare Indian,
Horn, Blackwater, North Nahanni, Root Rivers) are not represented in our data
set .
DISCUSSION
The UsefulnessofRelationshipsBetweenConcentrationsofParticulate_
Material andDischarge
As shown in Figs . 1, 3, 4 and Table 2, the concentrations of suspended
sediments (SS4), and to a lesser extent particulate phosphorus (PP,), particulate
nitrogen (PNi), and particulate carbon (PCB), vary in logarithmic
proportion with discharge (Qi) . Such relationships (usually only for SS,)
have been investigated in Temperate Zone rivers by Leopold et al . (1964,
p : 220) and Abrahams and Kellerhalls (1973) . Sediment rating curves, such
as Fig . 1, have been used to estimate, suspended sediment concentrations
between sampling dates (such as in Davies, 1974) . Abrahams and Kellerhalls
(1973) suggest that, with careful evaluation of 5-9 years of data, these
relationships may be useful in predictive estimation of sediment concentrations
and rates of transport of sediments . When a longer period of
measurement of Qi and SSi is available,, these relationships (Fig . 1) could
contribute to a method to observe the effects of terrain disturbance on
suspended . sediment loads of smaller rivers and streams (i .e . similar in
size and character to the rivers of Group 2 in Table 1) . If there have been
no recent natural erosion events (fires or landslides) in a watershed under
technological development (e .g ., rights-of-way clearing for pipelines or
roads), then Qi and SSi data points that fall greatly above the regression
lines (or their confidence limits, not shown) in Fig . 1 might indicate

11
increased sediment concentrations caused by terrain disturbance . However,
it seems likely that variable fractions of the sediment added to the
stream by terrain disturbances would settle to the stream bed . This would
especially affect Group 2 type streams in summer, fall, and winter periods
of low velocity and Qi. Such added sediment may be dispersed to pool areas
of the stream or transported out of the stream only during periods of maximum
velocity
such as during spring and summer floods . We have
observed the .atream's Mean's fractionation of point-source sediment addition at
Caribou Bar Creek (where a natural landslide flowed into the stream), at
the Dempster Highway crossing of the Rengleng River, and at the Mackenzie
Highway crossing of the Martin River .(see Rosenberg and Snow, 1975) . In
the case of the Caribou Bar and Rengleng examples, sands and silts appeared
to accumulate near the point of entry of the added sediment to the river
channel, but finer silts and clays were transported a short . distance (

12
This computation will seriously underestimate most sediment additions
to streams, since coarse silt, sand, and gravel will not be measured in
SSmax , and bedload transport is not considered . Results of the - calculation
(Eq . 6) can then be compared to known relationships between
sedimentation and the well-being of stream benthic organisms and fish
(Rosenberg and Snow, 1975) . Rosenberg and Snow (1975, and unpublished
data) found that experimentally increased sedimentation (of 25, 50, 25%
sand, silt, clay sediment, respectively) at rates of 0 .060-3 .9 kg m -2
of , stream bottom'hr 1 caused resident zoobenthic organisms in the stream
bed of Harris River to leave the site of sediment addition . If, by further
research, a level of sediment addition is found below which little or no
effect on zoobenthos, phytobenthos, and fish is observed, then that level
of sediment addition should be considered an upper limit on sediment supply
to streams from terrain disturbance .
We wish to emphasize that the regression lines in Fig . 1 are not based
on sufficiently long records, nor on sufficient details, to allow precise
use of the lines to establish "individual stream standards for sediment
concentrations" . For example, for a given Qi on Fig . 1, the variation of
SSi can be from ± 2x to ± 10 x the indicated value on the vertical axis,
depending on the river type 'and the number of Qj and SSj data points available
to us . Verification, stabilization, and an increase in confidence in
the regression lines in Fig . 1 will result from continued monitoring of
normal and natural extreme events . Greater confidence in such regression
lines could result from subdivision of the yearly hydrograph (Q • Vs time)
into a) the ascending limb of the peak flow hydrograph (May-early June in
the Mackenzie Valley), b)' the descending limb of the peak flow hydrograph,
and c) low flow periods (late summer, fall and winter) . For example, we
were able to improve the significance of the regression of SSi on Qj for
the Harris River from r - 0 .50 (a - >0 .001) for all data points, to r - 0 .72
(a - >0 .001) for only data points in the high Q . period of the year in
April, May and June (using data from Davies, 194) . We therefore stress
that our purpose is to present this method of data treatment and to illusstrate
general trends in the data . The absolute values of the slopes and
intercepts can be improved . b y more intensive sampling' over longer periods
of time .
We propose that the slopes (b) and intercepts (a) of regression lines
in Fig . 1, (see Eq . 1, Table 2a) relating the concentrations of suspended
sediment and discharge, are general indices of erosional characteristics
of each river and each watershed, respectively . A similar interpretation
was made briefly by MUller and Forstner (1968) for European and North
American rivers .
We propose that b is an index of the ability or energy of a river
to transport suspended sediment, and is a function of the seasonal and
annual distribution of river water mass, velocity, gradient, bed roughness,
and cross-sectional area . We further propose that a is an index of the
susceptibility of the terrestrial portion'of the watershed to erosion by
the river or stream, and is a function of watershed surficial geology,
relief, soil properties, vegetation, active layer thickness, seasonal

13
changes in albedo, and the general availability of easily erodible
terrain . Rivers with high values of,b are interpreted to exert a great
erosional pressure on their watersheds, and can transport large quantities
of sediment . Rivers with loww values of b appear to exert less energy
in eroding their watersheds, and appear to have a lower capability to
transport sediment . This interpretation of b is partly supported by a
statistically significant (r .- 0.96, 1-a >99 .9) logarithmic relationship
between b (Table 2a) and mean annual sediment erosion rates per unit
watershed area MW , see Table 3) for the sampled rivers .
Watersheds with high values of the intercept (a) in Fig . 1 are in
regions of low relief with relatively thick deposits of alluvial, .eolian,
glacial, and/or lacustrine sediments (Rutter et al ., 1973 ; Zoltai and
Pettapiece, 1973 ; Tarnocal, 1973 ; Zoltai and Tarnocai, 1974) . These small
to moderate sized watersheds contain relatively low energy streams that
carry relatively low SSi as they slowly cut through easily erodible terrain .
Per unit increase in Qj, however, these high a watershed streams carry a
larger increment of SS, (i .e., the arithmetic slopes of selected tangents
to the curvilinear relationships between SSi and Qi, as-distinct from
the logarithmic relationships of SSi and,Qj in Fig . 1 and Table 2a), compared
to low a watersheds . This implies . that, for a small increase in QV
a unit of terrain of high a watersheds yields more sediment to the stream
than does a unit of terrain of low a watersheds, but few high a water-,
sheds in Table 2a have the sustained energy of high QQ (i .e ., b) to
transport this easily eroded sediment .. This further implies that the
stream beds of high a and low b watersheds should contain a greater range
of particle sizes, particularly a greater proportion of sand, silt and clay .
Watersheds with low values of a and high values of b would presumably scour
their channel beds clean of clay, silt,'and fine sands, leaving only gravel
and boulders (such as in the case of the main channels of the Mackenzie,
Liard, Peel, South Nahanni, and Arctic . Red Rivers) . Watersheds with high
values of a (i .e . easily erodible watersheds) and low values of b (less
capacity to transport sediments) probably supply sediments from the land
drainage area in excess of the ability of the stream to carry the sediments
away, resulting in periodic accumulations of sand, silt, and clay amongst
the boulders and gravel of the str?am bed (such as in the case of the Harris,
Martin, and Willowlake Rivers) .
If the above interpretations of the slopes and intercepts of logarithmic
relationships between,SS- and Q, are tentatively accepted, some interesting
speculations regarding the biological utilization of the stream beds can be
made . If zoobenthic species diversity is related to substrate diversity,
then streams and rivers with low slope (b) values and high intercept (a)
values should have a greater diversity of zoobenthos than rivers having
high values of band low values of a .' This cannot be directly,tested with
our present zoobenthic data (Rosenberg and Snow, 1975 ; Brunskill et al .,
1973) because of the lack of suitable quantitative zoobenthos and sediment
sampling methods for large rivers . There is some partial support in Brunskill
et al . (1973, vol . 2, p. 307-309) and Campbell
et aZ .,(1975, Table la in
.Section 5) for the hypothesis that rivers of low slope (b) will have a

