LLGRID8 (2014)

3D Model

Aeolian soil erosion, Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland
June/July 2014

We are researching erosional and ecological processes in these deflation patches, which cover 22% of the local landscape. Katabatic winds off the Greenland Ice Sheet remove fine-grained loess soil, exposing glacial till. The patch edge advances as soil and vegetation are undercut. Within patches, a biological soil crust forms, hindering future erosion and aiding soil recovery.

People
Ruth Heindel, Earth Sciences, Dartmouth
Ross Virginia, Arctic Studies and Environmental Studies, Dartmouth
Jonathan Chipman, Geography and Earth Sciences, Dartmouth
Becca Novello
Phoebe Racine

Sources
http://sites.dartmouth.edu/rheindel

Heindel, R, Chipman, J, Virginia, R, 2015. The Spatial Distribution and Ecological Impacts of Aeolian Soil Erosion in Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland. Ann. Assoc. Am. Geogr. 105:875-890.