The Nature and Origin of Soil-Polygons in Spitsbergen

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Abstract
The observations recorded in this paper are largely the result of work carried out during the summer of 1924, the bulk of which was done on Reindeer Peninsula, Liefde Bay, in Northern Spitsbergen, and, unless otherwise stated, the notes refer to that place. I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. George Binney, the leader of the Oxford University Arctic Expedition, for giving me every facility that lay in his power, and to Dr. K. S. Sandford, geologist to the expedition, who has allowed me to use some of his observations, and whose advice has been of great value. I also wish to thank Mr. R. C. Spiller for examining and giving me his opinion on some soil-samples; Mr. O. W. Richards for certain useful notes on polygons; and Mr. D. Kempson for the care with which he has made prints of some of the photographs. While investigating the factors which affect the distribution and succession of Arctic animals and plant-communities I was brought up against certain problems of surface-geology, and found it necessary to solve these before progress could be made with the other work. The most important of these problems was presented by the various polygonal arrangements of the soil, which are known to be peculiar to Arctic and Alpine regions, and have now been shown to play a definite part in the processes of weathering and disintegration of rock in such regions. Further, by affecting the nature and drainage-conditions of the soil, they have very marked effects