Observations on regional variation in solifluction landform morphology and environment in the Abisko region, northern Sweden

Abstract

Turf-banked lobes and terraces on the valley slopes and stone-banked or non-sorted lobes at summits show a distinct regional trend of decreasing size from west to east in the Abisko region, northern Sweden. Significant correlations with environmental parameters exist between morphometry and elevation, soil moisture and soil texture. At a regional scale, high soil moisture environments can be associated with larger dimensions. The turf-banked forms in the valleys are associated with deep seasonal snow cover and therefore saturated conditions are believed to enhance gelifluction at these locations. The smaller forms on the vegetation- and snow-free summit sites are believed to be dominated by frost creep. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.