Összehasonlító geomorfológiai vizsgálatok a King George-szigeten
Nagy Balázs - Szalai Zoltán - Németh Tibor - Bugya Éva

Oasis-evolution in Antarctica
Comparative geomorphological studies on the King George Island

Based on geomorphological and sedimentological field research (1998, 2003) the existence of distinct geographical zonality has been identified in the coastal oases of the King George Island. Due to the sample area-based investigations, these borders could be distinghuised.
The most important zone (and border) is the region of active periglacial processes – from the environment change’s point of view – because this is the most sensitive marginal area, and the existence of permafrost is a dominant factor of the surface-evolution, sedimentation and colonisation of the region. The comparative study shows, that the horizontal changes of the discontinuous permafrost could not only be attached to specific years’ meteorological conditions.
The survival of permafrost islands – through the main features of sediment warming, -drying and water runoff – strongly determined by sediment-cover thickness, slope-steepness, and the chemical weathering.
The existence of weathering, its strength has an important role in water storage and the conservation of permafrost. The preliminary mineralogical investigations show, that the chemical weathering is a highly characteristic process in the sediment-cover formation. This weathering is surprisingly strong in the zone of active periglacial processes. The surrounding dry and permafrost-free zone has significant weathering crust-, desert-pavement- and lag surface formation processes.