Orientation of hollows in cavernously weathered boulders in Antarctica

Abstract

The article presents the orientation of hollows in large, weathered erratic boulders of granite and gneiss located in Victoria Valley, Antarctica. The authors measured the directions and depths of 100 hollows to determine whether their formation was influenced by prevailing winds directions. Statistical analysis showed no preferred orientation – the hollows are randomly distributed, even though strong valley winds blow mainly from the north-east and south-west. This indicates that wind was not the main factor in their formation. Instead, the authors suggest that other weathering processes, such as frost weathering, insolation, dehydration or chemical effects, were primarily responsible for the development of the hollows.