Land Degradation and Development 2 (9): 3141-3158 (2018) 1 INTERPRETING ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES FROM 2 RADIONUCLIDES AND SOIL CHARACTERISTICS IN 3 DIFFERENT LANDFORM CONTEXTS OF ELEPHANT ISLAND 4 (MARITIME ANTARCTICA) 5 6 A. Navas1, E. Serrano2, J. López-Martínez3, L. Gaspar1, I. Lizaga1 7 8 1Estación Experimental de Aula Dei, EEAD-CSIC. Avenida Montañana 1005, 50059 9 Zaragoza, Spain.
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[email protected] 10 2 Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Valladolid, 47011, Valladolid, Spain. 11
[email protected] 12 3Departamento de Geología y Geoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad 13 Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid. Spain.
[email protected] 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 1 Land Degradation and Development 2 (9): 3141-3158 (2018) 24 ABSTRACT 25 Soils in ice-free areas of Elephant Island (South Shetland Islands) have been 26 forming since the last deglaciation following the glacial retreat that started in the area 27 probably later than 9.7-5.5ka. In paraglacial landscapes landforms and processes in 28 transition from glacial to non-glacial conditions, are experiencing rapid environmental 29 adjustments under conditions of climate change. Soils are highly sensitive and can be 30 good descriptors of these transitional changes. A soil sampling campaign was 31 undertaken for characterizing soils developed on moraines and marine platforms, 32 underlain by metamorphic rocks and with distinctive periglacial features. Eight soil 33 profiles were sampled to investigate the processes involved in their development and 34 the relations with main landforms and processes of ice retreat.