Geomorphology of Gullies at Thomas Lee Inlet, Devon Island, Canadian High Arctic

Etienne Godin, Gordon R. Osinski, Tanya N. Harrison, Alexandra Pontefract and Michael Zanetti

Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 2019, vol. 30, issue 1, 19-34

Abstract: Slopes in and around Thomas Lee Inlet (Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada) are eroded by means of gullying, yet the driving factors, such as the nature of the substrate and availability of different sources for water, influencing gully morphology remain poorly understood. Here we investigate the factors that contribute to gully formation using a combination of satellite mapping, field observations and statistical analysis of morphological data. In total, 161 gullies were mapped within the 126 km2 study area. Factors linked to gullies, such as the nature of its substrate and the presence of glaciers, were integrated into a spatial geodatabase. A Factor Analysis of Mixed Data performed on the geodatabase was used to discriminate which factors may influence gully geometry. Our results show that the type of geological formation has a strong impact on gully slope. In addition, supplemental sources of water are often found near alcoves of the steep, longer and mature gullies, and levees often form in their aprons. Immature debris flow‐like gullies were dryer and found on short and variable (from steep to gentle) slopes. This detailed study of the rocky and arid Thomas Lee Inlet plateaus and slopes provides the first insight into gullied slopes as a hydrological component connecting upland units to downslope in this area.

Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1992

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:30:y:2019:i:1:p:19-34

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 ().