A long-term field study (1951-2003) of ventifacts formed by katabatic winds at Paulatuk, western Arctic coast, Canada

Field measurements have been made since 1951 on hundreds of ventifacts abraded by strong, southerly, katabatic winds that blow in winter and summer past Paulatuk, a small western Arctic coastal settlement. Sand is commonly entrained by the strongest winds in winter. The ventifacts, all glacial errat...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
Main Authors: Mackay, J Ross, Burn, C R
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e05-061
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e05-061
id crcansciencepubl:10.1139/e05-061
record_format openpolar
spelling crcansciencepubl:10.1139/e05-061 2024-04-28T08:09:40+00:00 A long-term field study (1951-2003) of ventifacts formed by katabatic winds at Paulatuk, western Arctic coast, Canada Mackay, J Ross Burn, C R 2005 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e05-061 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e05-061 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences volume 42, issue 9, page 1615-1635 ISSN 0008-4077 1480-3313 General Earth and Planetary Sciences journal-article 2005 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/e05-061 2024-04-09T06:56:27Z Field measurements have been made since 1951 on hundreds of ventifacts abraded by strong, southerly, katabatic winds that blow in winter and summer past Paulatuk, a small western Arctic coastal settlement. Sand is commonly entrained by the strongest winds in winter. The ventifacts, all glacial erratics deposited prior to 12 ka BP, have been gradually rotated by the southerly winds until the long axes of most ventifacts now trend approximately east–west, normal to the katabatic winds. In contrast, pebbles have a slightly preferred north–south orientation, parallel to the katabatic winds. The facets on sandstone and diabase ventifacts are almost planar, but are rounded on granites and hackled on limestones, reflecting the influence of both solution and abrasion. Abrasion is evident on the built structures in Paulatuk, but despite the over 50 years of observation, abrasion of the ventifacts has been virtually undetectable. The extremely slow abrasion rate has been estimated from: observations on two ventifacts from 1951 to 2003; photographic comparisons and observations of 60 ventifacts from 1968 to 2003; optical examination of 14 granite slabs, polished and unpolished, exposed to abrasion from 1967 to 1976; and comparisons of the windward and leeward sides of six large rock caches built with ventifacts probably long before 1900. If the present rates of abrasion are representative of Holocene conditions, ventifact formation has probably taken much of postglacial time. The increase in vegetation cover around many rocks between 1968 and 2003 suggests that the climate has changed in the last three decades. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Paulatuk Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 42 9 1615 1635
institution Open Polar
collection Canadian Science Publishing
op_collection_id crcansciencepubl
language English
topic General Earth and Planetary Sciences
spellingShingle General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Mackay, J Ross
Burn, C R
A long-term field study (1951-2003) of ventifacts formed by katabatic winds at Paulatuk, western Arctic coast, Canada
topic_facet General Earth and Planetary Sciences
description Field measurements have been made since 1951 on hundreds of ventifacts abraded by strong, southerly, katabatic winds that blow in winter and summer past Paulatuk, a small western Arctic coastal settlement. Sand is commonly entrained by the strongest winds in winter. The ventifacts, all glacial erratics deposited prior to 12 ka BP, have been gradually rotated by the southerly winds until the long axes of most ventifacts now trend approximately east–west, normal to the katabatic winds. In contrast, pebbles have a slightly preferred north–south orientation, parallel to the katabatic winds. The facets on sandstone and diabase ventifacts are almost planar, but are rounded on granites and hackled on limestones, reflecting the influence of both solution and abrasion. Abrasion is evident on the built structures in Paulatuk, but despite the over 50 years of observation, abrasion of the ventifacts has been virtually undetectable. The extremely slow abrasion rate has been estimated from: observations on two ventifacts from 1951 to 2003; photographic comparisons and observations of 60 ventifacts from 1968 to 2003; optical examination of 14 granite slabs, polished and unpolished, exposed to abrasion from 1967 to 1976; and comparisons of the windward and leeward sides of six large rock caches built with ventifacts probably long before 1900. If the present rates of abrasion are representative of Holocene conditions, ventifact formation has probably taken much of postglacial time. The increase in vegetation cover around many rocks between 1968 and 2003 suggests that the climate has changed in the last three decades.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Mackay, J Ross
Burn, C R
author_facet Mackay, J Ross
Burn, C R
author_sort Mackay, J Ross
title A long-term field study (1951-2003) of ventifacts formed by katabatic winds at Paulatuk, western Arctic coast, Canada
title_short A long-term field study (1951-2003) of ventifacts formed by katabatic winds at Paulatuk, western Arctic coast, Canada
title_full A long-term field study (1951-2003) of ventifacts formed by katabatic winds at Paulatuk, western Arctic coast, Canada
title_fullStr A long-term field study (1951-2003) of ventifacts formed by katabatic winds at Paulatuk, western Arctic coast, Canada
title_full_unstemmed A long-term field study (1951-2003) of ventifacts formed by katabatic winds at Paulatuk, western Arctic coast, Canada
title_sort long-term field study (1951-2003) of ventifacts formed by katabatic winds at paulatuk, western arctic coast, canada
publisher Canadian Science Publishing
publishDate 2005
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e05-061
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e05-061
genre Arctic
Paulatuk
genre_facet Arctic
Paulatuk
op_source Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
volume 42, issue 9, page 1615-1635
ISSN 0008-4077 1480-3313
op_rights http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1139/e05-061
container_title Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
container_volume 42
container_issue 9
container_start_page 1615
op_container_end_page 1635
_version_ 1797577932470747136