14
greater range of bottom sediment particle sizes, compared to rivers of
high b values . Rivers and streams having high values of b were observed
to have highly scoured, large particle-sized beds with shifting, unstable,
and highly mobile bedload movements, which usually are unfavorable substrates
for aquatic organisms . Rivers and streams with lower values of b
tend to have a wider range of sediment particle sizes, a more stable sediment
surface, and apparently low bedload transport rates (see for . example
the discussion on bedload transport of Jean Marie River below) .
Our selection of watersheds and sampling sites (largely controlled
by the . location of Water Survey of Canada discharge stations) has biased
the Mackenzie Valley data somewhat by representing only 3 types of watersheds
: a) Group 1 large rivers draining from the mountains, high b and
low a, b) Group 2 moderate to small rivers and streams draining the Mackenzie
Valley lowlands, low b and high a,-and c) Groups 3 rivers draining large
lakes or large numbers of lakes, to which the above interpretation of
slopes and intercepts probably does nr -apply . From our rough survey data
(see Brunskill et aZ . 1973, vol . 2, and Campbell et aZ . 1975) and topographic,
climatic, terrain and vegetation maps, we feel that there are
several types of watersheds not represented in Table 1 and Fig . 1 . For
example, small mountain streams, and large rivers draining spruce-muskeg,
low relief watersheds, are watershed types that probably would require
new categories . Twisty Creek, a small (Ad - 6 .94 km 2 ) mountain headwater
stream (Q a 1 .1 - 2 .3 x 10 6 m 3yr- 1) in the Arctic Red River watershed,
has a slope (b) of 2 .18, an intercept (a) of 94 .8, and an SSW of 81 to 659
metric tons km-2yr-1 (Jasper, 1974) . . This small stream is clearly of a
different character from those listed in Table 1, 2, and 3 and Fig . 1, and
represents a category of small streams that have highly erodible watersheds
and a great capacity to carry sediment . Twisty Creek values of b
and annual suspended sediment erosion rate (SS W ) fit nicely on the
previously mentioned regression line for these same parameters for watersheds
in Table 1 . However, Twisty Creek carries nearly 50% of its total
sediment load as bedload .
As indicated by MUller and Forstner (1968), the above discussion could
be repeated considering stream velocity (V) instead of discharge (i .e .
SSi a aV') . This would probably result in similar trends, but we have not
studied this relationship thoroughly . The great disadvantage of the use of
Qi - SS, curves to consider the effects of sediment addition on streams is
that the technique does not allow extrapolation to other, unsampled watersheds .
However, careful measurement, of Qi and SSi on calibration, control, naturally
and technologically_disturbed watersheds will essentially test the hypotheses
suggested above, and provide examples for use in consideration of development
in other similar watersheds .
Most of the above discussion on the relationships between Qi and SS4,
probably also applies to nutrient elements in particulate form (Tables 11
and 12, Figs . 3 and 4), and to most major and minor elements in particulate
form (?Ca, PCu, PZn, PSi, PA1), since these elements appear to form a
relatively- constant proporation of SSi in the sampled rivers (Table 14) .

15
Increases in the concentrations or rates of supply of PC, PN, and PP
to a stream or lake would be an increase in the rate of food supply to
benthic and planktonic organisms feeding on organic detritus . However,
the organisms would have to- expend more energy sorting through the
increased inorganic clays, silts and sands to find this organic material .
Increased rates of supply of particulate organic material to the stream
or lake sediments will likely also increase the rate of microbial respiraation
and 02 depletion in sediments .
Factors Controlling Annual Transport Rates bf Suspended Sediments and
Particulate Elements
It appears, from the limited data' at hand, that Mackenzie Valley
rivers' (similar to Group 2 in Table 1) with large watershed areas (Ad) and
annual discharges (Qa ) transport (per unit watershed area) much more suspended
sediment, PC, PN, PP and probably major and minor elements in the
particulate phase than do rivers and streams with small Ad end Qa in the
Mackenzie Valley lowlands, such as those in Group 2 . The variation from
river to river in mean annual concentration of 35,x, Ri, 1s-Ni, and WJ was
less than a factor of 60, while the variation in Q a was in excess of 4000,
among the rivers sampled in this study . Therefore, the magnitude of Q~
or Qa is a more powerful determinant of the flux of sediments and particulate
nutrients from the watershed than is the concentration of these
parameters in river water . However, there was also an increase of mean
annual concentration of SSi ; PCi, and PPi with increasing Q a and Ad among
the rivers and streams of Table 1 . There is, then, some degree of autocorrelation
between the plotted parameters SS a
and SS,, and Qa (Figs . 2,
5, and 6 ; Table 12), since Qi is a component of SSa and SS w :
= 3J(SSi'x Q . )t = tons yr-1 ; 35W - 3i~SSi x Qi )ti /Ad - tons km-2yr - l . (7)
i-1 -t-1
This does not detract from their general'value in the order of magnitude prediction
of annual rates of transport of suspended sediments, particulate nutrients
and other elements, and perhaps some dissolved elements, based upon estimates
of Q a , or simply watershed area, annual precipitation and runoff coefficients .
We also observed an apparent increase in runoff (QaIAd) with increasing watershed
area or Qa , which also contributes to the relationships shown in Figs . 2,
5, 6 and Table 12 . This increased runoff in the larger rivers may be due to
a greater percentage of the watershed area being in mountains and tundra ;
however, this is likely to be a biased judgment due to the lack of small
mountain streams in our data set . Jasper (1974) recorded high
runoff :precipitation ratios in a mountainous, small tributary stream to
Arctic Red River . From the above discussion, it appears that both increased
runoff and increased concentrations of SSi, PCi, PNi, PPi contribute to
greater . rates of transport-of these parameters in large or mountainous
rivers in the observed relationships in Figs . 2, 5, and 6 and Table 12 . The
slopes of regression lines between concentrations of particulate nutrients
(PC,~. PN,,, and PP4 ) and the concentration of suspended sediment SS, , are of
similar magnitude (Table 11),, which may imply that most of the annual mass

16
of PZ`a , "a , and "a was transported in a similar form (i .e . particulate
organic matter) . However, some of the mass of PCa is transported as inorganic
carbon in calcite and dolomite (Table 8) and some of the PP a is
likely in an inorganic form .
2
The previous discussion is based upon the assumption that relationships
between discharge, annual suspended sediment loads and chemical
components of suspended sediments would be useful in establishing baseline
data for the region, and to assist in the perception of changes in these
parameters caused by natural events and technological disturbance of the
terrain. We also suggested that transport rates of most parameters previously
discussed (Tables 3, ;8, 9, 10 and 14) in units of mass per unit
watershed area per year can be extrapolated to unsampled watersheds of
similar geography, climate, and vegetation . For example, we estimated the
annual mass of SS, PC, PN, and PP supplied to the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort
Sea by the Mackenzie and Peel Rivers from our data and by extrapolation
(Table 15) . We applied the rates of transport (per unit watershed area) of
the Arctic Red River to the western tr-*1tary area of the Mackenzie north
of Norman Wells, where we have no useful, seasonal data . This assumes that
the Carcajou, Mountain, Hume, Ramparts, and Ontaratue Rivers have SS,,
PC w , PNw , and PPw similar to the Arctic Red River, and that small tributaries
have a negligible contribution . The eastern watershed of the
Mackenzie north of Norman Wells was not sampled in detail, but its small
contribution to the total Mackenzie load was estimated from average transport
rates of SS W , PCw , PNw and PP, from the Willowlake River . We believe
that this approach (or refinements based on more detailed and longer records
of data) is better than the use of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (Howard,
1974) . Table 15 indicates that the mole ratio N/P of sediments_ supplied to
the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea is very low (5 .6), which may result
from some fraction of PPa being in inorganic form . The mole ratio C/P is
close to expected values for living organic matter, however . The average
sedimentation rate for the Mackenzie Delta and adjacent Beaufort Sea given
in Table 15 is likely somewhat misleading, since much of the annual supply
of sediments moves through the Mackenzie Delta to be deposited in restricted
areas of sediment accumulation in Kugmallit Bay, Shallow Bay, and shallow
areas in the Beaufort Sea less than 80 km from the northern edge of the
terrestrial portion of the Delta . However, sediment of the composition
given in Table 15 is within 5% of C, N, and P determined in samples of
sediments from the Beaufort Sea, Kugmallit Bay, and turbid northern Delta
lakes (see Campbell et at ., 1975, for C, N, P, data for sediments from
stations BS24, BS26, BS15, KU4, KU5, Lake 1, Lake 3 . To convert sedimentation
rate in Table 15 to . concentration (in moles/g dry wt . sediment),
divide moles of C, N, and p 1-2 yr-1 by 3,800 g .SS m-2yr-1 ) .
The multiple linear regression analyses .(Table 13) .clearly identify
watershed area, relief, and forest cover as dominant controlling factors
on the rates of transport of . sediments and particulate nutrients for the
watersheds studied . With increasing Ad, SSa and SSW increased . The great
importance of watershed area seems obvious, since all transport rates discussed
here are a close function of the magnitude of annual discharge,

17
which is positively related to watershed area . This finding supports the
largely inferred importance of the relative size of Qa and Ad in proportion
to a given terrain disturbance (Brunskill et al ., 1973) . Since over
80 of the variability in transport rates of SS a , PCa , PNa and PPa was
explained by the-magnitude of the land drainage area (Ad), then a given
area of land disturbance in a small watershed is likely to have much greater
effects on sediment and particulate matter supply rates to streams than
would the same disturbance in a large watershed . In fact, it is likely
that streams with low values of b (see Table 2) will not be able to carry
added sediments and nutrients from land disturbance, and the added sediments
will accumulate in the stream bed . In_ Temperate Zones of North America,
this Ad-SSW relationship is Just the opposite ; i .e . erosion rates usually
decrease with increasing Ad (Brune, 1948 ; Langbein and Schumm, 1958 ; Schumm,
1963) . It seems likely that the absence of small mountain streams (such
as Twisty Creek (Jasper, 1974)) in our data set has caused an over-emphasis
on the importance of watershed area in controlling erosion rates . If we
had a more representative suite of watersheds, we feel that Ad would greatly
decrease in importance, and relief, vegetation, and runoff coefficients
would be score important .' Our analyses (Table 13) do indicate the importance
of relief and forest cover in controlling transport (erosion) rates of particulate
material . These data support the work of many terrain studies, which
also identify these parameters (GE and F) as being important in maintaining
terrain stability (for example, Zoltai and Pettapiece, 1973 ; Crampton, 1973 ;
Strang, 1973 ; Hughes et al ., - 1973) . Deforestation in watersheds of moderate
to great relief (i .e . having great stream energy to carry sediments, high
values of b and moderate to high values of a in Table 2) would likely result
in measureable increases in the annual transport of most elements in stream
particulate matter (for an example in the Temperate Zone, see Hansmann and
Phinney, 1972) . In low relief, low energy streams (i .e ., low values of
and high-values of a, see Table 2), deforestation and land disturbance will
likely result in increased . rates of supply of sediment to the stream, but
the stream will' be less able to carry this added'sediment .
Bedload
Our limited data for Jean-Marie Creek indicate that in small streams
(A

