patterned ground
Frost-sorted stone formations
Patterned ground refers to naturally occurring geometric formations in soil or rock, created by repeated freezing and thawing cycles in cold regions.
These patterns—circles, polygons, stripes, or nets—appear on the surface where frost action sorts stones and sediment into regular arrangements.
Common in arctic and alpine environments: The tundra was marked by patterned ground stretching to the horizon.
- frost heavingIce expansion lifting soil
- stone circlesPrehistoric arrangements of standing rocks
- alpine regionsHigh-elevation mountain areas
- hummocksLow rounded earth mounds
- permafrostPerpetually frozen earth layer
freeze-thaw cycles · polar deserts · sorted · nets · lobes · geomorphology · tessellation · boreal forests · circles · geometric · polygons · stripes · wedges · heave · ice · terrain · mud · freeze-thaw
- polar regionsAntarctica, polar bears, Arctic Ocean, glaciers, Arctic
- tundraalpine tundra, Alaskan tundra, Siberian tundra, permafrost, permafrost layer
- Ice Age landscapestundra, permafrost, ice sheet, glacier, polar desert
- peatlandspeat, bog, peat bog, sphagnum, peat moss
- permafrostpermafrost thaw, frozen soil, frost heave, frost crack, thaw depth
- permafrost engineeringfrozen soil, permafrost thaw, frost heave