Present-Day Geomorphological Processes on Prins Oscars Land, Svalbard

ABSTRACT

My work in the team on Prins Oscars Land was to study the present-day geomorphological processes and their effects, in an area of crystalline rocks and rolling landforms, with glacial forms located mainly along the fiords. Most of the work was done on the eastern side of Rijpfjorden. The various processes are discussed in separate sections. Particular interest is given to frost weathering, which is slow at present, but has probably been more important in some past period, to judge from well-developed block fields and from sequences of raised beaches produced from solid rock by frost weathering combined with marine processes. In a special section patterned ground and mass movement, mainly of tundra polygons and rock glaciers, are presented.

Main attention is devoted to the marine processes, the most efficient processes in recent time, producing erosion forms in solid rock and wide fields of raised beaches. Forms related to marine processes are much better developed in the outer parts of the fiords, while the inner parts have almost unchanged glacial forms, particularly in solid rock. The strong morphological differences between north and south may indicate a clear difference in the time of deglaciation. On the peninsulas of the area there is a series of talus cones eroded by the sea. As this may indicate a present transgression, an appendix is added in which similar forms from all Svalbard are examined. The frequency of these is high and well-distributed, and most probably indicates a present land depression. Some archaeological data give a similar picture.