A scanning electron microscope study of bedrock microfractures in granites under high arctic conditions

Abstract

AbstractSurface specimens obtained from highly‐weathered upland plateau outcrops at three localities in high Arctic Canada have been studied using the scanning electron microscope. Observations are given on factors influencing bedrock surface microfracturing processes. Evidence for the concentration of both salts and organic material in surface cracks which could enhance microfracturing is presented. The importance of lithological parameters including: mineralogy, texture, and structures present in influencing the actual processes of disintegration is reiterated. Under cold, dry high Arctic conditions the combined and apparently inseparable affects of frost action, salt crystallization, and organic activity may have contributed to microfracturing largely responsible for widely scattered examples of highly weathered bedrock terrain.