18
d
In areas of greater relief (or with high values of b, see Table 2)
streams and rivers likely scour their beds with great energy, and bedload
transport will be an important component of the total sediment load
(Nanson, 1974 ; Balster and Parsons, 1968) . In the mountainous headwaters
of the Arctic Red River, Twisty Creek carries 502 of its total sediment
load as bedload (Jasper, 1974) .
Reactivity of Suspended and Bottom Sediments
The low cation exchange capacity of suspended and bottom sediments of
Mackenzie Valley rivers (Table 5) is in the expected, range for the relatively
simple clay minerals illite and chlorite (Grim, 1968 ; p . 189) which
are found in nearly all samples . These values are similar to those found
by Allan et at . (1969) for poorly-drained interior Alaskan soils . Even
with these relatively low exchange capacities, the mass of elements that
can potentially be exchanged from particulate phase to the solution phase
(usually caused by a change in solution chemistry, such as Mackenzie waters
mixing with Beaufort Sea water) is . rather large when applied to the estimated
115 x 106 metric tons of sediment brought to the sea by the Mackenzie
and Peel Rivers . Using a ca'tion exchange capacity of 15 meq/100 g dry
sediment, the annual exchange capacity of sediments supplied to the Mackenzie
Delta is roughly 17 x 10 12 meq yr-1 . Most heavy metals and some synthetic
organic materials resulting„from technological activities in the Mackenzie
Valley will-likely-be
transported to the Delta by sorption or on exchangeable
sites of suspended sediments (Gibbs, 1973 ; Menzel, 1974 ; Gardiner, 1974 ;
Reddy and Perkins, 1974 ; McHenry et at ., 1974) .
a
The lake sediment samples from' the Mackenzie Delta (Table 5) have much
higher exchange capacities (7-47 meq/100 g) and are likely to be greatly
influenced by changes in ionic composition of the overlying lake waters
(i .e . freezeout of dissolved salts, or contamination from technological
operations) . These sediments would probably act as a sink for added heavy
metals, which would greatly increase the retention time of these metals in
lakes that are infrequently flooded .
Lake-Controlled
Rivers
Rivers with large or many lakes in their watersheds usually do not fit
the relationships shown in Figs . 1-6 . This is because the lakes act as
reservoirs for sediment collected by tributaries to the lake, and the lake
outflow carries little or none of the sediment eroded from the watershed
of the lake . For this reason, lake-fed rivers are usually relatively free
of suspended sediments and have a more regular seasonal distribution of
discharge (i.e . such as Group 3 rivers and Mackenzie River at Norman Wells
in Table 1) . An exception to this is the Brackett River which has been
ratherr turbid in 1972-74, yet drains a lake-rich watershed (see Campbell,
1975 for Brackett River data) . In general, this group of rivers probably
carries much less sediment than their maximum capacity based upon discharge

19
and velocity (Fig . 1) . For these reasons, Group 3 rivers, and the
Mackenzie at Norman Wells, were excluded from most of the regression
analyses . This group of rivers tends to be rather productive biologically,
and is frequently a migration route for fish (Brunskill et at ., 1973 ;
Hatfield, 1972) .
Comparison of Sediment Transport in the Mackenzie Valley with Other
Subarctic, Arctic, and Temperate Regions .
Table 16 indicates that the large Subarctic and Arctic rivers-(Group
1 in Table 1) of the Mackenzie and Porcupine watershed transport relatively
large amounts of suspended sediment per unit watershed area, compared to
other major North American rivers . This occurs despite 6-7 months of . ice
cover and frozen watersheds during the relatively long winters of the
Mackenzie Valley, compared to year-around open-water flow in some of the
Temperate Zone rivers-listed in Table 16 . This may be the result of less
land stabilization by vegetation in the headwaters of these large rivers
in the Mackenzie Valley, . the presence of degrading permafrost tables, and
relatively great relief inmost of these watersheds .
Corbel (1964) estimated, based largely on precipitation and evapotranspiration,
an average erosion rate of 52 mt kn -2yr-1 for the entire
Mackenzie watershed, which is remarkably-close to our largely measured
estimate of 68 mt km- 2yr-1 (Table 16) . Our Eq . 5, or improvements on
it from more detailed and longer records of data, could be used with
similar equations developed by Jansen and Painter (1974) to estimate
erosion rates for unsampled watersheds in the Mackenzie Valley lowlands .
A separate evaluation of small mountain streams will have to be made,
because Eq .-2-5 do not apply to these types of watersheds . It seems
likely that our Eq . 2-5 will not be of use for predicting sediment or
particulate nutrient transport rates in most other areas - of the North
American Arctic and Subarctic . . The Mackenzie Valley appears to be
somewhat exceptional'' in the relative abundance of trees and higher
vegetation,- a relatively moderate climate, and an abundance of easily
eroded lacustrine and glaciofluviatile sediments in the Mackenzie Valley
lowlands . Most watersheds of the eastern North American Subarctic and
Arctic have a much more severe climate, less vegetation, often less
erodible (or soluble) surface soils, and less' relief .
Table 16 also indicates that the smaller (Group 2) watersheds have
moderate or low rates of transport of sediments, compared to other Arctic,
Subarctic and Temperate zone watersheds . This proportional relationship
between a) watershed area or annual discharge, and b) annual transport
rate found for Mackenzie watersheds is the inverse of the same relationships
found in temperate North American watersheds (see Ritter, 1967) .
According to Ritter, smaller watersheds (Ad .c80 km 2 ) . in temperate regions
of North America have greater-sediment transport rates than larger rivers .
,We emphasize that the smaller watersheds in Group 2 of Table 1 are all in
the Mackenzie lowlands, and do not include any of the numerous mountain streams
in the Nahanni, Mackenzie, Richardson, and British Mountains to the west .

20
I
Speculations on theEffectsofTechnologicalDevelopment onStreams,
andRivers
Based on past experience and experimental studies (see Radforth, 1973 ;
Strang, 1973 ; Mackay, 1970), it is likely that any technological activity
(on high ice-content fine-grained soils of the Mackenzie and the Northern
Yukon) will cause a disturbance to the thermal balance of the vegetationsoil-permafrost
system, and will result in thermal erosion . The magnitude
of sediment mass t ransferred . to streams, rivers, and lakes from this thermal
erosion will likely be proportional to the area of land disturbed by technological
activity . Since watershed area, relief, and forest cover exert a
dominant control over sediment transport rates (rates of erosion) (see
Table 13) we propose that disturbances to the natural stability of the
terrain will increase sediment supply in proportion to percentage of the
watershed area disturbed by natural and technological events . The duration
of the period of increased sediment sup *y caused by one or several discrete
major land disturbances is likely to be -in excess of 5 years, based on
experience and observation of natural and technologically-caused thermokarst
land movements (Mackay, .1970 ; Zoltai, personal communication ; and
personal observations by Brunskill and Snow, 1971-74) .
It seems likely that small watersheds (Ad

21
It will be necessary to quantify these judgements listed above . The
baseline or lower limit of sediment supply from a watershed to a stream can
be measured (Table 3), estimated from map measurements of the components of
Eq . 5, estimated from measurement of QQ and Fig . 2, or more crudely estimated
by techniques such as those of Jansen and Painter (1974), Corbel
(1964), or Howard (1974) based upon data specific to the Mackenzie Valley
and the Northern Yukon . Previous to development, estimates of the increase
in sediment supply, per unit land area disturbed, will have to originate
from careful monitoring of sediment accumulation in the stream bed, stream
Qi, SSi,, and bedload transport over several years at existing terrain disturbance
sites, by Eq . 6,, or by direct experimental disturbance of watersheds
in representative regions of the Mackenzie Valley and the Northern Yukon .
Since the effect of watershed disturbance on sediment yield is likely to
be an - increase in no or 'w by a factor of 2 to 100 (see Table 20 in
Brunskili et al ., 1973), or deposition of sediments on the stream bed, we
predict a general decrease in abundance and/or change in species of the
stream flora and fauna in proportion to the mass of,fine sediments added
to the area of the stream bottom (Rosenberg and Snow, 1975, and unpublished) .
We further predict that most of the watersheds to the east of the Mackenzie
River, due to their relatively small watershed areas, low relief, high percentage
forest cover, low velocity and discharge, relatively high transparency
(low suspended sediments), and biological diversity, will be much more
sensitive to increased sediment supply than would the larger, usually turbid
rivers to the west of the Mackenzie River (see also Brunskill et al ., 1973) .
Small, clear-water rivers with headwaters in the Mackenzie lowlands and
which flow to the Mackenzie River from the west, will also be more sensitive
to sediment addition than adjacent rivers with mountainous headwater areas .
Heavy metal-rich wastes or spills, many petroleum products, pesticides,
and synthetic organic materials will enter Mackenzie watersheds during
development . . Many of these technological products, or . their waste products,
will be sorbed, complexed, chelated, or chemically bound to bottom and suspended
sediments of streams . The natural exchange capacity of suspended
sediments (Table 5) is relatively low, but dissolved organic carbon in river
waters (0 .1-1 Mole C m-3 , Brunskill, unpublished) will likely have a great
capacity to transport these types of substances (Pierce et OZ ., 1974) . Our
knowledge of transport rates and'lature of dissolved and particulate organic
matter in Mackenzie and northern Yukon watersheds is inadequate (Peake et a', .,
1972), and our knowledge of the fluxes of-heavy metals from the watershed is
minimal (Table 14, and see Campbell et al ., 1975) .
Requirements for Future Research
In order to guide technological development in the Mackenzie and
northern Yukon, environmental scientists must contribute to a practical
compromise somewhere between the natural, undisturbed ecosystem and a
greatly altered, usually deleteriously changed ecosystem . In order to
seriously contribute to proposals for such a compromise, it is necessary
to have an understanding of a) the natural state of selected, representative
watersheds, and b) an estimate of the impact of the proposed disturbance on

