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Spatial distribution of pingos in Northern Asia
Abstract and Figures
Pingos are prominent periglacial landforms in vast regions of the Arctic and Subarctic. They are indicators of modern and past conditions of permafrost, surface geology, hydrology and climate. A first version of a detailed spatial geodatabase of more than 6000 pingo locations in a 3.5 × 106 km2 region of Northern Asia was assembled from topographic maps. A first order analysis was carried out with respect to permafrost, landscape characteristics, surface geology, hydrology, climate, and elevation datasets using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Pingo heights in the dataset vary between 2 and 37 m, with a mean height of 4.8 m. About 64% of the pingos occur in continuous permafrost with high ice content and thick sediments; another 19% in continuous permafrost with moderate ice content and thick sediments. The majority of these pingos likely formed through closed system freezing, typical of those located in drained thermokarst lake basins of northern lowlands with continuous permafrost. About 82% of the pingos are located in the tundra bioclimatic zone. Most pingos in the dataset are located in regions with mean annual ground temperatures between −3 and −11 °C and mean annual air temperatures between −7 and −18 °C. The dataset confirms that surface geology and hydrology are key factors for pingo formation and occurrence. Based on model predictions for near-future permafrost distribution, hundreds of pingos along the southern margins of permafrost will be located in regions with thawing permafrost by 2100, which ultimately may lead to increased occurrence of pingo collapse. Based on our dataset and previously published estimates of pingo numbers from other regions, we conclude that there are more than 11 000 pingos on Earth.
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... There are over 11 000 pingos in the world. Of these about 1350 are concentrated on the Tuktoyaktuk Coastal Plain in the western Canadian Arctic, 500 are located elsewhere in Canada, 1500 in Alaska, 6000 or more in Russia, and at least several hundred in the other parts of the world, such as Fennoscandia , Greenland, Spitsbergen, Mongolia, and Tibetan Plateau of China (Mackay, 1998; Wu et al., 2005; Grosse and Jones, 2011; Yoshikawa et al., 2013 ). Numerous near circular collapsed features interpreted as pingo remnants, most being of Holocene age, have been observed in former permafrost areas , such as Ireland, the United Kingdom, countries of Eastern Europe, and China (Jin et al., 2007). ...
... His research has provided context for our work, which explores the potential of SAR technology and processing techniques to describe surface deformation that would arise from processes associated with pingo growth. The great majority (i.e., ∼ 98 %) of hydrostatic or closedsystem pingos develop in drained lake basins in association with permafrost aggradation in unfrozen saturated sandy lake sediments (Gurney, 1998; Mackay, 1998; Jones et al., 2011 ). Rapid lake drainage, caused either by coastal erosion or thermal erosion of ice wedges, exposes the lake bottom to subfreezing air temperatures (Fig. 1, Mackay, 1992). ...
... The mean basal radius of most pingos is about 50 m while the maximum radius is typically less than 300 m (Mackay, 1979). Their heights vary between a few meters and approximately 55 m, with a mean of 5 m (Grosse and Jones, 2011; Jones et al., 2011). Pingo basal area is typically established in the first few years of growth, determined primarily by characteristics of the residual pond where growth was initiated. ...
Advancements in radar technology are increasing our ability to detect Earth
surface deformation in permafrost environments. In this paper we use
satellite Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) to
describe the growth of a large, relatively young pingo in the Tuktoyaktuk
Coastlands. High-resolution RADARSAT-2 imagery (2011–2014) analyzed with the
Multidimensional Small Baseline Subset (MSBAS) DInSAR revealed a maximum
2.7 cm yr−1 of domed uplift located in a drained lake basin. Satellite
measurements suggest that this feature is one of the largest diameter pingos
in the region that is presently growing. Observed changes in elevation were
modeled as a 348 × 290 m uniformly loaded elliptical plate with
clamped edge. Analysis of historical aerial photographs suggested that ground
uplift at this location initiated sometime between 1935 and 1951 following
drainage of the residual pond. Uplift is largely due to the growth of
intrusive ice, because the 9 % expansion of pore water associated with
permafrost aggradation into saturated sands is not sufficient to explain the
observed short- and long-term deformation rates. The modeled thickness of
ice-rich permafrost using the Northern Ecosystem Soil Temperature (NEST) was
consistent with the maximum height of this feature. Modeled permafrost
aggradation from 1972 to 2014 approximated elevation changes estimated from
aerial photographs for that time period. Taken together, these lines of
evidence indicate that uplift is at least in part a result of freezing of the
sub-pingo water lens. Seasonal variations in the uplift rate seen in the
DInSAR data closely match the modeled seasonal pattern in the deepening rate
of freezing front. This study demonstrates that interferometric satellite
radar can detect and contribute to understanding the dynamics of terrain
uplift in response to permafrost aggradation and ground ice development in
remote polar environments. The present-day growth rate is smaller than
predicted by the modeling and no clear growth is observed at other smaller
pingos in contrast with field studies performed mainly before the 1990s.
