Schmidt hammer tests across a recently deglacierized rocky coastal zone in Spitsbergen - is there a "coastal amplification" of rock weathering in polar climates?

• Published in: Polish Polar Research
• Main Author: Strzelecki, Mateusz
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Walter de Gruyter GmbH 2011
• Subjects: Ecology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Svalbard; Polar Research; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/v10183-011-0017-5; http://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/popore/32/3/article-p239.xml; https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/popore.2011.32.issue-3/v10183-011-0017-5/v10183-011-0017-5.pdf

Schmidt hammer tests across a recently deglacierized rocky coastal zone in Spitsbergen - is there a "coastal amplification" of rock weathering in polar climates? A significant limit to current understanding of cold coast evolution is the paucity of field observations regarding development of rocky coastlines and, in particular, lack of precise recognition of mechanisms controlling rock coast geomorphology in polar climates. Results are presented from a pilot survey of rock resistance using Schmidt Hammer Rock Tests (SHRT) across the recently deglacierized Nordenskioldbreen forefield and coastal zone, in central Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The aim is to improve understanding of the effects of rock weathering on high latitude coasts. SHRT across a field of roches moutonnées of meta-morphic rocks, uncovered from ice over the last century and exposed to the operation of littoral processes, demonstrated significant relationships between rock surface resistance and distance from present shoreline, distance from the ice cliff as well as thickness of the snow cover. Sites closest to the present-day shoreline were characterized by lower resistance in comparison with more inland locations. The result support models that advocate intensification of weathering processes in cold region coastal settings.