22
these "known" watersheds . This could be done best, in our opinion, by
establishing experimental research watersheds in a variety of representative
areas along the route of development . Some experimental research
watersheds should be in areas where intensive and widespread technological
disturbance will occur, and some should be in areas that are not likely, to
be greatly disturbed (for natural history and experimental control purposes,
or controlled experimental manipulation of parts of the watershed) . Where
possible, these experimental research watersheds should become calibration
sites for development in undisturbed regions . For example, estimates of
the increase in sediment supply (per unit area of disturbance) to streams
caused by technological development of roads or pipelines could have been
obtained by designating the Martin and Rengleng Rivers watersheds as
experimental research watersheds before the construction of highways and
pipelines . Detailed and synthetic studies, involving the disciplines of
wildlife, aquatic ecology, hydrology, geology, meteorology, vegetation,
soils, permafrost, geomorphology, and engineering would likely allow a more
quantative and predictive approach to development in undisturbed regions .
Specifically, and for the purpose of using and testing the information
and hypotheses in this paper, we recommend the following :
1) that experimental research watersheds be designated in a variety
of suitable and representative areas of the Mackenzie Valley and
northern Yukon ;
2) that the network of discharge and suspended sediment monitoring
stations be increased and maintained in this region for the duration
of construction and at least 5 years after completion of the development
of roads and pipelines, and that this expansion of Q and SS
stations include representative small watersheds within and outside
of areas of development ;
3) that meteorological data gathering stations accompany all discharge
and suspended sediment stations ;
4) that research into the importance
port of sediments be encouraged, and
and,
and magnitude of bedload transthat
it be monitored seasonally ;
5) that the chemistry of suspended sediments be more fully studied,
specifically the annual rates of sediment transport of selected
heavy metals, pesticides, dissolved and particulate organic matter,
and naturally-occurring hydrocarbons .
9

23
CONCLUSIONS
1 . For selected rivers in the Mackenzie and Porcupine drainages, a
positive logarithmic relationship was found between a) the annual mass,
and the annual mass per unit watershed area of suspended sediments,
particulate carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, and b) annual discharge .
2 . The magnitude of annual transport rates
particulate carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus
controlled by watershed area, relief, forest
according to a multiple linear regression of
of suspended sediments, and
were found to be largely
cover, and precipitation,
data from selected watersheds .
3 . The slopes (b) of regression lines relating instantaneous suspended
sediment concentrations and instantaneous discharge for selected rivers
were positively and significantly related to mean annual erosion rates for
these same rivers . We propose that these slope values are indices of the
erosive power of the river, or the capacity of the river to carry away
added sediment .
4 . The intercepts (a) of regression lines relating instantaneous suspended
sediment concentrations and instantaneous discharge for selected rivers were
interpreted to be indices of the susceptibility of the terrestrial portion
of the watershed to erosion by streams and rivers . These intercept values
may also be indices of average watershed sensitivity to terrain disturbance
from technological development . This hypothesis requires verification by
experiments'or-case history studies .
5 . Undisturbed small rivers and streams (Ad 1) transport
annually larger amounts of suspe ded sediment, particulate carbon, nitrogen,
and phosphorus, per unit water'S}ied area, than do small (Ad

24
11 . The increase in the rate of supply of sediments and other particulate
elements to streams and rivers caused by technological disturbances and deforestation
of the watershed will likely be proportional to the land area of
terrain disturbance and deforestation .
12 . Small watershed streams will suffer proportionately greater sediment
supply-increments from a given terrain disturbance, compared to larger
rivers . This is because a larger proportion of a small stream's watershed
will be disturbed, compared to the same disturbance in a large watershed .
13 . Computed sedimentation rates for suspended sediment,_ particulate C,
N, and P in the Mackenzie Delta and deltaic regions of the Beaufort Sea
agree well with bottom sediment analyses . This indicates that there is
little or no alteration of Mackenzie and Peel River sediments upon deposition
in the Delta, with respect to C, N and P .
14 . More discharge, suspended sediment, and meteorological stations are
required in the Mackenzie Valley and northern Yukon to improve descriptive
and predictive studies on sediments, sedimentation, and their effects on
stream substrates and stream biology . This is particularly true for smaller
watersheds .
15 . Experimental research watersheds in representative regions of the
Mackenzie Valley . and northern Yukon should be established, instrumented,
and monitored to obtain control and disturbance-related changes in the
watershed ecosystem . Experimental research watersheds should also be used
to test hypotheses on the effects of terrain disturbances in a scientific
and a controlled manner . These experimental research watersheds should be
maintained for the duration of major technological developments, in the
Mackenzie Valley and northern Yukon .
a
3

25
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30
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33
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32
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33
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TABLE 1 . Location of stations, dimension, and properties of rivers and streams of the
Mackenzie and Porcupine River watersheds, N .W .T . and Yukon . Ad - watershed
area in 10 3 km 2 , Qa = range of annual discharge in km3, L = length in km,
SSi = range of suspended sediment concentrations in mg L-1 , all for 1971-74
period of observation . Some data (Qa and Ad) is from Water Survey of Canada
records . See Campbell et al . (1975) for complete data .
River Ad Qa SS4
Location of Station 1
W
GROUP 1
Arctic Red R . 18 .0 4 .60 - 4 .94 460 0 .46 - 790 66°47' 133°06'
Peel R . 70 .0 19 .8 - 22 .0 550 0 .24 - 580 67°27' 134°52'
Mackenzie R . (Norman Wells) 1570 247 - 285 872 3 .5 - 1800 65°16' 126°49'
Liard R . (Ft . Liard) 222 53 .3 - 63 .9 685 3 .3 - 560 60°15' 123°29'
Liard R . (Ft . Simpson) 248 78 .4 - 78 .9 1000 0 .36 - 1100 61°50' 121 ° 20'
South Nahanni R . (Clausen Creek) 33 .4 11 .3 - 13 .3 312 18 - 500 61°15' 124°02'
South Nahanni R . (Virginia Falls) 14 .6 7 .08 - 7 .14 177 0 .66 - 230 61°38' 125°30'
GROUP 2
Willowlake R . 21 .6 1 .44 - 1 .99 264 1 .3 - 100 69 ° 39' 122°S5'
Martin R . 1 .98 0 .156 - '105 2 .2 . - 120 61 °55' 121 ° 35'
Harris R . 0 .741 0 .017 50 -

,
35
e
TABLE 2a . Slopes ') and inte cepts (a), of the regression lines
in Fig . 1, SS,~ - , relating suspended sediment
concentrations (SSi) to discharge (Qi) . Also given
are the levels of significance of the slopes (a) and
the correlation coefficient (r) for each line .
River a b r 1-a (%)
GROUP 1
N
Arctic Red
0 .03 - 1 .55 0 .92 99 .9
Peel 0 .006 1 .38 0 .87 99 .9
Mackenzie (Norman Wells) 0 .0000003 2 .12 0 .85 99 .9
Liard (Ft . Liard) 0 .04 1 .03 0 .81 99 .5
Liard (Ft . Simpson) : 0 .000006 2 .05 0 .91 99 .9
South Nahanni (Clausen Creek) 0 .0001 2 .17 0 .97 95 .0
South Nahanni (Virginia Falls) 0 .01 1 .40 0 .94 99 .9
GROUP 2
Will owlake
0 .52 0 .60 0 .64 97 .5
Martin 4 .54 0 .44 0 .62 99 .5
Harris 1 .86 0 .30 0 .54 97 .5
Caribou Bar 1 .45 0 .94 0 .89 99 .9
GROUP 3 4--
Mackenzie (Ft . Providence) 0 .008 0 .78 0 .48 90 .0
0 .03 1 .14 0 .98 97 .5
Trout (at Highway)
Great Bear
(Not significant)

36
TABLE 2b . Slopes (b) and intercepts (a) of th! regression
lines relating PCi and Qi (PCB, - aQ.) . Also given
are the levels of significance of the slopes (1-a)
and the correlation coefficient (r) for each line .
River b 1-a (X) r
GROUP 1
Arctic Red 20 .0 0 .58 95 .0 0 .70
Peel 3 .03 0 .61 97 .5 0 .73
Mackenzie (Norman Wells) 0 .003 1 .24 97 .5 0 .63
Liard (Ft . Liard) - -

37
i
TABLE 2c . Slopes (b) and intercepts (a) of th~~ regression
lines relating PNi and Q, , (PNi - a), (see Fig .
3) . Also given are the levels of significance of
the slopes (1-a) and the correlation coefficient
(r) for each line .)
River a b 1-a (%) r
GROUP 1
,
Arctic Red 1 .11 0 .56 95 .0 0 .75
Peel 0 .24 0 .58 97 .5 0 .72°
Mackenzie (Norman Wells) 0 .003 0 .93 95 .0 0 .56
Liard (Ft . Liard) - -