Investigation of this apparent discrepancy provides an opportunity to further
develop observation methods and models.
... Pingos start to grow when closed taliks freeze through in the course of upward aggradation of permafrost in the closed or semi-closed system (either with inconspicuous addition of water, or in the lack of it) with the formation of ground ice (predominantly, intrusive and segregated) or ice-rich pingo core through ice injection and segregation processes. More than 6,000 pingos [Grosse and Jones, 2011] have been mapped in the Russian territory. In Canada , approximately 500 pingos were encountered in the Yukon area, and 1,350 pingos in the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula and in the Mackenzie river delta, which constitutes the largest concentration of pingos in the world. ...
... Some 1250 pingos were encountered in the north of Alaska [Jones et al., 2012], and a lot of them on the islands in the area of Franklin and Quebec districts , and at least several hundred in Scandinavia, on the Tibetan plateau in China, in Mongolia, Antarctica and Greenland, and in the Spitsbergen archipelago. In total, over 11,000 pingos have been found and described in the world [Mackay, 1988[Mackay, , 1998 Vasil'chuk and Budantseva, 2010; Grosse and Jones, 2011; Yoshikawa, 2014]. In the north of Western Siberia there are around 1600 pingos [Grosse and Jones, 2011]. ...
... In total, over 11,000 pingos have been found and described in the world [Mackay, 1988[Mackay, , 1998 Vasil'chuk and Budantseva, 2010; Grosse and Jones, 2011; Yoshikawa, 2014]. In the north of Western Siberia there are around 1600 pingos [Grosse and Jones, 2011]. The authors have studied in detail one pingo in the southern parts of Tazovsky Peninsula. ...
Ice core of Pestsovoye pingo in the Evoyakha River valley in North-West Siberia has been studied. Thickness of the pingo ice is more than 15 m. The δ18O value of the pingo ice varies from -11.6 to -15.8 %, δD from -93.2 to -123.0 %. Comparison with isotope data of ice core of Weather pingo (Alaska) has been carried out. In Weather pingo ice δ18O values range from -15.5 to -22.0 %, δD values change from -132 to -170 %. Both isotope profiles of pingo ice are contrasting and arcuate-shaped as a result of isotope fractionation during freezing of sub-pingo waters in closed system. Fractionation leads to isotopic contrast of ice: by 4-6 % of δ18O and by 20-25 % of δD values. Radiocarbon dating of the covering peat at Pestsovoye pingo evidences that the heaving occurred in two stages. At the first stage the heaving began at about 5 kyr BP in the distal part of the mound. At the second stage about 2.5 kyr BP the heaving recommenced actively in the central part of the pingo. The heaving rate was very high - more than 2-3 cm per year. As a result a pingo of 17 m high has been formed.
... Hydrostatic ('closed system') pingos develop where permafrost aggrades through saturated sand and expels porewater at above-hydrostatic pressure, forcing the overlying frozen ground upwards (Mackay 1998). Hydraulic ('open-system') pingos develop at slope-foot locations where subpermafrost groundwater movement driven by hydraulic pressure feeds growth of a subsurface ice body (Gurney 1998;Grosse & Jones 2011;Ross 2013). A third type, known as polygenetic (or 'mixed') pingos, has also been proposed but remains poorly understood (Gurney 1998). ...
