Doctoral Dissertation Research: Landscape and Soil Evolution in Patterned Ground on a Recently Deglaciated Terrain in Jotunheimen, Norway

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The origin of landforms and soils along temporal landscape gradients long has been a topic of study and speculation in geomorphology, soil science, and related fields. This is true for sub-Arctic areas that were covered by glaciers until very late in the Pleistocene. While considerable attention has been given to analyzing the dates and processes that formed moraines and other landforms as well as soils, far less attention has been given to integrated examinations that link the development of micro-scale landform and soils with vegetational succession. This doctoral dissertation research project will investigate the geoecological controls on micro-scale landscape evolution in the late-Holocene deglaciated terrain of Jotunheimen in south-central Norway. The study will focus on local environmental parameters that were conducive for the formation of patterned ground initially after deglaciation, with attention also given to the processes that led to vegetation succession and soil development in the micro-scale (from 0.5 m to 3 m) patterned ground landforms. The central hypotheses of this project are that significant micro-scale soil development differences occur within patterned ground and are positively correlated to vegetation succession. Vegetation tends to establish itself on the periphery of patterned ground structures due to decreased frost activity. The biotic effects interrelated with the physical environmental parameters will be increasingly detectable in terms of soil genesis within patterned ground along a chronosequence transect. The project will include field work in two glacial forelands within the mountainous area of Jotunheimen. Extensive data are available on postglacial surface ages in the terrains before the Storbreen and Slettmarkbreen glaciers. This project will use these data in addition to data gathered through the excavation of soil pits. Vegetation also will be sampled to obtain measures of species composition, diversity, and coverage (biomass indicator). The results of this project will provide new insights into rapid landscape evolution induced by environmental change. Specifically, this study will contribute to the understanding of factors controlling soil formation, particularly the vegetation factor, and it will elucidate the ecological process of succession as controlled by substrate. This knowledge may then allow for predictions of future landscape changes in other mountainous areas. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.