38
TABLE 2d . Slopes (b) and intercepts (a) of regression lines
relating PP,~ and Q~•, (PP,~ aQb) (see Fig . 4) . Also
given are the levels of significance of the slopes
(1-o) and the correlation coefficient (r) for each
line .
River a b 1-a(%) r
GROUP 1 4 .
Arctic Red 0 .12 0 .62 90 .0 0 .65
Peel- 0 .004 0 .90 97 .5 0 .74
Mackenzie (Norman Wells) 2 x 10- 5 1 .24 '99 .0 0 .66
Liard (Ft . Liard) - -

i
39
b
TABLE 3 . Average annual mass (SSa ) and annual mass per
unit watershed area per year (mow) of suspended
sediments transported out of watersheds of the
Mackenzie and Porcupine Rivers, 1971-74 . See
Campbell et aZ . (1975) for more detailed data .
River
Annual mass of
suspended sediments
(metric tons year - l)
SS a
Annual mass of
sediments per km 2
(metric tons km -2
year -1 )
SS --
GROUP 1
6
Arctic Red 1,900,000 126
Peel 6,180,000 88 .3
Mackenzie (Norman Wells) 101,000,000 64 .5
Liard (Ft . Liard) 10,100,000 45 .4
Liard (Ft . Simpson) 31,200,000 126
South Nahanni (Clausen Creek) ! 2,100,000 62 .9
South Nahanni (Virginia Falls) ! 530,000 36 .3
GROUP 2
Willowlake 79,800 3 .7
Martin 3,150 1 .6
Harris 130 0 .18
Caribou Bar 4,390 11 .5
GROUP 3
Mackenzie (Ft . Providence) 621,000 0 .64
Trout 7,280 0 .80
Great Bear 59,900 0 .41

40
TABLE 4 . Laboratory estimates of the rate of 0 2 consumption
by sediments from the Harris River . Experiments were
done in triplicate at room temperature (20-22 °C .) in
shaken, sealed bottles in the dark . Air-bubbled
Winnipeg tap water was used . Control bottles (with
no sediment added) were used in the calculation . The
Harris River bank sediment contained 2 .5 mMoles oforganic
carbon per gram of dry sediment .
Concentration of
Added Sediment
Duration of
Incubation
(hr~f -
02 Consumption
(per gram of
sediment per day)
7 .41 g L-1 16 0 .34 mg 02 9 - lday-1
3 .32 60 1 .1
I
4 .86 60 0 .33
3 .97 60 0 .60

41
v
b
TABLE 5 . Cation exchange capacities (NaOAcetate at pH 8 .2) for
sediments of Mackenzie watershed rivers and lakes, Mackenzie
Delta and Beaufort Sea . See Campbell et al . (1975) for
details on sediment mineralogy and chemistry .
Location Types of Samples- Number of
Samples
Cation exchange I
capacity
(meq/100 g)
Liard River, near
Ft . Simpson Suspended sediment 1 11
Liard River, near
Ft . Simpson Bank sediment 1 21
Martin River Suspended sediment 1 9 .1
Mackenzie Delta
Channels (1)
Mackenzie Delta
Lakes (2)
Shell Lake, near
Inuvik
Fine bottom and
shore sediments 9 8 .9 - 23
Bottom sediments from
near maximum depth 9 7 .1 - 36
Bottom sediment from
near maximum depth 1 46 .6
Kugmallit Bay (3) Bottom sediments 4 8 .5 - 13
Beaufort Sea, near
the outer Delta Bottom sediments 6 8 .3 - 18 .4
Island (4)
(1) Stations EC1-1, EC1-2, EC1-3, EC3-1, EC3-2, EC3-3, EC4-1, EC4-2, EC4-3 .'
See Brunskill et al . (1973), Appendix 1 for locations of stations .
(2) Lakes 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, C4, 4C and EC2 . See Brunskill et al . (1973),
Appendix 1 for locations of stations .
(3) Stations KU4 and KU5 . See Brunskill et al . (1973), Appendix 1, for
locations of stations .
(4) Stations BS13, BS15, and BS26 . See Brunskill et al . (1973), Appendix
1, for locations of stations .

42
TABLE 6 . Ammonium acetate (IN) and HCI (IN) extracible
cations from Mackenzie Delta Channel Station
EC1-3 sediments . See Brunskill et at . (1973,
Appendix 1) for location of station, and see
Campbell et at . (1975) for sediment minerology
and chemistry . This sediment sample had 1 .4
mMoles organic carbon/g dry wt . and 1 .5 mMoles
C03-C/9- Samples were analyzed in duplicate,
and average values are given . Cation exchange
capacity for this sample was 23 .2 meq/100 g .
Elements
NH 4OAc Extract
(umoles/g dry wt .
of sediment)
HC1 Extract
(umoles/g)
101 1,220
I
Mg 13, 610
Na 1 .1 34
K 0 .8 3
Fe

N
c .
P
TABLE 7a . Ranges of concentrations of particulate carbon (PC(), nitrogen (PNe)
and phosphorus (PPi) in waters from selected Mackenzie and Porcupine
River watersheds, 1971-74 . Values given are per cubic meter of
river water .
River mMoles N mMoles PP( m-3 mMoles PCi m - 3
GROUP 1
Arctic Red 1 .0 - 73 0 .07 - 17 12 - 1600
Peel 0 .64 - 51 0 .07 - 4 .9 8 .0 - 920
-Mackenzie (Norman Wells) 3 .5 - 180 0.36 - 27 - 62 - 6300
Liard (Ft . Liard) 0 .27 - 45 0 .35 - 6 .9 3 .3 - 690
Liard (Ft . Simpson) 2 .2 - 110 0 .12 - 24 32 - 2200
South Nahanni (Clausen Creek) 4 .2 - 32 0 .29 - 6 .4 24 - 1100
South Nahanni (Virginia Falls) 0 .36 - ,28

TABLE 7b . Ranges of and mean (x) concentrations of particulate carbon (PC),nitrogen (PN)
and phosphorus (PP) in suspended sediments from selected Mackenzie and Porcupine
River watersheds, 1971-74 . Values given are per gram dry weight of suspended
sediment .
River mMoles PN m 1 mMoles PP gm -l mMoles PC gm-1
GROUP I Range x Range x Range x
Arctic Red 0 .02 - 5 .6 0 .804 0 .01 - 0 .83 0 .102 0 .71 - 97 13 .2
Peel 0 .09 - 15 1 .38 0 .02 - 0 .04 0 .028 - 1 .6 - 360 30 .3
Mackenzie (Norman Wells) 0 .06 - 1 .0 0 .214

I
a
m
r
TABLE 8 .
Mean annual rates of transport of particulate carbon (PC) in suspended
sediments in selectod Mackenzie and Porcupine River watersheds, 1971-73 .
Co = organic carbon, C,-,1 = inorganic carbon, 15T? = total annual moles of
dissolved HC03 .
River 109 Moles PCa yr -1 *10 3 Moles yz~w
km- 2 yr-1
PCo /PCin
TCa fffC a
GROUP 1
Arctic Red . 4 .42 292 2 .53 0.076
Peel 11 .0 158 2 .05 0.039
Mackenzie (Norman Wells) 226 144 0 .654 0.085
Liard (Ft . Liard) 17 .1 77 .1 0 .353 0.022
Liard (Ft . Simpson) 24 .9 100 0 .401 0.029
South Nahanni (Clausen Creelb 7 .04 211 0 .050
South Nahanni (Virginia Falls) 1 .34 91 .8 1 .80 0 .019
GROUP 2
Willowlake 0 .251 11 .7 9 .62 0 .014
Martin 0 .045 22 .6 3 .01 0 .026
Harris 0 .001 1 .68 17 .5 0.008
Caribou Bar 0 .006 16 .8 0 .200 0 .017
GROUP 3
Mackenzie (Ft . Providence) 7 .81 8 .05 0.457 0 .008
Trout 0 .106 11 .7 0.283 0 .012
Great Bear 1 .07 7 .34 0 .178 0 .011

TABLE 9 . Mean annual rate of transport of particulate nitrogen (PN)
in suspended sediments of selected Mackenzie
and Porcupine River watersheds, 1971-73 . TDNa = Annual mass
of Total Dissolved Nitrogen . -
River 10 6 Moles PN a yr -1 10 3 Moles PNw km 2 yr -1 TDNa/PNa
GROUP 1
Arctic Red 222 13 .6 0 .248
Peel 643 9 .19 0 .544
Mackenzie (Norman Wells) 7900 5 .02 1 .07
Liard (Ft . Liard) 1350 6 .08 1 .11
Liard (Ft . Simpson) 1660 6 .69 1 .80
South Nahanni (Clausen Creek) 244 7 .31 0 .424
South Nahanni (Virginia Falls) 45 .9 3 .14 1 .94
GROUP 2
Willowlake 14 .9 0 .690 4 .42
Martin 0 .529 0 .267 9 .45
Harris 0.084 0 .113 13 .2
Caribou Bar 0 .381 1 .00 6 .30
GROUP 3
Mackenzie (Ft . Providence) 697 0 .718 2 .77
Trout 7 .03 0 .773 4 .97
Great Bear 75 .5 0 .517 4 .80
4
'k
b
a
a

01
TABLE 10. Mean annual rates of transport of phosphorus (PP) in suspended
sediments of selected Mackenzie and Porcupine River watersheds,
1.971-73, and mole ratios of C, N and P in suspended sediments,
calculated from PPa , PNa and PC a . TDPa = Annual mass of Total
Dtssolved Phosphorus .
River
10 6 Moles PPa
yr -1
10 3 Moles T7w
km-2 yr -1
TDPQ PP a
PC :PN :PP
GROUP 1
Arctic Red 52 .3 2 .90 0.173 84 :4 .3 :1
Peel 58 .5 0 .836 0 .179 188 :11 :1
Mackenzie (Norman Wells) 1400 0 .892 0 .197 162 :5 .6 :1
Liard (Ft . Liard) 167 0 .755 0 .329 -149 :8 .1 :1
Liard (Ft . Simpson) 233 0 .939 0 .166 73 :7 .1 :1
South Nahanni (Clausen CreekT Creekf 38 .3 1 .14 0 .335 183 :7 .8 :1
South Nahanni (Virginia Falls) 7 .91 0 . .542. 0 .342 169 :13 .6 :1
GROUP 2
. Willowlake 1 .87 0 .087 0 .622 '134 :25 :1
Martin 0 .089 0 .045 0 .640 506 :5 .9 :1
Harris 0 .006 0 .008 1 .41 166 :14 :1
Caribou Bar 0 .040 0 .1 .05 1 .69 150 :9 .5 :1
GROUP 3
Mackenzie (Ft . Providence) 44 .8 0 .046 1 .32 174 :16 :1
Trout 0 .469 0 .052 2 .64 226 :15 :1
Great Bear 5 .90 0 .040 4 .16 181 :12 :1

