page_title: Patterned ground
hierarchical_section_title: Patterned ground
caption_attribution_description: English: A melting pingo and polygon wedge ice near Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada.
context_page_description: Patterned ground is the distinct and often symmetrical natural pattern of geometric shapes formed by ground material in periglacial regions. It is typically found in remote regions of the Arctic, Antarctica, and the Outback in Australia, but is also found anywhere that freezing and thawing of soil alternate; patterned ground has also been observed on Mars. The geometric shapes and patterns associated with patterned ground are often mistaken as artistic human creations. The mechanism of the formation of patterned ground had long puzzled scientists but the introduction of computer-generated geological models in the past 20 years has allowed scientists to relate it to frost heaving, the expansion that occurs when wet, fine-grained, and porous soils freeze.
context_section_description: Patterned ground is the distinct and often symmetrical natural pattern of geometric shapes formed by ground material in periglacial regions. It is typically found in remote regions of the Arctic, Antarctica, and the Outback in Australia, but is also found anywhere that freezing and thawing of soil alternate; patterned ground has also been observed on Mars. The geometric shapes and patterns associated with patterned ground are often mistaken as artistic human creations. The mechanism of the formation of patterned ground had long puzzled scientists but the introduction of computer-generated geological models in the past 20 years has allowed scientists to relate it to frost heaving, the expansion that occurs when wet, fine-grained, and porous soils freeze.
caption: A pingo and polygonal ground near Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada
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