Soil Physical and Environmental Conditions Controlling Patterned‐Ground Variability at a Continuous Permafrost Site, Svalbard

Tatsuya Watanabe, Norikazu Matsuoka, Hanne H. Christiansen and Stefanie Cable

Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 2017, vol. 28, issue 2, 433-445

Abstract: This study examines soil physical and environmental conditions controlling patterned‐ground variability on an alluvial fan in a continuous permafrost landscape, at Adventdalen, Svalbard. On‐site monitoring of ground temperature, soil moisture and snow depth, laboratory analyses of soil physical properties and principal component analysis indicate that the distribution of patterned ground depends primarily on soil texture, soil moisture and the winter ground thermal regime associated with snow cover. Mudboils and composite patterns (mudboils surrounded by small polygons) occupy well‐drained areas composed of clay‐rich aeolian sediments. Compared to mudboils, composite patterns show a sharper contrast in soil texture between barren centres and vegetated rims. Hummocks filled with organic materials develop on poorly drained lowlands associated with a shallow water table. Ice‐wedge polygons are dominant on sandy loess‐covered areas where the local wind regime minimises snow cover, enhancing ground cooling that promotes thermal contraction cracking. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1924

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:perpro:v:28:y:2017:i:2:p:433-445

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Permafrost and Periglacial Processes from John Wiley & Sons
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().