Long-term rates of mass wasting in Mesters Vig, northeast Greenland: Notes on a re-survey

Re-surveys of surviving mass-wasting target lines established by A.L. Washburn in the late 1950s in the Mesters Vig area, northeast Greenland, are used to derive estimates of long-term mass wasting in the area. Rates of 2.9-8.1 cm.yr ^-1 are calculated for a 2.5-3° slope and 1.5-30.4 cm.yr ^-1 for a gelifluction lobe on a 15-23° slope. Compared to Washburn's short-term measurements for the same sites these long-term rates suggest a general increase in the rate of mass wasting in the Mesters Vig area over the last 40 years. This increase may be related to a general pattern of climatic amelioration for the east coast of Greenland.