Collaborative Research: Chemical and Biological Rock Weathering in Central Norway and Arctic Finland

寒地景观开发的科学研究与现代景观发展观遵循的是一套相同的科学原理。然而，对寒冷地区地貌的理解必须包括对许多地方冰川作用重要性的认识，以及接受低温不仅与冰川作用有关，而且与冰川作用不活跃的寒冷环境有关的重要性。人们普遍倾向于认为，寒冷地区的化学过程是不存在的，或者至少在很大程度上被与夜间或季节性冰冻有关的机制所掩盖。这种对化学过程重要性的评估是建立在相对较少的信息基础上的，在现代研究已经定量地处理了这个问题的地方，化学过程变得重要起来。在挪威Jotunheimen山脉的一个小冰川前和在北极的两个山顶上进行的实地工作产生了两套适合使用电子显微分析技术进行分析的岩石样本，就芬兰的样本而言，它们适合于使用宇宙学技术进行测年。对这些样品的分析将清楚地描绘出在这两个寒冷但不同的环境中导致岩石破碎的机械、化学和生物过程。覆盖地球陆地表面很大一部分的寒冷地区可能会在日益变暖的气候条件下经历重大变化。与此同时，这些脆弱的地区正经历着来自人类住区、娱乐和自然资源开采的越来越大的压力。这些自然和/或人为压力的净结果是，寒冷地区可能经历长期调整，同时经历强烈的短期影响。在这样的一系列影响下，即使不是毁灭性的，也可能产生重大的环境问题。然而，由于人口稀少和总体上难以进入的原因，与世界上许多其他地区相比，寒冷的山区缺乏了解。无论是从纯科学的角度，还是从务实的管理角度来看，都必须更深入地了解形成这些情况的基本机制。本研究直接有助于了解在高山环境(挪威)和低北极环境(芬兰)中破坏岩石表面的过程。它专门针对一个很少研究的主题--化学分解，在寒冷地区对其进行系统研究的少数情况下，它的重要性比科学界普遍认识到的要重要得多。

The scientific study of landscape development in cold regions is subject to the same set of scientific principles as steer our modern view of all landscape development. Nevertheless, understanding of cold region landscapes must incorporate recognition of the importance of glaciation in many locations, as well as embrace the importance of cold temperatures not only associated with glaciation but also with cold environments that are not actively glaciated. There has been a general tendency to believe that chemical processes in cold regions are absent, or at least greatly overshadowed by mechanisms associated with overnight or seasonal freezing. This assessment of the importance of chemical processes is founded on relatively little information, and where modern research has taken up the issue quantitatively, chemical processes have emerged as important. Fieldwork in front of a small glacier in the Jotunheimen Mountains of Norway, and on two hilltops in Arctic Finland has produced two sets of rock samples suitable for analysis using electron micro-analytical techniques, and, in the case of the Finnish samples, suitable for dating using cosmogenic techniques. The analysis of these samples will provide a clear picture of the mechanical, chemical, and biological processes responsible for breaking up the rock in these two cold, but different, environments.Cold regions, which cover a significant portion of the Earth's land surface, are likely to experience significant changes under what, increasingly, appear to be warming climatic conditions. At the same time these fragile regions are experiencing increasing pressures from human settlement, recreation, and natural resource extraction. The net result of these natural and/or man-induced pressures is that cold regions are likely to undergo long-term adjustment while simultaneously experiencing intense short-term impacts. Under such a set of impacts the potential for substantial, if not devastating, environmental problems is very great. However, for reasons associated with their sparse populations and overall difficulty of access, cold, mountainous regions are poorly understood in comparison to many other regions of the world. From both purely scientific and also pragmatic management perspectives it is essential to develop a stronger understanding of the fundamental mechanisms shaping these landscapes. The present research contributes directly to knowledge of the processes disrupting rock surfaces in both a high, alpine environment (Norway) and a low Arctic environment (Finland). It is specifically directed at a little-studied topic, chemical breakdown, which on the few occasions it has been systematically studied in cold regions has emerged as much more important than the scientific community generally recognizes.