48
TABLE 11 . Slopes and significance of the regressions of the
log of concentrations of PPi, PNi, and PCi(per unit
volume of water) on log concentration of suspended
sediment (SS,) mg l-') for all data from the rivers
and streams of Groups 1 and 2 (excluding Mackenzie
at Norman Wells) in Table 1 .
Relation
Slope
Level of
Significance
(%)
- 2
log PPi vs log SSi 0 .5869 > 99 .9 0 .78
log PN, vs log SSi 0 .4105 > 99 .9 0 .50
log PCi vs log SSA 0 .4845 > 99 .9 0 .55

49
TABLE 12 . Significance of regressions of annual transport rates
of suspended sediments (SSW , in kg km" 2yr" 1 ) ; PCw PN ,
PPy , (in moles km" 2yr-1 ) on annual discharge (QQ , in m3
yr'1) for available data (Tables,1,3,8) on rivers of
Groups 1 and 2 (excluding Mackenzie at Norman Wells)
in Table 1 . See, also Figs . 2, 5 and 6 .
Relation Slope Level of
Significance
(1)
r 2
log SS, vs log Qa 0 .6452 > 99 .9 0 .67
log PP :, vs log QQ 0 .5180 > 99 .9 0 .61
log P'L' vs log Qa 0 .4889 > 99 .9 0 .64
log P,CW vs log Qa 0 .4333 > 99 .9 0 .53

50
TABLE 13 .
Results of multiple linear regression analyses of the
relationships between the logs of mean (1971-73) annual
rates of traport of suspended sediments (ST , in metric
tons qr' 1 ), PCa , PNa , PPa (in metric tons yr-f3 and logs
of the variables : watershed area (Ad, in km 2 ), relief
(1E, in km), river length (L, in km), mean annual daily
temperature (T), mean annual precipitation (P, in mm),
forest cover (F, in arbitrary rank, see Methods Section),
and surface geology (G, in arbitrary rank, see Methods
Section), for rivers and watersheds listed of Groups 1 and
2 (excluding Mackenzie at Norman Wells) in Table 1 .
Mean Annual Rate
of Transport
of
Total Variability Relative Contribution Of Each
Accounted For (X*"* 'Variable* (Y)
AE
SS 98 84 .6 5 .7 0 .7 7 .1 -
a
PC 98 .86 .7 9 .0 2 .2 -
a
PN
a
I
97 89 .0 5 .3 2 .9 - -
PP 98 85 .6 8 .7 0 .7 3 .0
a
* Assuming that the preceding parameter (i .e . to the left) is already in
the model, the table shows the percent contribution of each paramenter
to the total variability in rates of transport accounted for by the
multiple regression .

TABLE 14 . Mean concentrations of selected major and minor elements in suspended sediments, and mean
annual rate of transp ort of these elements in particulate material from selected Mackenzie
Valley watersheds . I'Xw = mean rate of transport of element X in particulate phase, per
unit watershed area per year, in 10 3 Moles km-2 yr - l . PX,j - mean concentration of element
X in particulate phase per gram dry weight of suspended sediment, in moles g-1 . These .
data are based on small numbers of analyses for the elements (1-4 measurementsfelement)
and large numbers of suspended sediment determinations (10-40) for each river .
Ca Si Al Cu
River
a ix V a f 1 ; 10 f i PA I x 10 FCu x 10 Muw PZn- x 10 nw
Arctic Red 1 .14* 140 0 .91 1140 2 .59 330 5 .65 0 .07 1 .26 0 .13
Liard (Ft . Liard) 1 .74 74 1 .00 440 2 .50 110 5 .26 0.02 1 .38 0 .06
Liard (Ft . Simpson) 0.94 120 1 .07 1350 2 .75 350 7 .26 0 .09 1 .08 0 .14
Peel 0 .92 82 1 .06 940 2 .88 260 4 .98 0.04 1 .04 0 .09
South Nahanni
(Virginia Falls) 2 .67 98 1 .21 380 2 .08 76 -- -- - --
Harris -- -- -- -- 17 .0 0.0008 3 .43 0 .004
1
Z standard deviation
of mean annual concentrations
for 1971-73 .
50 38 14 55 51
* The mean concentration of Ca in particulate phase Is 1 .14 x 10-3 Moles per gram dry weight (110°)
of suspended sediment .
L L

52
V
TABLE 15 . Estimated mass of susjended sediments (SS a , tons_r 1 ),
particulate carbon (PC s ), pa rt iculate nitrogen (PNa ),
and particulate phosphorus (PP a , in moles yi 1 )that
reaches the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea from the
Peel and Mackenzie Rivers . Based on data in Tables 3,
8, 9, 10 and by extrapolation of these data to unsampled
watersheds . The area of deposition of these_
sediments was calculated to be 30,000 km2 , from Mackay
(1963) and inspection of ERTS color infrared photographs
of the Delta and Beaufort Sea in Summer 1973 and 1974 .
e
Sedimentation Rate
Parameter Mass/year (Mass/area-year)
Sediments 115 x 10 6 metric tons yr 1
3 .8kgm 2 yr 1
Particulate Carbon 2 .6 x 10 11 moles yr 1
Particulate Nitrogen 9 .5 x 10 9 moles yr- 1
9 moles C m 2 yr 1
0 .3 moles N m 2yr -1
a
Particulate Phosphorus 1 .7 x 10 9
moles yt-1
0 .06 moles P m 2yr 1

9
Q
TABLE 16 . A comparison of annual rates of sediment transport in large and
small Mackenzie and Porcupine River watersheds with other Arctic,
Subarctic and Temperate Zone watersheds . Ad - watershed area in
km 2 , Q a - annual discharge in m3 yr- 1, SSw = annual sediment
transport per unit watershed area in metric tons km -2 yr-1 . .
I
River Ad Q A
SSw Reference
(km2 ) (m 3 vr-1 ) (metric tons
km- 2 yr" 1)
Yukon, Alaska 955 x 10 3 173 x 109 1n3 Matthews, 1973
Colville, Alaska 50 x 10 3 16 x In 9 15n Arnborg et al ., 1966, 1967
Chena River, Alaska 5 .1 x 1n 3 -1 .7 x 1n 9 17 Prey et al ., 1970
Mississippi 3 .2 x 10 6 563 x in9 85 Ritter, 1967
Colorado 357 x 10 3 -- 378' Ritter, 1967
St . Lawrence 936 x 10 3 315 x 10 9 0 .64 D'Anglejan and Smith, 1973
Columbia 265 x 10 3 -- 35 Ritter, 1967
Large Rivers in
Mackenzie Valley,
Group 1 in Table 1 14-1570 x to 3 4-285 x 1n9
36-126 This study
Mackenzie & Peel 1 .-69 x 1n~ 313 x 109 68 This study
Char Lake streams,
Cornwallis Is ., N .W .T . 3 .5 49 x 10 4
,5 .5 de March, 1974, 1975
Hubbard Brook (W6) 0 .13 1n0 1 .n 3 2 .5 Aormann et al ., 1969
Small Rivers in Mackenzie
Valley, Croup 2 i n
Table 1
0.4-21 x
W ,
10 3 17-20no x 10 6 0 .17 - 11 .5 This study

TABLE 17 .
Instantaneous concentrations of suspended sediments (SS-), particulate carbon (PCi),
particulate nitrogen (PNi), and particulate phosphorus (PPi) ; and instantaneous discharge
(QiL) at time of sampling . Qi is from Water Survey of Canada, except for Boot Creek data,
which is from D . K . MacKay and J . C . Anderson of Hydrologic Sciences, DOE, Ottawa .
River Year Date Q . SSA PCi PNi PP, •
(m 3 sec -1 ) (g m -3 ) (mloles m -3 )
Arctic Red at Arctic Red River 1972 July 6 254 158 67 .1 12 .1 1 .77
July 13 166 43 .3 210 16 .3 1 .87
July 22 303 217 544 33 .3 4 .22
Sept 8 190 126 127 21 .7 1 .56
Sept 21 237 60 .4 212 10 .5 1 .02
1973 June 19 261 12 .7 90 2 .5 3 .65
Arctic Red at Martin House 1971 June 2* 594 794 1,250 60 .0 16 .6
June 2* 594 589 1,010 54 .8 17 .1
July 8 153 251 889 29 .6 8.84
Aug 3 314 427 1,610 72 .6 10 .8
Sept 12 300 106 395 21 .3 2 .27
1972 March 10* 8 .75 0 .787 76 .6 4 .4 0 .65
March 10* 8 .75 0 .787 74 .9 4 .4 0 .51
May 25 283 40 .8 145 9 .50 1 .59
Aug 3 445 380 420 38 .1 3 .99
Sept 10 163 470 184 8 .64 0 .73
Peel 1971 June 4,980 581 918 50 .5
Aug 3 1,700 179 478 28 .8 4 .87
Sept 12 1,210 15 .7 36 .0 2 .29 0 .496
* replicate samples
m
b ,,
4

