Analysis of the paraglacial landscape in the Ny-Ålesund area and Blomstrandøya (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, Norway)

Ice cover changes have affected the Svalbard Islands during the Quaternary and conditioned a complex paraglacial landscape. In these remote and poorly vegetated arctic areas, the integration of field investigations and analysis of aerial images and DTMs or terrestrial laser scanning, is effective in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Maps
Main Authors: Ivar Berthling, Claudio Berti, Vania Mancinelli, Laura Stendardi, Tommaso Piacentini, Enrico Miccadei
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2020
Subjects:
geomorphological map
surficial deposits
rock slopes
erosion rates
kongsfjorden area
spitsbergen
Maps
G3180-9980
Arctic
Svalbard
Ny-Ålesund
Norway
Kongsfjord*
Kongsfjorden
Ny Ålesund
Spitsbergen
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2020.1837684
https://doaj.org/article/8b7a22dd91c14b58a173599f0d482f48
Description
Summary:Ice cover changes have affected the Svalbard Islands during the Quaternary and conditioned a complex paraglacial landscape. In these remote and poorly vegetated arctic areas, the integration of field investigations and analysis of aerial images and DTMs or terrestrial laser scanning, is effective in the understanding landscape features and changes. In this work, we present the results of a geomorphological investigation and mapping in two sites along the Kongsfjorden in NW Svalbard (Ny-Ålesund and Blomstrandøya). A specific analysis focused on the slope landforms along the rock slopes. The study is based on fieldwork that defined deposits and landforms distribution of areas with different bedrock and geomorphological context. The analysis of the rock slopes focused on weathering and erosion processes, estimating erosion rates of 0.15–0.37 mm/yr over the Holocene, consistent with other areas around the Kongsfjorden and close to the highest values found in arctic areas.

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