Periglacial environments are characterized by cold-climate non-glacial conditions and ground freezing. The coldest periglacial environments in Pleistocene Britain were underlain by permafrost (ground that remains at or below 0°C for two years or more), while many glaciated areas experienced paraglacial modification as the landscape adjusted to non-glacial conditions. The growth and melt of ground ice, supplemented by temperature-induced ground deformation, leads to periglacial disturbance and drives the periglacial debris system. Ice segregation can fracture porous bedrock and sediment, and produce an ice-rich brecciated layer in the upper metres of permafrost. This layer is vulnerable to melting and thaw consolidation, which can release debris into the active layer and, in undrained conditions, result in elevated porewater pressures and sediment deformation. Thus, an important difference arises between ground that is frost-susceptible, and hence prone to ice segregation, and ground that is not. Mass-movement, fluvial and aeolian processes operating under periglacial conditions have also contributed to reworking sediment under cold-climate conditions and the evolution of periglacial landscapes. A fundamental distinction exists between lowland landscapes, which have evolved under periglacial conditions throughout much of the Quaternary, and upland periglacial landscapes, which have largely evolved over the past c. 19 ka following retreat and downwastage of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet. Periglacial landsystems provide a conceptual framework to interpret the imprint of periglacial processes on the British landscape, and to predict the engineering properties of the ground. Landsystems are distinguished according to topography, relief and the presence or absence of a sediment mantle. Four landsystems characterize both lowland and upland periglacial terrains: plateau landsystems, sediment-mantled hillslope landsystems, rock-slope landsystems, and slope-foot landsystems. Two additional landsystems are also identified in lowland terrains, where thick sequences of periglacial deposits are common: valley landsystems and buried landsystems. Finally, submerged landsystems (which may contain more than one of the above) exist on the continental shelf offshore of Great Britain. Individual landsystems contain a rich variety of periglacial, permafrost and paraglacial landforms, sediments and sedimentary structures. Key periglacial lowland landsystems are summarized using ground models for limestone plateau-clay-vale terrain and caprock-mudstone valley terrain. Upland periglacial landsystems are synthesized through ground models of relict and active periglacial landforms, supplemented by maps of upland periglacial features developed on bedrock of differing lithology. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by The Geological Society of London. All rights reserved.
... In Russia, closed system pingos occur in Central and Northern Yakutia, and the Yamal, Gydan and Tazovsky Peninsulas. About 1600 pingos have been identified in the northern region of Western Siberia (Andreev, 1936Andreev, , 1960 Grosse and Jones, 2011). In closed system pingos, the initial freezing of the exposed lacustrine sediments creates pore ice and as hydrostatic pressures develop , segregated ice forms concomitant with uplift of the ground surface. ...
... Mackay (1998) estimated that approximately 5000 or more pingos exist within the Earth's cryosphere, 1350 of which are found in the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula in northwest Canada alone. Grosse and Jones (2011) identified 6059 pingos in northern Russia, in the Lena River valley and the Kolyma River valley , using several hundred Russian topographic maps (1:200,000). Pingos have also been reported in the Brooks Range in Alaska (Hamilton and Obi, 1982), Greenland (Yoshikawa, 1991), Svalbard (e.g. ...
Numerous frost mounds exist on the meander belt and alluvial fan around Arsain Gol River in Darhad basin, northern Mongolia, at the southern fringe of the north-eastern Eurasian permafrost zone. In this environment, abundant water supply and inter-permafrost taliks may allow the development of artesian pressure that leads to groundwater upwelling. The aim of this study was to determine the formation chronology of pingos in this region. The Arsain pingo was drilled to a depth of 35m to determine the stratigraphy, and data were collected on ground-ice stable isotopic composition, electrical resistivity, ground temperature, and radiocarbon dating and interpreted in conjunction with the chronology of paleo-lake retreat in the basin. A 10m thick ice core sandwiched between fine-grained lacustrine sediments was identified by drilling and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). Stable isotope values of ice core samples indicated Rayleigh-type isotope fractionation during the freezing of liquid water. Consequently, closed-system freezing of artesian groundwater appears to be the driving mechanism of pingo formation. Near-surface, segregated ground ice formed from the open-system freezing of meteoric water, concurrent with pingo growth. The lake coverage was extensive until about 10,000years before present (yrbp), and the growth of the Arsain pingo began after 4500yrbp, when the paleo-lake was completely drained. The pingo is not presently growing because of a limited groundwater supply to feed the ice core.