TABLE 17 . cont'd
River Year Date
SS4
PC
PM4
PPi
(m 3sec -1 )
(g m -3 )
(mMoles m -3 )
Peel 1972 March 22 57 .1 0 .240 85 .8 3 .70
July 7 917 77 .6 244 22 .8 1 .46
July 18 503 123 4 .06
Aug 3 713 140 440 35 .7 3 .86
Sept 8 1,040 49 .8 . 152 11 .1 0 .95
Sept 10 897 64 .5 189 10 .1 1 .47
1973 April 5 43 .8 2 .67 15 .7 1 .64 0 .07
Sept 26 710 53 .8 .. 163 ; 9 .29 1 .48
Mackenzie at Norman Wells 1971 June 5*1 15,300 217 723 16 .1 3 .75
June
5* ; 15,300 170 6 .30 1 .28
June 5* i 15,300 229
June 5*' 15,300 213 624 14 .1 3 .79
July 9 16,100 364 1,150 10 .5 68 .8
Aug 5 13,500 1,780 6,300 180 27 .2
Sept 12 10,100 62 .2 170 7 .40 2 .49
1472 March 31 2,470 3 .47 61 .6 3 .50 0 .70
July 6 18,700 175 220 25 .9 2 .98
Aug 1 23,100 827 838 46 .8 4 .43
Sept 10 10,600' 40 .7 213 9 .93 0 .71
1 .973 April 3 3,250 19 .8 93 .5 11 .4 0 .36
June 7 19,900 856 12 .2
June 29 20,200 279 812 2 .39
July 20 1 .6 , 600 207 817 15 .9 3 .81.
Aug 9 14 ,000 329 250 24 .6 4 .75
Sept 4 13,000 70 .9 1 .71 8 .00 1 .26
Oct 7 9, 880 27 .3 7Q .2 4 .07 0 .64

TABLE 17 . cont'd
River Year Date
S Si
PCB PN ;
PP,c
(m 3sec -1 )
(g m -3 )
(mMoles m -3 )
Liard at Ft . Liard 1971 May 28 4,530 3 .29 3 .32 0 .27
Aug 7 1,850 117 344 14 .5 2 .28
Sept 9 1,980 230 442 34 .3 6 .88
1972 March 27 ! 194 32 .1 184 11 .1 1 .34
May 24 6,310 555 691 45 .1 0 .92
July 4 4,190 196 201 24 .1 2 .35
July 31 4,560 377 417 33 .2 2 .96
Sept 12 1,730 53 .5 206 9 .29 1 .45
. 1973 April 2 328 7 .30 71 .3 4 .14 0 .346
June 5 5,940 298 90 .8 24 .5 3 .54
Oct 11 1,360 11 .5 144 11 .9 0.568
I
Liard at Ft . Simpson 1972 May 27 6,140 775 441 23 .4 7 .81
June 7 I 9,850 554 420 50 .8 4 .19
June 20 10,200 708 198 10 .9 5 .09
July 4 6,030 379 281 21 .0 3 .44
July 18 3,880 . 435 234 17 .6 3 .01
Aug 1 7,160 961 734 55 .6 3 .66
Aug 16 3,760 72 .7 331 17 .3 2 .47
Aug 29 2,970 176 17 .4
Sept 19 2,070 38 .7 11 .7 0 .26
1973 April 6 402 1 .03 31 .8 4 .64 0 .119
May 15 4, 270
I 4 80 498 29 .1 3 .45
May 30 6,716 496 3 .22
J une 12 8,860 767 3 .25
July 10 6,450 66 .7 525 13 .4 1 .60
July 24 4,330 108 368 11 .3 1 .78
Aug 7 3,370 95 .6 280 8 .93 1 .68
9 q
O
d,
,O
tic

S
TAME 17 .
cont'd
River Year Date
S S ~.
PCti
PNj
PP 4
m;sec
(R m -3)
(mMoles m -3 )
Aug 22 2,440 47 .9 123 4 .79 1 .18
Sept 5 2,890 49 .5 118 2 .36 1 .29
Sept 20 2,990 66 .3 110 5 .85 2 .10
Oct 4 1,950 27 .3 69 .2 3 .00 0 .65
. South Nahanni at Clausen Creek 1971 May 30 1,050 290 1,090 31 .9 4 .23
July 6 968 140 797 22 .0 3 .74
Aug 7 535 66 .3 121 4 .20 1 .97
Sept 9 317 17 .9 24 .2 0 .291
. South Nahanni at Virginia Falls 1971 May 28 354 60 .0 267 8 .79 1 .45
Aug 7 303 715 240 2 .59 1 .45
Sept 9 199 7 .15 21 .2 0.822 0 .194
1972 March 27 18 .7 0 .664 54 .9 3 .1 0 .40
1973 April 25 .8 1 .96 7 .0 0 .57 0 .42
June 5 821 130 167 8 .71 1 .13
July 9 . 413 25 .2 155 2 .29 0:39
Aug 6 622 231 45 .7 10 .4 1 .07
Oct 4 136 5 .91 3 .93 0 .36 0 .232
Wtllowlake, near mouth 1971 Aug 6 45 .6 9 .76 66 .0 3 .53 0 .5R1
1.972 July 5 148 8 .60 0 .79
Aug I 77 .3 3 .09 72 .5 10 .3 0 .22
Sept II 25 .5 1 .90 142 10 .5 0 .29

44
TABLE 17 . cont'd
River Year Date Qi
SSj
PC,t
PN,~
PPi
(iu 3 sec
(g m-3 )
(mMoles m -3 )
1973 April 3 5 .18 3 .59 38 .2 2 .93 0 .22
June 5 128 6 .88 73 .3 5 .64 0 .32
July 1 160 59 .0 133 7 .36 0 .85
July 19 36 .2 2 .41 26 .7 2 .43 0 .11
Aug 8 43 .0 2 .96 27 .5 2 .57 0 .19
Sept 6 50 .7 2 .38 12 .5 1 .29 0 .09
Oct 4 25 .2 4 .68 53 .3 2 .79 0 .18
I
Martin, near mouth 1972 May 31 47 .2 119 45 .0 1 .43 1 .75
June 15 10 .7 12 .6 77 .1 7 .75 0 .52
June 22 6 .20 8 .99 21 .4 4 .33 0 .54
July 3 2 .62 6 .28 72 .9 12 .3 0 .39
Aug 1 12 .8 3 .81 86 .9 7 :92 0.40
Aug 29 3 .35 3 .14 76 .7 3 .11
Sept 12 2 .31 2 .24 138 8 .14 1 .04
Sept 28 1 .41 2 .45 254 9 .60 0 .35
Nov 27 0 .39 10 .0 270 10 .7 0 .94
1973 March 28 0 .17 8 .93 176 11 .4 0 .64
May 22 14 .9 18 .6 573 2 .57 0 .54
June 5 8 .66 13 .3 i 42 .5 2 .71 0 .37
June 20 30 .6 50 .1 184 6 .86 1 .27
July 4 22 .1 25 .4 82 .5 4 .57 0 .51
July 22 2 .82 6 .58 29 .2 2 .79 0 .30
July 31 1 .31 5 .61 23 .3 2 .36 0 .29
Aug 21 8 .86 7 .41 28 .3 1 .71 0 .26
Sept 12 1 .86 2 .97 13 .3 1 .21 0 .15
Sept 23 1 .16 3 .14 19 .2 1 .36 0 .11
N
(4
0

TABLE 17 .
cont'd
River Year Date Qt
Ssi
Pct
PNi
1'Pi
(m 3sec -1 )
(g m 3 )
(mMoles m-3 )
1974 March 1R 0 .068 24 .6 252 15 .7 1 .07
May 13 57 .7 61 .5 .254 23 .3 1 .13
Aug 7 6 .06 66 .0 125 - 10 .0 1 .62
Sept 12 4 .53 2 .96 17 .7 0 .128
.
.
Harris, near mouth 1972 May 31 8 .61 3 .54 90 .8 7 .50 0 .39
June 10 3 .33 45 .0 5 .58 0 .29
June 24 0 .822 -3 .82 41 .4 7 .42 0 .18
July 6 0..416 0 .61 42 .1 7 .75 0 .05
Aug ,8 0 .042 1 .73 78 .2 8 .21 0 .38
Aug 18 0 .011 0 .57 96 .4 7 .50 0.21
Aug' 31 0 .495 0 .36 55 .3 1 .86 0 .22
Sept 28 0 .035 0 .36 126 1 .71 0 .19
1973 March 28 0 .0 35 .0' 114 9 .14 0 .765
May 8 8 .47 15 .8 98 .3 11 .9 0 .84
May 22 2 .56 4 .43 15 .0 1 .07 0 .10
June 5 0 .977 3 .02 14 .1 1 .36 0.09
June 18 0 .793 2 .90 19 .1 1 .71 0 .12
July 3 1 .81 3 .28 266 4 .57 0 .20
July 27 0 .153 1 .86 0 .16
Aug 17 0 .034 0 .95 3 .33 0 .29 0 .16
Aug 28 0 .207 0 .81 23 .3 1 .07 0 .63
Sept 9 0 .14 0 .96 18 .3 1 .50 0 .06
Sept 23- 0 .076 0 .588 10 .8 1 .07 0 .08

