Dynamics of Periglacial Sorted Circles in Western Spitsbergen

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Abstract
A working hypothesis for the development and maintenance of sorted circles, which are finegrained soil domains delineated by borders of coarser material, involves clast motion relative to soil and intermittent circulatory motion of soil in the active layer. The hypothesis is compatible with the observed size, regularity, sorting, microtopography, surface soil motion, vegetation cover, and subsurface organic carbon content of soil patterns studied in Spitsbergen. Theoretical considerations of buoyancy-driven convection suggest that intermittent convection of thawed soils is plausible, and that the requisite bulk density decrease with depth arises naturally from moisture gradients that develop during the thaw consolidation of ice-rich soils. These considerations also help in understanding the dependence of sorted circles on soil characteristics and on moisture. Moreover, they point to the possible use of sorted patterns as paleoclimatic indicators based on the expected relation between pattern size and active layer depth.