Development of miniature sorted patterned ground following soil erosion in East Falkland, South Atlantic

Abstract

Miniature sorted patterned ground features (nets and stripes) occur at an elevation of ca. 35 m in the L'Antioja valley, East Falkland. The features have developed following recent soil erosion and display many of the characteristics associated with the operation of frost-related processes in regolith materials. The patterns are currently active and indicate that in cool oceanic climates the distribution of frost-sorted patterns is controlled by the presence of bare ground on suitable regolith rather than by altitude.

Autochthony and orientation patterns in Olduvai Bed I: a re-examination of the status of post-depositional biasing of archaeological assemblages from FLK North (FLKN)

“…Thus far, most of the experimental work carried out in this emerging discipline has been conducted in glacial environments, work dealing with the movement and orientation of objects on thawing slopes (Harris et al, 2001) or due to solifluction processes, which cause an anisotropic diffusion of materials (Harris et al, 1997;Todisco et al, 2000;Hugenholtz and Lewkowicz, 2002;Lenoble et al, 2008). Geomorphic observations and experiments in glacial contexts have also focused on sorted patterned grounds, regarding the formation of polygons, stripes and stone-banked solifluction lobes (Washburn, 1979;Williams and Smith, 1989;Harris et al, 1993;Todisco et al, 2000;Matsuoka et al, 2003;Kessler and Werner, 2003;Bertran et al, 2010), as well as on documenting these processes in archaeological contexts (Wilson and Clark, 1991;Lenoble et al, 2008;Bertran et al, 2010). The orientation of till fabric has received a substantial amount of attention in structural geological studies.…”

Sorted circles in the maritime Subantarctic, Marion Island

“…Little downslope elongation of sorted circles occurs, with the average ratio of across-slope to downslope width of fine centres being between 0Ð87 and 0Ð98 at all sites (Table I), though increased slope angles result in some increase in downslope elongation (cf. Wilson and Clark, 1991). Although sorted circles are widespread on Marion Island, sorted circles are particularly well developed in areas of till, which is known to provide a favourable parent material for the development of sorted features: 'Three-fifths of the patterned, sorted soils described in the literature are in glacial till' (Goldthwait, 1976, p. 30).…”

Stone run (block stream) formation in the Falkland Islands over several cold stages, deduced from cosmogenic isotope (10Be and 26Al) surface exposure dating

“…Additional examples of small-scale frost-sorted patterned ground at 35 m a.s.l. were described by Wilson and Clark (1991).…”