I
I
TABLE 17 . cont'd
River Year Date Q,- SSi Pci PNj PP4
3
in sec
(g m-3 )
(mtoles m -3 )
I
Caribou Bar, near mouth 1972 June 16'
3 .60 ' 2 .90 63 .3 6 .29 0.38
July 26 0 .417 0 .36 69 .8 3 .42 0 .19
Aug 18 7 .53 i 25 .6
Aug 30 3 .11 I 8 .0 81 .8 5 .5 0 .41
1
1973 May 23 36 .5 I 72 .3 99 .2 5 .5 0 .53
June 10 8 .94 10 .9 26 .7 1 .93 0 .48
June 22 0 .103 0 .79 15 .0 0 .29 0 .13
June 29 0 .930 1 .14 11 .7 0 .43 0.07
July 7 1 .92 0 .71 12 .5 0.86 0.16
July 13 0 .864 1 .1 7 .5 0.50 0 .30 0
July 20 0 .968 1 .50 25 .8 2 .29 0 .04
July 27 0 .646 I 1 .27 25 .8 1 .43 0 .32
Aug 3 0 .510 0 .63 5 .80 0 .71 0.06
Aug 10 0 .734 0 .76 6 .67 0 .64 0.03
Aug 17 1 .54 0 .98 14 .2 1 .36 0.09
Aug 24 8 .24 11 .2 30 .8 3 .07 0 .233
Aug 28* 8 .98 12 .2 2 .43 0 .21
Aug 28* 8 .98 32 .5 2 .21 0.29
Mackenzie at Ft . Providence 1971 July 5 5,520 7 .00 33 .3 2 .33 0 .258
Aug 8 5,350 7 .52 28 .4 1 .76 0 .291
Sept 8 i 4,980 6 .03 29 .7 2 .54 0 .226
replicate samples
i
i
0 d

It •
TABLE 17 . cont'd
River Year Date Qt
SSi
PC,
PNi
PP4
(m3 sec -l )
(R m-3 )
(m4oles m-3 )
1972 March 28 1,590 2 .30 ; 76 .6 7 .40 0 . .934
May 24 6,820 5 .51 80 .8 7 .21 0 .800
July 4 7,080 5 .06 70 .0 12 .8 0 .200
July 31 6,960 . 4 .67 189 14 .3 0 .28
Sept 12 6,340 2 .71 96 .3 4 .93 0 .18
.
1973 June 4 7,020 10 .9' 82 .5 5 .21 0.12
July 3 7,080 11 .2 44 .2 3.64
July 17 7,020 4 .69 35 .8 '3 .14 0.28
Aug 7 6,710 7 .04 40 .8 4 .36 0 .32
Sept 8 6 .735 28 .7 74 .2 6 .86 0 .81
Oct 3 -6,110 10 .9 21 .7 2 .29 0 .24
Trout at highway 1971 July 12 33 .4 .1 .68 5 .43 0 .166 0.194
1973 June 4 77 .0 3 .53 34 .2 2 .36 0.12
July 3 200 14 .0 84 .2 5 .29
Aug 7 56 .3 2 .94 37 .9 37 .9 0 .21
Sept 9 45 .8 2 .82 30 .0 3 .07 0 .19
Great Bear, near Brackett 1.971 June 5 .597 0 .250
River confluence July 9 631 0 .017 104 4 .46 0 .581
Aug 2 640 0 .157 12 .1 3 .57. 0 .097
Sept 11 625 5 .20 30 .5 1 .95 0 .129

TABLE 17 . cont'd
River Year Date Qi SSi PC,t PNi PPi
I(m 3 sec -1 ) (b m -3 ) (mMoles m -3 )
1972 May 25 ! 526 2 .20 75 .0 5 .43 0 .41
July 6 603 6 .76 85 .8 7 .71 0.46
Aug 1 617 2 .33 96 .7 9 .21 0 .19
1973 June 6 560 4 .16 22 .5 1 .29 0 .20
June 30 589 3 .96 20 .8 1 .71
July 20 608 3 .22 15 .0 1 .50 0 .12
Aug 9 606 6 .40 37 .5 1 .07 0 .33
Sept 4 620 3 .38 26 .7 1 .64. 0 .22
Oct 7 583
4 .60 15 .8
1 .07 0 .10
a'
N
Boot Creek, near mouth 1974
I
May 20
0 .68 19 .9 182
20 .1
1 .32
June 9 0 .14 I 2 .48 42 .5 6 .00 0 .323
June 23 0 .283 I 2 .46 24 .2 3 .07 0 .439
July 9 0 .821 67 .9 86 .7 5 .43 2 .76
July 21 0 .235 4 .00 45 .0 4 .29 0 .285
Aug 17 0 .024 14 .2 61 .7 4 .71 1 .95
Porcupine at Caribou Bar 1972 June 24 368 45 .1 203 15 .6 1 .67
Creek July 21 408 9 .66 206 18 .1 0 .74
Aug 30 ~ 801 91 .8 342 24 .0 2 .06
a

TABLE 17 . cant 'd
River Year Date
Q'C'
(m3sec- 1 )
SS,L PC) PNi
(g m -3 )
(mMol es m -3 )
PP {
1973 May 28 3,220 175 306 22 .6 3 .97
June 22 481 59 .6 668 37 .6 3 .03
June 29 623 23 .4 94 .2 6 .43 1 .34
July 7 4 39 12 .2 47 .5 3 .43 0 .53
July 13 501 19 .6 77 .5 5 .20 0 .75
July 20 572 13 .4 .53 .3 4 .21 0 .46
July 27 1,200 175 475' 33 .9 4 .23
Aug 3 410 11 .2 90 .0 5 .21 1 .58
Aug 10 379 6 .31 43 .3 4 .57 0 .49
Aug 17 1,430 73 .1 216 14 .2 1 .99
Aug 24 2,090 214 815 41 .9 5 .80
Aug 28 1,430 90 .0 266 14 .6 1 .46
Aug 31 1,440 5 .12 256 14 .4 0 .87
+ Porcupine River discharge from Old Crow Water Survey Station, 64 km upstream from our Caribou Bar
Creek Camp .

Figure 1 . Relationships between instantaneous discharge ((u)
and suspended sediment concentration (SSA) for streams
and rivers listed in Table 1, 1971-73 . All regressions
are significant at least to a = 0 .10 . Most of the
discharge data are from records of Water Survey of
Canada .
1,000 -
100 -
_q_
rn
1 .0
0.1
0.1
10 100
i
1,000
i
10,000
Q L (m' sec :' )
4
4 4
to

2 =0.67
100,000-
N
E
Y
a 10,000-
Y
it
U)
N
1,000-
• MARTIN
ARCTIC RED (MH) A LIARD (FT S)
ARCTIC RED (ARR) ∎
•PEEL
S. NAHANNI (CC)* PE
S . NAHANNI (VF) •
S NAHANNI (CC)A
S.
NAHANNI (VF) ∎
AS. NAHANNI (VF)
• WILLOWLAKE
∎
WILLOWLAKE
A WILLOWLAKE
LIARD WT U
LIARD IFT L)
LIARO IFT L.)
A 1971
∎ 1972
+ 1973
100
10
x HARRIS
I
100
I
I
1,000 10,000 100,000 I P00,000
Qa(m 3 year -'x 10 6 )
Figure 2 . Relationship between annual discharge (Q.) and annual suspended sediment transport rate per unit
watershed area for rivers in ( :roup : I and 2 (exrIttdin Mackenzie at Norman Wells) of Table 1,
1071-11 - 0-1-eh,- darn for must river!. are from '-'ater Survey of Canada .

0 .1 1 1 1
0.1
1 .0 10 100
Q L(m' sec - ' )
Figure 3 . Relationships between instantaneous discharge (O ) and
for rivers listed in Table 1, 1971-73 .
concentrations of particulate nitrogen (PNi)
61 4)
4 1+
a

c
11
I
C-
10 -
E
n
I,
0
10-
E
e
0.1
001
0.1
1
I .0
f
10
I
100
Q 1 (m' sec -')
Figure 4 . Relationships between instantaneous discharge (n,-) and conrentrati.ons
for rivers listed in Table 1, 1771-73 .
I
I
1,000 10,000 100,000
of particulate phosphorus (rr 1 )
I
hl:

Figure '~ . Relationship b twt •cn innual discharge ((),,) ruin annu .11 nart.iculatt' nitru~ o o.c n transptlrt rates
per unit watershed area (Pli es ) for rivers I i : :tcd in Grow) :: l and ? (excluding I 4ackenzie
at Norman `Jells) of "'able 1, 1971-7 : .
100,000-
r 2 =0.64
0
a,
N
E
mot:
U)
_N
O
E
v
Z
0
10,000-
1 1000-
+CARIBOU BAR
A ARCTIC RED (MH)
ARCTIC RED (AR) ∎
S. NAHANNI (CC)
m
S NAHANNI (CC)
S .
NAHANNI (VF) ∎
• WILLOWLAKE
+WILL OWLAKE
PEEL
∎PEEL
SrNAHANNI (VF)
A S . :NAHANNI (VF)
LIARD (FT S.)
LIARD (FT L)
LIARD (FT L .)
A + IARD (FT S .)
LIARD (FTL)
+ MARTIN
A WILLOWLAKE
A 1971
∎ 1972
+ 1973
100
10
+ HARRIS
I
100
I 1
1,000 10,000
I
100,000
QQ (m 3 year - ' x 10")
4N
;q 0
w

II (m 3 vnnr - ' v In'6 1
r
r,
m
A
r r,
10,000-
r 2= 0 .61
Figure 6 . Relationship between annual di.scharre (Q) and annual particulate phorphorus
transport rates per unit watershed area (PPW) for rivers listed in Groups 1
and 2 (excluding Mackenzie at Norman Wells) of Table 1, 1971-73 .
A ARCTIC RED (MM)
€ ARCTIC RED (AR)
1,000-
S NAHANNI (CC) €
ULIARD (FTS .)
UARD (FT L.)
v
W
S. NAHANNI (VF) €
S. NAHANNI (VF) A
+ LIARD (FT S.)
+ LIARD (FT L)
€LIARD (FT L .1
N
-19
W 100 -
0
cc
a.
+ MARTIN
+ WI LLOWLAKE
± WILLOWLAKE
A WILLOWLAKE
10-
+ HARRIS
A 1971
€ 1972
+ 1973
I
10
I
I00
1
1,000 10,000
. 1
100,000