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A scanning electron microscope study of bedrock microfractures in granites under high arctic conditions
Author(s) -
Watts Stephen H.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
earth surface processes and landforms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.294
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9837
pISSN - 0197-9337
DOI - 10.1002/esp.3290100208
Subject(s) - bedrock , frost weathering , outcrop , geology , scanning electron microscope , weathering , plateau (mathematics) , arctic , mineralogy , texture (cosmology) , geochemistry , frost (temperature) , geomorphology , soil science , materials science , composite material , soil water , mathematical analysis , oceanography , image (mathematics) , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science
Surface 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.