The development of a strikingly regular surface pattern of stone circles, polygons, stripes or nets, driven by repeated freeze-thaw cycling that sorts and moves soil particles and stones through frost heave and differential frost action. It is a distinctive and widespread signature of periglacial environments in the Arctic, Antarctic and high mountains.
Facts
Process Type Sources
1. Patterned ground, Wikipedia
Lead paragraph, first sentenceQuote, Lead paragraph, first sentence
Patterned ground is the distinct and often symmetrical natural pattern of geometric shapes formed by the deformation of ground material in periglacial regions.
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