Pingos are prominent periglacial landforms in vast regions of the Arctic and Subarctic. They are indicators of modern and past conditions of permafrost, surface geology, hydrology and climate. A first version of a detailed spatial geodatabase of 6059 pingo locations in a 3.5×10<sup>6</sup> km<sup>2</sup> region of northern Asia was assembled from topographic maps. A first order analysis was carried out with respect to permafrost, landscape characteristics, surface geology, hydrology, climate, and elevation datasets using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Pingo heights in the dataset vary between 2 and 37 m, with a mean height of 4.8 m. About 64% of the pingos occur in continuous permafrost with high ice content and thick sediments; another 19% in continuous permafrost with moderate ice content and thick sediments. The majority of these pingos are likely hydrostatic pingos, which are typical of those located in drained thermokarst lake basins of northern lowlands with continuous permafrost. About 82% of the pingos are located in the tundra bioclimatic zone. Most pingos in the dataset are located in regions with mean annual ground temperatures between −3 and −11 °C and mean annual air temperatures between −7 and −18 °C. The dataset confirms that surface geology and hydrology are key factors for pingo formation and occurrence. Based on model predictions for near-future permafrost distribution, about 2073 pingos (34%) along the southern margins of permafrost will be located in regions with thawing permafrost by 2100, which ultimately may lead to increased occurrence of pingo collapse. Based on our dataset and previously published estimates of pingo numbers from other regions, we conclude that there are more than 11 000 pingos on Earth.
Permafrost and frozen grounds are key elements of the terrestrial cryosphere that will be strongly affected by a warming climate. With widespread permafrost degradation likely to occur in this century, remote sensing of permafrost is seeking to unveil the processes and
causal connections governing this development, from the monitoring of variables related to the permafrost state to the mapping of the impacts of degradation and potential natural hazards on the ground.
However, remote sensing of permafrost is challenging. The physical subsurface variables which characterize its thermal state – ground temperature, ice content and thaw depth – are not directly measurable through current remote sensing technologies. Instead, there is a large diversity of target characteristics for remote sensing from which the
permafrost state can be indirectly derived. Mountain permafrost environments are characterized by a strong heterogeneity on small spatial scales, so that high-resolution remote sensors are generally required. Permafrost landforms and surface features, such as rock
glaciers, thermokarst lakes and push moraines, can be identified by image classification techniques in a variety of remote sensing products. Permafrost-related vertical and horizontal surface deformations can be identified by repeat digital elevation models, or
radar interferometry.
Similar techniques are applied in the Arctic lowland permafrost areas to identify and map indicators of thawing ice-rich permafrost, such as thermokarst, thaw slumps, or coastal erosion. In some areas, the presence of permafrost correlates with certain vegetation types or
surface covers, which can be mapped from satellite sensors. Furthermore, in the vast lowland permafrost areas, physical variables directly or indirectly related to thermal subsurface conditions are accessible through more coarsely resolved remote sensing techniques. These include the land surface temperature, the freeze-thaw state of the surface and subsurface, and the gravimetric signal from the ground.
Recently, there is progress towards quantitative monitoring of ground temperatures and thaw depths by employing remote sensing data in conjunction with thermal subsurface modeling. By exploiting the cumulative information content of several remote sensing data sets through data fusion strategies, the best possible estimate for the ground thermal state can be achieved.
Cone morphologies with a variety of origins and sizes have been widely identified on Mars using remote sensing data such as ultra-high resolution visible images. Currently, small cones of less than 100 m in bottom diameter can be identified. These Martian cones are located in young surface regions, suggesting they were produced in an environment that existed in recent geological history. They had volcanic, periglacial, and other origins. This paper first introduces a classification of terrestrial cone morphology: volcanic (spatter cones, scoria/pumice cones, maars, tuff rings, tuff cones, and rootless cones), periglacial (pingos), and others (mud volcanoes). Then, it reviews the characteristics of cone morphology on Mars focusing on morphology, morphometry, and distribution. Previous cone studies show the existence of explosive basaltic eruptions on recent Mars, while young lava flows were pervasive. The prevalence of rootless cones suggests the presence of water/ice during their formation at many places on Mars. These discoveries contribute to clarifying the recent surface environment and thermal state of Mars. To further apply terrestrial knowledge to Martian cones, it is necessary to understand the relationship between the morphology and the formation process of cone morphologies on Earth from a wide perspective.
Important terms and relationships of permafrost research are introduced in a short review. Fundamental classifications as well as regional distributions and typical phenomena of permafrost are described and explained. The role of permafrost in the modern environment, especially its climate sensibility and the relevance for the global carbon cycle are highlighted. Finally, important science organisations and institutions of the international permafrost research are presented.
