Contemporaneous geomorphological processes in Longyeardalen, Vestspitsbergen (Svalbard)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26485/BP/1976/26/17Keywords:
slopewash, solifluction, mechanical weathering, debris transportAbstract
In July 1974 the author undertook geomorphological investigations in Longyearbyen, Isfiord, Spitsbergen, with reference to previous investigations made in 1958. Action of slopewash, solifluction, and mechanical weathering was the object of these new studies. The catastrophic rainstorms in 1972 caused some changes in morphology of local slopes. The effects of this rainstorm lay mainly in altering and accentuating previously existing landforms. In recent years mechanical weathering has shown an increased activity which has promoted a new debris transgression on talus cones. This process is accompanied by slope recession at a mean annual rate of 0.3 mm. For the last 30 years the author estimates he rate of solifluction to be from 2 to 4 cm per year.
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