Surface morphological types and spatial distribution of fan-shaped landforms in the periglacial high-Arctic environment of central Spitsbergen, Svalbard

Abstract

A 1:19,500 map of the Petunibukta region documents the spatial distribution of almost 300 colluvial and alluvial fans (together with their catchments) in the periglacial high-Arctic environment of Svalbard. Fan-shaped landforms were mapped using an orthophoto and digital elevation model generated from 2009 aerial photographs and a 2013 high-resolution satellite image using Geographic Information Systems. Four additional maps at a scale of 1:40,000 provide details about the morphometric characteristics of the studied fans: long- and cross-profiles, slope and aspect. Additionally, parameters such as fan and catchment area, relief, length, width, elevation (the lowest point at the fan toe, apex, and the highest point of the catchment boundary), fan mean plan and profile curvatures, fan relation to neighbouring fans, are also presented. Fans were classified according to the dominant processes shaping their surface: colluvial fans (n = 229), alluvial fans dominated by debris flows (n = 49), and alluvial fans dominated by fluvial flows (n = 19).

Keywords

• Colluvial fan
• alluvial fan
• remote sensing
• morphometry
• GIS
• Petuniabukta