Development of Vegetation-Banked Stone Steps and Stripes on a Low Altitude Mountain Peak in Northeastern Japan

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  • 奥羽山脈の低標高山地（福島県御霊櫃峠）にみられる「植被階状礫縞」
  • オウウ サンミャク ノ テイヒョウコウ サンチ フクシマケン ゴレイビツトウゲ ニ ミラレル ショクヒカイジョウレキコウ

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A combined feature of stone steps and stripes developed on Goreibitsu-pass, a wind-beaten peak about 900 m above sea level in the mid-latitude (37°26′N) of northeastern Japan. Each stone step consists of a rubble-exposed belt and a shrub- or tall grass-covered belt, both of which are several decimeters to two meters across and elongated in the direction of the dominant wind, WNW. Steps 0.5 m to 1 m in height are formed on slopes perpendicular to the dominant wind direction, while stripes are developed on slopes parallel to it or of less than about 10 degrees. Observations of cross-sections of the stone steps revealed that the bottom of rubbley deposits, i.e., the surface of bedrock that is easily exfoliated tuffaceous sandstone of Miocene age, showed almost uniform slopes of about 25–30° and that the roots of the shrubs reached almost to the bottom of the rubbley deposits. In addition, observations on adjacent wind-beaten bare ground showed that many stones were migrated up to 1 m downslope every winter by frost creep and associated processes on the nearly snow-free surface. It is thus concluded that the vegetation-supported stone steps and stripes developed on wind-beaten bare slopes under the combined control of wind-oriented development of vegetation belts and gravity-oriented surface stone migration by frost action and related processes. Taking into consideration that the sporadic occurrence of stone steps, stripes, and related ground patterned grounds are reported from various areas of low-altitude or low-latitude, the results of this study suggest that the meaning of such micro-landforms as zonal indicators should be reexamined in climatic geomorphology.

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