In what kinds of environments is solifluction common?
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In what kinds of environments is solifluction common?
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- Solifluction, the "slow gravitational downward slope movement of saturated, seasonally thawed water" is most closely linked with alpine or arctic conditions where diurnal and seasonal freeze/thaw cycles are a significant driver of geomorphic behavior.
- It also correlates with cryoturbation, e.g. freezing and needle ice action, processes by which surface materials, namely soils and their remaining parent materials, are physically combined, transported, and sorted by periodic freeze/thaw.
- On the other hand, solifluction and cryoturbation create distinct characteristics, comprising hummocks, stripes, lobes, sheets, and terraces.
- Usually, these characteristics are linear or semi-linear, can be spaced out on a regular basis, and appear to appear parallel to slope contour.
fig 1: Solifluction.
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