Spatial scale and chemical weathering in Kärkevagge: Influences on landscape evolution

Chemical weathering processes are significant in effecting considerable erosion and landscape denudation in the Arctic alpine valley of Kärkevagge, Swedish Lapland. Quantities of material removed as chemical load and the amount of landscape lowering have been established as being as important as in other more temperate environments. As such, chemical weathering processes represent significant contributors to inputs into sediment budgets in cold climates, but have historically received little attention. Controls on chemical weathering are observed to operate across several orders of magnitude. The dominant weathering controls fall into four fundamental categories: geological, hydrological, biological, and climatological with individual controls changing with spatial scale. This paper examines the nature of control categories across spatial scales ranging from micrometer to kilometer. Observations of chemical weathering processes indicate that there is strong spatial variability in the controls on weathering and hence chemical inputs to sediment budgets in the Arctic environment of Swedish Lapland.