Knowledge of the varying patterns of thermokarst landforms, their dynamic processes, and terrain and ecological factors affecting development is essential to understand the response of polar ecosystems to climate change and human impacts. Studies from Arctic, Subarctic, and Antarctic regions have identified 23 thermokarst landforms associated with varying terrain conditions, ground ice volumes and morphologies, and heat and mass transfer processes. These include: deep thermokarst lake, shallow thermokarst lake, glacial thermokarst lake, glacial thermokarst, thermokarst basin, thermokarst-lake basin, thaw sink, thermokarst fen, thermokarst bog, thermokarst shore fen, thaw slump, detachment slide, collapsed pingo, beaded stream, thermal erosion gully, thermokarst water track, collapse-block shore, ice-block landslide, thermokarst troughs and pits, thermokarst pits, conical thermokarst mounds, irregular thermokarst mounds, and sink holes. Thermokarst development variously involves the transfer of heat through conductive, convective, and radiative processes, and the movement of materials through fluvial and colluvial geomorphic processes. Permafrost degradation is a highly dynamic process that involves continual changes in surface topography, surface water, groundwater, soil properties, vegetation, and snow, and, thus, energy balance and heat transfer processes, which can be subject to both positive and negative feedbacks. Owing to these dynamics, thermokarst goes through temporal changes involving initial and advance stages of degradation and stabilization, but recovery to original permafrost and ecological conditions is rare.
Most pingos have grown in residual ponds left behind by rapid lake drainage through erosion of ice-wedge polygon systems. The field studies (1969-78) have involved precise levelling of numerous bench marks, extensive drilling, detailed temperature measurements, installation of water pressure transducers below permafrost and water (ice) quality, soil, and many other analyses. Precise surveys have been carried out on 17 pingos for periods ranging from 3 to 9 years. The field results show that permafrost aggradation in saturated lake bottom sediments creates the high pore water pressures necessary for pingo growth. The subpermafrost water pressures frequently approach that of the total litho-static pressure of permafrost surrounding a pingo. The water pressure is often great enough to lift a pingo and intrude a sub-pingo water lens beneath it. The basal diameter of a pingo is established in early youth after which time the pingo tends to grow higher, rather than both higher and wider. The shutoff direction of freezing is from periphery to center. When growing pingos have both through going taliks and also permeable sediments at depth, water may be expelled downwards by pore water expulsion from freezing and consolidation from self loading on saturated sediments. Pingos can rupture from bursting of the sub-pingo water lens. Otherwise, pingo failure is at the top and periphery. Hydraulic fracturing is probably important in some pingo failures. Water loss from sub-pingo water lenses causes subsidence with the subsidence pattern being the mirror image of the growth pattern; i.e. greatest subsidence at the top. Small peripheral bulges may result from subsidence. Old pingos collapse from exposure of the ice core to melting by overburden rupture, by mass wasting, and by permafrost creep of the sides.
Growth data from precise surveys have been obtained for 11 pingos for periods ranging from 20 to 26 years. Most of the 1350 pingos, perhaps one quarter of the world's total, have grown up in the bottoms of drained lakes underlain by sands. Permafrost aggradation on the drained lake bottoms has resulted in pore water expulsion, solute rejection below the freezing front, a freezing point depression, and groundwater flow at below 0°C to one or more residual ponds, the sites of pingo growth. Sub-pingo water lenses underlie many growing pingos. The pure ice which grows by downward freezing in a sub-pingo water lens may be composed of seasonal growth bands which, like tree rings, are of potential use in the study of past climates. Growing pingos underlain by sub-pingo water lenses can often be identified by features such as peripheral pingo rupture, spring flow, frost mound growth, normal faulting, and oscillations in pingo height. Such features, and others, are associated with hydrofracturing and water loss from a sub-pingo water lens. Some of the data derived from the long-term study of pingo growth are relevant to the identification of collapse features, interpreted as paleo-pingos, in areas now without permafrost.
Some 70 pingos occur at 27 separate localities within and near the Brooks Range. The pingos are distributed through mountain valleys at altitudes up to 725 m and in terrain glaciated as recently as late Wisconsinan time. Most are open-system forms; possible closed-system pingos are present at only a single locality in a northern valley. Some pingos occur on thick alluvial or lacustrine sediments, but many seem to be localized above near-surface bedrock and possibly are related to northeast-trending fracture systems. Pingos are particularly abundant in the Koyukuk and Chandalar drainage systems of the south-central Brooks Range, where they may be associated with structural features of regional extent.
Ice-cored mounds in a small area in northernmost Sweden are briefly described. The morphological features include hummocks, interpreted as pingos, more palsa-like mounds and fossil forms in the shape of circular ponds. Drilling in one hummock revealed a massive ice core covered by fine grained sediment and glacial till. The sediment is slightly organic and probably of interglacial age. A number of mounds appear to have subsided during the last two decades and no signs of growth have been observed during the same period. The subsidence is assumed to be climatically induced.