The role of weathering and pedological processes for the development of sorted circles on Kvadehuksletta, Svalbard - a short report

Abstract

The presence of silt-rich, fine-grained material at the center of the well-developed sorted circles on Kvadehuksletta, Svalbard, is a precondition for their development. Field work, laboratory work, and data from published studies indicate that the fine-grained material is a dissolution product of the dolomitic bedrock. The silt is accumulated in situ and by slope wash in terrain depressions. Chemical weathering and other pedogenetic processes, such as the translocation of silt, are of great importance in Arctic regions and can create the sedimentological prerequisites for cryogenetic processes, such as frost sorting and cryoturbation. Therefore, the bedrock composition and the composition of surficial material are considered to be important control factors for these processes.