Rates and interactions between landscape- and soil-forming processes

Arctic ecosystems are changing rapidly and there is a need to quantify the rates and interactions between various landscape- and soil-forming processes. Most soil studies on Spitsbergen were, however, conducted on the west side of the island near Petunia bay. Since there is a clear climatic divide between the west and east of Spitsbergen, to which landscape development is strongly linked, soil formation on the east side of Spitsbergen is expected to be different. Two studies are proposed for further elaboration depending on the feasibility within the SEES expedition.