Arnaud River

{{short description|Canadian river}} {{Infobox river | name = Arnaud River | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = Rivière Arnaud | name_etymology =  | image = Payne Bay QC.JPG | image_caption = Payne Bay and mouth of the Arnaud River. Kangirsuk is faintly visible on the north (left) shore. | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Quebec | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption= Location of mouth in Quebec  | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Canada | subdivision_type2 = Province | subdivision_name2 = Quebec | subdivision_type3 = Region | subdivision_name3 = Nunavik | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 =  | length = {{convert|377|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name=atlas/> | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = {{convert|670|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name=atlas/> | discharge1_max =  | source1 = [[Payne Lake (Quebec)|Payne Lake]] | source1_location = | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = | mouth = Ungava Bay | mouth_location = | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|59|58|55|N|69|45|31|W|display=inline,title}}<ref name=cgndb>{{cite cgndb|EKBXV|Rivière Arnaud|2010-11-24}}</ref> | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = {{convert|49500|km2|abbr=on}}<ref name=atlas>{{cite web|title=Other Rivers Flowing Into the Atlantic Ocean |year=1985 |work=[[Atlas of Canada|The National Atlas of Canada]], 5th edition |publisher=[[Natural Resources Canada]] |url=http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/learningresources/facts/rivers.html |accessdate=2012-09-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125080501/http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/learningresources/facts/rivers.html |archivedate=2008-01-25 }}</ref> | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }} The '''Arnaud River''' (formerly known as the '''Payne River''') is a river in [[Nunavik]], [[Quebec]], Canada, flowing from the low [[plateau]]x of the [[Ungava Peninsula]] through a series of [[ice sheet|glacial]] [[lake]]s to [[Ungava Bay]]. Its mean discharge is approximately {{convert|15|km3}} per year, but the river flows only in the summer as it is frozen to several metres for the rest of the year. The total length of the river is about {{convert|377|km}}, but there are several main channels in the upper reaches of the river, most of them unnamed and hardly sighted even by the native [[Inuit]].

The Inuit village of [[Kangirsuk, Quebec|Kangirsuk]] lies near the mouth of the Arnaud River on the north shore of Payne Bay, {{convert|13|km|mi}} inland from the western coast of Ungava Bay. About {{convert|22|km}} upstream from Kangirsuk is the [[Hammer of Thor (monument)|Hammer of Thor]] archaeological site.

Most of the basin is almost totally barren owing to the harsh [[climate]] - the mean temperature is only about {{convert|7|C}} even at the height of summer and continuous permafrost extends deep from only half a metre below the surface. The only vegetation is low shrubs at the lower levels, for no trees grow within the Arnaud basin even in the most sheltered sites, and the river freezes for too long{{Clarify|date=March 2008}} to make [[hydroelectric]] development feasible.

== Gallery == <gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="180"> File:Payne River, Nunavuk.jpg|Payne River at Kangirsuk File:Inuit Encampment, Payne River (Arnaud) (2241).jpg|Inuit Encampment, Payne River (Arnaud) (2241) </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}} {{Commons category|Rivière Arnaud}}

[[Category:Rivers of Nord-du-Québec]] [[Category:Nunavik]] [[Category:Tributaries of Hudson Bay]]